The workout app for shift workers whose week never repeats

What a shift worker needs from a workout app

• No fixed training days

  The Dashboard shows the next workout in your rotation, whether you open it Tuesday at 7 am or Saturday at 4 pm, with Coach's weight for every exercise. You can still start any routine you like.

  

• A run of shifts that costs nothing

  A skipped session changes nothing and doesn't count as a stall. Only after three weeks or more away does the app offer Ease back in: one week about 10% lighter, then normal progress.

• Weights that adjust on a tired day

  After every set you log the reps and how many you had left. Fall below the rep range and the next set comes down, worked out from what you just did. You never have to judge how tired you are before you start.

• Full-body plans, so the order never matters

  When every session trains your whole body, a week with one session still covers everything, and a week with four doesn't overload anything. See full-body workout splits.

• Rest timer you can see from across the room

  The rest timer fills the screen and shows on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. With an Apple Watch the whole session runs from your wrist.

  

How the weights move around a rota

A nurse's day off after three 12-hour shifts

Angela works three 12s a week, never the same three. She runs the 2-day full-body plan below and trains on two of her days off.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Back Squat	135 lb, 9 / 9 / 9 / 9 reps, 2 left (target 9)	135 lb × 10	Every set hit the target but not the top of 6–10. Same weight, one more rep.
Barbell Bench Press	95 lb, 10 / 10 / 10 / 10 reps, 1 left	100 lb × 6–10	Top of the range on all four sets: one 5 lb step up, rep target back to 6.
Lat Pulldown	100 lb, 12 / 12 / 11 / 10 reps, 1 left (target 10)	100 lb × 11	Judged on the weakest set, which hit the target. Weight holds, target moves up a rep.

Whether her next day off is in two days or five, the session opens with these numbers.

Training the afternoon after a night shift

Angela slept five hours and went anyway. Squat target today: 8 reps with 2 left, in a 6–10 range.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Back Squat	Set 2: 140 lb × 6, 1 left	Set 3: 140 lb	Short of 8 but still inside 6–10, so the weight holds.
Barbell Back Squat	Set 3: 140 lb × 5, nothing left	Set 4: 120 lb	Below the range: 140 × 34 ÷ 39 ≈ 122, rounded to 120 lb on the bar.
Lat Pulldown	100 lb × 10, 1 left	100 lb	Right on plan. A bad day on one lift doesn't drag down the others.

Log what actually happened. The session fits the day you're having, and the plan doesn't treat one tired afternoon as a stall.

Back after ten nights in a row

A long run of nights with no gym, then a week off. Twelve days since the last session.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Leg Press	Last session: 230 lb, 15 / 15 / 15 / 15 reps, 1 left	240 lb × 10–15	She'd earned the step up before the run. Twelve days away doesn't take it back.
Incline Dumbbell Press	Last session: 35 lb pair, 12 / 11 / 10 / 10 reps (target 10)	35 lb pair × 11	Where she left off: same weight, one more rep.

Under three weeks away, nothing changes. There's no streak to rebuild and nothing to make up.

Plans that fit an irregular week

• The best workout for full body, for your week

  Only 2 days a week, longer sessions

  Angela's plan: two longer sessions that each train everything. Fits a week with only two days off.

  2× a week · 45 sets a week · ~50 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

  Short sessions, 4 days a week

  Four short sessions for weeks with more free days, or a quick lift before an evening shift.

  4× a week · 60 sets a week · ~25 min

  Add to RIRLift

  Add to RIRLift

  Scan with your iPhone camera to add this plan.

  See the plan

Make it fit you

• Book the next session around your next shift

  After each workout, the recap asks when your next session is. Lock in a time that fits the rota and you get a reminder.

• Pick Steady pace for heavy rotas

  Settings has three progression paces. Steady takes smaller, surer steps; it suits a schedule where sleep is never the same two weeks running.

• Short window before a shift? Ask Coach

  Type shorten today and Coach previews a shorter version of today's session. Nothing changes until you tap Apply changes.

• Let the Dashboard nudge you

  If two days pass with nothing planned, the Dashboard offers to pick a time and remind you. Choose the time; it fits around whatever shift is next.

Questions

Read next

• The best workout for full body, for your week

  The two-day and four-short-session plans in full.

• Full body workout split

  Why full-body sessions suit a week that changes every time.

• Muscle recovery time

  How long muscles need between sessions, beyond the 48-hour rule.

• How RIRLift picks your next weight

  What happens on a tired day, a missed day and after time off.

• How long should a workout be?

  Fit a session into the time before your next shift.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• The workout app for busy moms and dads who still want to lift

  Short lifting sessions with the weights already set, and a plan that waits when the kids come first.

• The full body workout app that knows what to lift each day

  Full-body plans for 2, 3 or 4 days a week, with each lift's weight set from your last session.

• 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