The Strong app on Apple Watch, and an option that sets the weight

Strong and RIRLift on the wrist

• Both run without the phone

  Strong's listing calls its Watch app fully featured, with or without your iPhone. RIRLift starts, logs and finishes the session on the Watch and syncs it to the iPhone when it's back in range.

• The weight is decided for you

  Strong's listing describes logging, timers and calculators, not suggesting your next weight. RIRLift adjusts the next set on your wrist and sets next session's weight from your weakest set: up a step when every set reaches the top of the range. How it decides.

• Four free routines, not three

  Strong's free version keeps 3 custom routines. RIRLift's free tier keeps 4 active routines with unlimited workouts, so a four-day split fits without paying.

• A rest timer you can nudge

  The countdown runs on your wrist with buttons to add or take off 15 seconds, so a busy rack or a hard set doesn't mean guessing.

  

• Plates per side, with Pro

  Type the weight and the Watch shows what goes on each side of the bar. The breakdown is free on the iPhone; on the Watch it's part of Pro.

  

• Your Strong history comes along

  Strong exports your workouts as a CSV. Import it in RIRLift and your first weights come from your logged sessions, not a starting guess.

Barbell sessions from the Watch, after Strong

Three-day barbell plan, phone in the locker

Squat, bench and press three days a week, the kind of program Strong is built around. You load the bar from the Watch.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Back Squat	225 lb, 5 / 5 / 5 reps, 2 left	230 lb × 3	Every set at the top of 3–5: one step up, reps back to 3. With Pro, the Watch shows two 45s and a 2.5 per side.
Barbell Overhead Press	115 lb, 5 / 5 / 4 reps, 1 left	115 lb × 5	Not every set reached 5, so the weight holds. The weakest set hit its target of 4, so the target moves to 5.

The 230 was on the Watch before you racked the bar.

Every rack taken, swap on the wrist

Same plan, a busy evening. You swap the squat for the leg press from the Watch, a machine you've never logged.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Leg Press	Swapped in: 360 lb × 10 / 10 / 9, 2 left	360 lb × 10	Its first weight came from your squat, adjusted for the machine. The weakest set hit its target of 9, so the target moves to 10.
Seated Leg Curl	100 lb, 12 / 12 / 12 reps, 1 left	110 lb × 8	Every set at the top of 8–12: one step up the stack.

The swap started at a real number instead of an empty row. Next time the machine remembers its own loads.

Day one after importing from Strong

You exported three years of Strong workouts and imported them. Deadlift day is the first session in RIRLift.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Deadlift	Imported: 315 lb × 3 / 3 / 3	315 lb × 3	Worked out from your Strong sessions, so the first number isn't a guess.
Barbell Row	Imported: 165 lb × 8 / 8 / 8	165 lb × 8	Same source, same weight you left off at.

No restart. The history you built in Strong sets the first numbers.

Plans that run well from the Watch

• The best workout routine for men, for your week

  Stronger squat, bench press and deadlift

  Squat, bench and deadlift with heavy sets of 3 to 5, close to what most Strong users run.

  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 routine for the days you can train

  3 days a week: full body

  Three full-body days: one routine per day, inside the free tier.

  3× a week · 51 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

• Import your Strong CSV

  Export your data from Strong and import it on the iPhone. Every lift you logged starts from your numbers.

• Set the rep range per lift

  Give the squat 3–5 and the accessories 8–12. The weight goes up when every set reaches the top.

• Set up your bar and plates

  With Pro, enter your gym's plates and bar so the Watch only shows loads you can make.

• Save the machines you swap to

  Each saved machine keeps its own loads and records, so the next swap starts from the right number.

When a different app fits better

• You build sessions on the fly on the Watch. Hevy's own comparison credits Strong with empty workouts, reordering and supersets made on the Watch.
• You're on Android. Strong runs on Android; RIRLift is iPhone and Apple Watch only.
• You log RPE. Strong logs RPE. RIRLift logs reps in reserve.

Questions

Read next

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  The rules behind 225 to 230 in the first example.

• Barbell calculator

  Plates per side for any weight, the same math the Watch shows.

• Double progression

  Why the weight waits until every set reaches the top.

• Why logging on your wrist beats your phone between sets

  What changes when the phone stays in the locker.

• The best workout routine for men, for your week

  The squat, bench and deadlift plan in full.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• Strong vs Hevy on Apple Watch

  Strong and Hevy are close on the wrist. Here's where they differ, and where RIRLift fits.

• Hevy on Apple Watch, and what RIRLift does differently

  Hevy's Watch app logs sets and rest. RIRLift adds reps in reserve and sets the next weight on the wrist.

• 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.

Every lifter and goal