The workout routine app that fits the days you can train

What a workout routine app should give you

• A routine for the week you have

  Add a ready-made routine from the program library, or just one of its days. The three plans below cover 3, 4 and 6 days a week; the best workout routine explains which fits whom.

• Routines grouped into a program

  Group the days of a split into one program and switch the active program when your schedule changes. Up to 4 active routines are free; Pro makes them unlimited.

  

• Progress that survives a switch

  Weights belong to the exercise, not the routine. Move from full body to upper/lower and your squat picks up where it was. Only lifts you've never done start with a light Estimate.

• Every exercise shown, every weight set

  Each exercise opens to an illustration, the muscles it works and your history. Every set opens with a weight, worked out from your last session.

  

• Supersets, holds and cardio in the same routine

  Pair two exercises as a superset, set a target time for a plank and run it with a stopwatch, or add a cardio bout. Tell the app what the cardio is for and it paces the bout to match.

Running a routine, and changing it

Three days a week: full body, Day B

The 3-day full-body routine below, week 4. Leg press plates go on in pairs, so one step is 10 lb.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Bench Press	155 lb, 10 / 10 / 9, 2 left	155 lb × 10	The weakest set made today's target of 9. Same weight, aim for 10.
Leg Press	250 lb, 15 / 15 / 15, 1 left	260 lb × 10–15	Top of 10 to 15 on every set. One step up, reps reset to 10.
Incline Dumbbell Curl	25 lb pair, 15 / 15, 1 left	30 lb × 10–15	Top of the range on both sets: the next dumbbell up.

Three lifts, three different moves, none of them decided by you mid-set.

Your week opens up: switching to four days

You add the upper/lower routine and make it the active program. Day one is Lower A, then Upper B.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Back Squat	Last full-body session: 195 lb, 8 / 8 / 8, 2 left	Lower A: 195 lb × 9	The squat's history comes with it. The weakest set made its target of 8, so you aim for 9.
Cable Fly	30 lb (Estimate), 20 reps, nothing left	35 lb × 12–15	New to you, so one max-reps set. Converted to 12 reps with 1 left: 30 × 49 ÷ 42 is 35.

Switching routines costs you nothing on the lifts you keep. Only new exercises need one measuring set.

Six days a week: the bench stalls

Push/pull/legs twice a week. The bench has been stuck for three push days.

Exercise	You logged	Next session	Why
Barbell Bench Press	205 lb, 8 / 7 / 7, three sessions running	Recap suggests 185 lb × 6–10	No new rep in three sessions. About 10% lighter, rounded to your plates. You choose Deload or Not yet.
Face Pull	40 lb, 20 / 20 / 20, 1 left	45 lb × 12–20	Top of 12 to 20 on every set: one stack step up.

More days doesn't mean every lift moves faster. The stall gets an answer; the rest of the routine keeps going.

Routines by days a week

• The best workout routine for the days you can train

  3 days a week: full body

  Three days, full body each time. The Day B example above comes from it.

  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

• The best workout routine for the days you can train

  4 days a week: upper/lower

  Four days: two upper, two lower, more sets per muscle than full body fits.

  4× a week · 68 sets a week · ~40 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

  6 days a week: push/pull/legs

  Six days for experienced lifters who want the most weekly sets without long sessions.

  6× a week · 102 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

• Adjust today without touching the routine

  Ask Coach to swap a machine or shorten today. It previews the change, and only today changes once you tap Apply changes.

• Pick the pace

  Steady takes smaller steps, Standard is double progression, Push takes bigger jumps. One setting covers every routine.

• Train with friends on different routines

  Friends see when you train and finished workouts post to them. The weekly board compares each person with their own weekly target, so a 3-day and a 6-day lifter can both win the week.

• Get a reminder on training days

  Choose when you train. If two days pass with nothing planned, the Dashboard offers to pick a time and remind you.

Questions

Read next

• The best workout routine for the days you can train

  All three routines in full, with every exercise demonstrated.

• Full body workout split: the arithmetic no template runs

  Why three full-body days add up.

• Upper/lower split: why the upper day decides if it works

  What makes the four-day routine work.

• PPL split: the number push pull legs leaves out

  The six-day routine, explained.

• Progressive overload: a practical guide

  How any routine turns into progress.

More ways lifters use RIRLift

• The workout planner app where your plan keeps up with you

  Build your week on a laptop or with Coach, give it a finish line, and let the weights follow your sets.

• 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 upper lower split app that sets every weight for you

  Four days, two upper and two lower, with every lift prefilled and moved up when your sets earn it.

• The push pull legs app that remembers every day of the split

  3-day or 6-day PPL with each day prefilled from last time and weights that move when your sets earn it.

Every lifter and goal