Doing a workout

Liftspan tells you what to lift, how many sets and reps, and how heavy. Your job is to do the sets, tick them off, and tell it how they felt. Here is everything on the workout screen.

Start a session

1. Open 🏠 Today. Today's session is listed under Today's lineup.
2. Tap Start workout →. If you already started one, it says Continue workout →.

Want a different day? Tap one of the day chips under your streak on Today, or open 🗺️ Plan and tap ▶︎ Do this one next on any day. You can do the days of your week in any order. Starting a workout lights today's daily flame straight away.

The workout screen

Each exercise is a card showing the target, like "3 × 8–12 @ 40 lb", and what you did last time. Barbell lifts also show how to load the bar, for example "135 lb = bar + 45 each side". Tap How to do it on any card for a demonstration and step-by-step cues.

At the top: ✕ Exit leaves the screen and keeps everything you have logged, the day name with your progress through it, and Finish.

Log your sets

1. Do the set. If you used the planned weight and reps, just tap the circle ○ on that row to tick it ✓.
2. If you lifted something different, type the weight or reps before you tick. What you type is copied to the sets below it. If you use a heavier or lighter weight than planned, Liftspan adjusts the rep target for the remaining sets to match the effort, and when you finish, that weight becomes your planned weight for the move.
3. Tap a ticked set again to untick it.

Need an extra set? Tap ＋ Set. Weights on this screen are shown in pounds; tap the ⇄ kg / lb chip at the top for a quick converter.

Tell it how the set felt

After you tick a set, three buttons appear: 🥳 Easy (could have done 3 more), 🙂 Right (1 or 2 left in the tank) and 😤 Hard (nothing left). It is optional, but it is the best information Liftspan gets:

• Easy adds reps to your remaining sets, or moves you up to the next weight you can load. It never asks for fewer reps than the set you just did.
• Hard holds the weight and aims for the bottom of your rep range, or drops a step if you fell short.
• Your ratings also decide how big next week's jump is. See how your weights go up.

You can turn the buttons off under 🏅 You → Training → Fine-tune → Effort rating after each set.

Warm-up sets

With warm-up sets on, heavier lifts get one or two lighter sets first, marked W. They do not count toward your records or XP. Turn them on or off in Fine-tune under Warm-up sets. They are on by default in joint-friendly mode.

The rest timer

The rest timer starts by itself when you tick a set, and shows along the bottom of the screen with −15s, +15s and Skip. The length comes from your goal: about a minute for Lose fat, 1 minute 45 for Build muscle and 3 minutes for Get stronger, plus 30 seconds in joint-friendly mode. It keeps the right time if you switch apps. On iPhone, Pro members can also get the timer on the Lock Screen, in the Dynamic Island and on Apple Watch; see iPhone extras.

Time your holds PRO

Planks, carries and other timed moves get a ⏱️ Time set 1 button under their sets. Tap it as you start the hold. The clock counts up, turns green when you reach the target and keeps going so you can beat it. Tap Stop and log and the seconds go into the set, the set is ticked and your rest starts. Cancel stops the clock without logging anything.

It keeps the right time if your screen locks or you switch apps. On iPhone the count-up also shows on your Lock Screen, in the Dynamic Island and on Apple Watch; see iPhone extras. Without Pro, you can still type the seconds into the set yourself.

Supersets

If supersets are on, pairs of moves that work opposite muscles (like a press and a row) are marked ⇄ A1 and A2. Do one set of each back to back with no rest between them, then rest. They save a lot of time. They are on by default for Lose fat and Build muscle and off for Get stronger. Turn them on or off with the ⇄ Supersets chip in the Today's lineup card, or in Fine-tune.

Swap an exercise PRO

Tap 🔀 Swap on an exercise card (or swap next to it on Today's lineup). Liftspan swaps in another move for the same muscle that fits your equipment and works around your joints, and carries your weight across. Not the one you wanted? Tap Swap again to see another. The swap sticks for that day of your plan in future weeks. Pro members can also tap ✏️ Use my own move to add an exercise that is not in the library.

Add a move PRO

Want to fit in curls or triceps work today? Scroll to the bottom of the workout and tap + Add a move. Search or pick a muscle, then tap Add. The move goes at the end of today's workout and stays in that day of your program from now on, so it progresses week to week like everything else. Can't find it? Tap Create your own. Changed your mind? Tap Remove on the card before you log a set.

Finish

Tap Finish at the top, or Finish workout 🎉 at the bottom. To count as a session toward your week, you need to have done at least half of the planned sets. Fewer than that is still saved to your log, but does not count as a session.

The finish screen shows your stars, any all-time bests, and how many sessions you have left this week. It then asks How did that feel?:

• 🥳 Easy, more adds a set to each move on this day next week.
• 🙂 About right keeps things as they are.
• 😮‍💨 Wrecked me takes a set off each move next week.

Tap Share this workout to make an image of your session to share, or Save image to keep it.

Related guides: 3 day full body workout plan and Upper lower split: a 4 day workout plan.

Why it works this way

Every number on the screen is already filled in so you can spend your attention on the lift, not the app. Rating each set Easy, Right or Hard tells Liftspan how much you had left, which is how it decides whether next week's jump is a rep, a small amount of weight, or a repeat of this week. That is how the weights keep moving up for years without the big jumps that tend to end in a tweak.

Warm-up sets and the rest timer exist for the same reason: you lift better, and recover better between sets, when you are not guessing. Not medical advice: if something hurts, stop.

Common questions