How to Log Your Workouts with Apple Watch

You can log your full workout with Apple Watch without using your iPhone

Your work sets, warm up sets and the plate calculator will show on your Apple Watch. The rest timer will start automatically after you log your set. You will receive wrist notification when it's time to do your next set. Once you've finished your workout, we will send everything to Apple Health: workout duration, average heart rate, estimated calories burned, etc.

Starting Your Workout

Stronglifts is a semi-standalone Apple Watch app. It requires an initial connection to your phone to load your workout data. Once the workout is loaded to your watch, you can complete your workout independently without connection to your phone. Your phone can stay in the gym lockers.

To start a workout on your Apple Watch...

  1. Make sure your watch is connected with your phone. Press the side button on your watch. The iPhone icon at the top of your watch should be green. If it shows red, disable airplane mode, enable wifi, and make sure your phone and watch are in range.
  2. Open Stronglifts on your watch.
  3. Tap the workout on the homescreen
  4. Once your workout has started, you can keep the phone in the gym lockers. You don't need your phone to continue your workout.

Logging Sets on Apple Watch

It only takes one tap to log a set with Stronglifts on Apple Watch. When you start your workout, the first exercise will show. You will see the SetsxRepsxWeight, and the weight per side.

  1. Tap the center of the screen to log a set.
  2. The rest timer starts and one circle segment fills up.
  3. When you're ready to do your next set, tap the timer to close it.
  4. Once you've done your set, tap the screen to log your set and start the timer.
  5. If you've failed the set, tap the screen several times in a row to decrease the reps. For example: if you did four reps instead of five, tap the screen twice to log four reps.

The red circle segment stands for the number of sets you need to do on this exercise. If you do 5x5, you will see five segments. Each segment fills up as you complete your set.

Using The Rest Timer on Apple Watch

The rest timer automatically starts when you log your set.

  1. Log a set by tapping the screen
  2. The rest timer starts
  3. Tap the screen to dismiss the timer
  4. Log your next set, the timer starts again

The green circle stands for how long you're resting.

Accessing The Warmup Calculator on Apple Watch

You can access the Stronglifts warmup calculator on the Apple Watch like this...

  1. Start your workout on the Apple Watch
  2. The set circle shows for your work sets
  3. Scroll up to access the warmup sets.

The warmup sets are orange while the worksets are red.

Using The Plate Calculator on Apple Watch

You can access the Stronglifts plate calculator on Apple Watch like this...

  1. Start your workout on the Apple Watch
  2. The set circle shows for your work sets
  3. Scroll down to access the plate calculator

Here the plate calculator shows you that you need to add 1x20kg, 1x10kg and 1x5kg on each side of the 20kg bar to get to your work weight of 90kg.

How to Change Exercises

You can switch to a different exercise by swiping left/right.

  1. Start workout
  2. The set circle shows for your work sets for the first exercise
  3. Swipe left to go to the next exercise
  4. Swipe right to go back to the previous exercise

Alternatively, you can also tap the exercise name in the top right corner to go to the workout overview screen.

Pausing Your Workout

You can pause your workout like this:

  1. Start workout
  2. The set circle shows for your work sets
  3. Tap the exercise name at the top
  4. Tap the pause button

This will pause the timer for your total workout duration. When you are ready to resume your workout, simply tap the resume button.

Canceling Your Workout

If you started a workout by mistake, you can cancel it like this:

  1. Start workout
  2. The set circle shows for your work sets
  3. Tap the exercise name at the top
  4. Tap the cancel button (the "x")

Finishing Your Workout

Once you've completed all exercises, you can finish your workout like this:

  1. Start workout
  2. The set circle shows for your work sets
  3. Tap the exercise name at the top
  4. Tap the finish button

Connect your watch with your phone to sync the workout data back. Your workout will then be saved into your history and Apple Health, and the next workout will be loaded on your watch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Stronglifts work if I leave my phone at home and go to the gym with only my Apple Watch?

Certainly!

As explained above, Stronglifts is a semi-standalone Apple Watch app. It requires an initial connection to your phone to load your workout data. Once the workout is loaded to your watch, you can complete your workout independently without connection to your phone.

Before you leave your home, please open Stronglifts on your watch to load the workout. Make sure the workout shows on your watch. After this you can leave your phone at home, and do your complete workout in the gym with your Apple Watch.

How to use Stronglifts and the Apple Workout app at the same time?

This isn't possible, and if it was, it's unncessary.

First, only one Apple Watch app can access HealthKit data at a time. If you start a workout with one app that accesses HealthKit, and then start a workout with another app that also accesses HealthKit, the first app will stop. Apple does this to prevent conflicts and ensure data accuracy.

However, there is no need to use the Apple Workout app for your Stronglifts workouts. Stronglifts sends the same information to Apple Health as the Apple Workout app does. We will send your workout duration, estimated calories burned, heart rate, and fill up your activity circles.

Here's an example of one workout logged by the Apple Workout app and one logged by Stronglifts. You can see that the same information is sent to Apple Health.

There's therefore no need to use the Apple Workout app. Simply use Stronglifts on your Apple Watch. This makes your workout flow easier since you won't have to switch between two apps that cannot work simultaneously.

If you're curious why the calories are different, please read this.

How to track your heart rate with Apple Watch?

Stronglifts can show your heart rate on your Apple Watch during your workouts.

You can enable this feature like this:

  1. Open the Apple Health app
  2. Tap your profile in the top right corner
  3. Scroll down to "Apps"
  4. Select Stronglifts
  5. Enable "Heart Rate"

Your heart rate will now show in the bottom right corner of the Apple Watch when you log your workouts with Stronglifts.


When you're resting between sets and the timer runs, your heart rate will show above the rest timer text.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Stronglifts shows "Open on iPhone" on my Apple Watch

Apple introduced live activity widgets on the Apple Watch starting with WatchOS11 ("Smart Stacks"). When you log a set, the live activity widget on your watch will display a rest timer. Once your workout is finished, the Stronglifts icon will remain active at the top of your watch screen. If you tap the icon, you will see the live activity with the message "Open on iPhone". It looks like this...

If your phone is unlocked, tapping the above button on your watch will open Stronglifts on your phone.

You can find more information about Apple's Smart Stack feature here.

How do I stop Stronglifts from showing at the top of the screen?

The Stronglifts icon will stop showing when you dismiss the live activity widget.

You can make the icon disappear like this...

  1. Swipe up on your watch to access the Smart Stack
  2. Select the Stronglifts Widget
  3. Slide left and tap on "X" to close the widget

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