The powerlifting app for building your squat, bench and deadlift

What a powerlifter needs from a training app

• RIR on every heavy set

  Log how many reps you had left after each set. If you think in RPE, an RPE 8 is 2 reps in reserve. RPE vs RIR has the full conversion. The app compares what you logged with the set it asked for, so a fast triple and a grinder are never treated the same.

  

• Plate math on the bar and on your wrist

  The plate calculator shows what goes on each side, on iPhone and on Apple Watch. Every suggested weight is rounded to what your plates can make. With Pro, enter your own plates and bar, from kilo plates to 2.5 lb change plates.

  

• No max test to get started

  The next load is worked out from the set you just did and the set you're aiming for, so your max cancels out. Each lift still charts its estimated 1RM over time from your working sets.

  

• Heavy sets adjusted inside the session

  Opener moved fast? The next set goes up. Hit the reps closer to failure than planned? It holds. Below the rep range? It comes down. Each adjusted set is marked as a correction, not passed off as the plan.

• A block with an end date

  Give a program a length, like 8 weeks, and Journey shows the week you're in and where your main lift is headed by the end of the block.

  

Powerlifting sessions, set by set

Squat day: triples to fives, 2 in reserve

A raw lifter between meets, running three days of squat, bench and deadlift work with the big lifts at 3–5 reps.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Back Squat	Set 1: 365 lb, 3 reps, 4+ left (target 3, 2 left)	Set 2: 385 lb	The opener moved fast. 365 × 36 ÷ 34 is about 386 lb, rounded to 385 on the bar.
Barbell Back Squat	385 lb, 5 / 5 / 5 / 4 reps, 2 left (target 4)	385 lb × 5	The weakest set hit today's target of 4. Same weight next week, aim for 5 on every set.
Barbell Bench Press	245 lb, 8 / 8 / 8 reps, 2 left	250 lb × 6–8	Every set at the top of 6–8. One 5 lb step, reps back to 6.

The heavy sets adjust to the day you're having. The plan never asked you for a max.

Deadlift day: the first set grinds

Same week. The deadlift target is 5 reps with 2 in reserve, and the first set is slower than expected.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Deadlift	Set 1: 455 lb, 3 reps, 0 left (target 5, 2 left)	Set 2: 455 lb	Short of 5 but still inside 3–5. The weight holds, and the next set aims for the same target.
Barbell Back Squat	335 lb, 8 / 8 / 8 reps, 3 left	340 lb × 5–8	The lighter squat work hit the top of 5–8 at the planned effort. One step up.
Lat Pulldown	170 lb, 12 / 11 / 11 reps, 1 left (target 11)	170 lb × 12	The weakest set hit 11. Hold the weight, aim for 12.

A bad set on one lift doesn't cut the weight on the rest of the session.

A stalled bench, then three weeks off after a meet

The bench hasn't gained a rep in three sessions. Then a meet and a few weeks away from the gym.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Bench Press	275 lb × 4 / 4 / 4 / 3, third session with no new rep	245 lb × 3–5, if you choose Deload	About 10% lighter, rounded to the bar. The rep target goes back to 3 and you build up again.
Barbell Deadlift	Last session: 475 lb × 5, 2 left	425 lb × 3–5	After three weeks away, Ease back in opens one week about 10% lighter. Or pick Pick up where I left off.

Deloads follow a measured stall, and a layoff gets one easier week. Both are your choice.

Strength plans that open in RIRLift

• The best workout routine for men, for your week

  Stronger squat, bench press and deadlift

  The plan in the examples: a squat, a bench and a deadlift day, big lifts at 3–5 reps with 2 in reserve.

  3× a week · 49 sets a week · ~55 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

• The best workout for full body, for your week

  Full gym, 3 days: heavy, moderate, light

  A heavy, a moderate and a light day for an off-season with more muscle building.

  3× a week · 50 sets a week · ~45 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

Make it fit you

• Log in kilos if you compete in kilos

  Units are set per exercise. Run the big three in kg and keep the dumbbell work in lb.

• Enter your own plates and bar

  With Pro, set the plates your gym really has and your bar's weight. Every suggestion and the plate calculator use them.

• Set an RIR target per lift

  Keep the competition lifts at 2 in reserve and let accessories go to 1. Each exercise in a routine has its own rep range and target.

• Choose the Steady pace for heavy work

  Steady takes smaller, surer steps. Standard is plain double progression; Push takes bigger jumps.

• Approve weights before they change

  Set Coach to Ask first and the recap shows next session's weights to confirm. Any weight can be overridden on any set.

When a different app fits better

• You're peaking for a meet with a percentage-based taper. RIRLift progresses from your logged sets with double progression. It doesn't run a peak toward a single heavy rep, so a percentage program fits that phase better.
• You train by bar speed. RIRLift reads effort from your RIR, not velocity. A velocity-based training device fits better.

Questions

Read next

• Exercises for powerlifting: the big three and what builds them

  The accessories that carry over to the squat, bench and deadlift.

• RPE vs RIR: what's the difference, and which should you log?

  How to convert the RPE you're used to.

• Powerlifting calculator

  Your total, and how it scores against your bodyweight.

• Powerbuilding: how to train for strength and size at once

  For an off-season that also builds muscle.

• The best workout routine for men, for your week

  The big-three plan in full, with every exercise demonstrated.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• The strength training app that turns heavy sets into your next weight

  Heavy sets of 3 to 5, a weight for every one, and a clear answer when a lift stops moving.

• The RPE and RIR app where effort sets the weight

  Log reps in reserve on every set, and your effort decides the next set's weight and the next jump.

• A 5x5 app that adds the weight when you earn it

  Five sets of five on the big barbell lifts, with the next weight set from how every set went.

• The Apple Watch weightlifting app that runs the whole session

  Log sets, rest, load plates and swap machines from your wrist, with the next weight set on the Watch.

Every lifter and goal