Best Apple Watch workout logger for lifting

Strong is the best Apple Watch logger for most lifters: a full watch app that runs with or without the iPhone, with a rest timer, RPE and heart rate. SmartGym has the most capable watch app overall. Hevy is the best free choice, and Gravl the one that plans your sessions for you.

Apple Watch is the most crowded watch platform for lifting apps, and the differences are in what the watch can do alone. Some watch apps run a whole workout with the phone in a locker; others are remote controls for the iPhone. This list covers apps whose own listings describe logging sets and weights on the watch, checked in September 2026. We make Beatweek; its Apple Watch app is in beta, and we say where it stands below.

The Apple Watch Workout app has strength workout types such as Functional Strength Training and records heart rate and active calories during them. What the apps below add is the training log: routines, sets, weights and history.

Strong

Strong’s watch app logs workouts with or without the iPhone, and warm-up sets, timers and weight and rep edits all work on the wrist. You adjust the rest timer with the Digital Crown, mark set type and RPE, and see heart rate and calories. Live Sync runs the same workout on the phone and watch at once. Two gaps: the plate and warm-up calculators are not on the watch, and you cannot change units there.

The free version keeps unlimited workouts but only 3 routines. PRO is about $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year on the US App Store. Strong has no feed and does not tell you what to lift; it is a notebook, and a very good one on the wrist. More in Hevy vs Strong.

SmartGym

SmartGym is an App Store Editors’ Choice built around the watch. Its standalone watch app runs entirely on the Apple Watch with no iPhone and no internet connection, lets you edit weight, reps and rest on the fly, vibrates when rest ends, and shows colour-coded heart rate zones live. It also offers a Smart Trainer that works without the iPhone. It is Apple-only.

The free version allows 2 routines, 3 workouts and 2 measures, so most people will pay: Premium+ is about $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year, and there are other plans, including a family one. SmartGym can import routines from text or shared files.

Hevy

Hevy’s Apple Watch app runs your routines, live-syncs with the phone, marks set types, shows heart rate and has complications. Hevy says you can leave the phone in the locker and track the whole workout from the watch. The free tier allows 4 routines and 7 custom exercises; Pro is about $2.99 a month, $23.99 a year or $74.99 lifetime. It is also on Android and Wear OS, and has a social feed if you train with friends.

Gymaholic

Gymaholic is a watch-first logger. Its listing says you start, track and log workouts on the Apple Watch, recording sets, reps, weight, heart rate and calories without taking the phone out, and the recent releases show exercise history on the watch. It runs across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Vision Pro, with CSV and PDF export. There is a 7-day trial, then about $3.99 a month or $31.99 a year. Note that a different company publishes an app called “Gymaholic: Fitness & Nutrition”.

Gravl

Gravl writes your sessions: it estimates your one-rep max from history, adds reps set by set, then steps the weight up to what your plates allow. The standalone watch app logs sets and reps, runs rest timers and finishes a session without the phone. The watch app is part of Premium, about $14.99 a month with yearly plans listed at $59.99 to $89.99.

Fitbod and JEFIT

Fitbod’s watch app logs sets, edits weights and reps, runs the rest timer with haptics and shows heart rate, but Fitbod calls it a companion: you start the workout on the iPhone and save it there. The subscription is about $15.99 a month or $95.99 a year. JEFIT’s watch app live-syncs with the phone and shows heart rate; its Elite page lists watch support under Elite, about $12.99 a month or $69.99 a year.

Beatweek

Beatweek’s Apple Watch app runs on the same engine as its Wear OS app: log a set, get a rest buzz, and see the next target (add weight, add a rep, hold, or deload) computed from your history. But it ships with the iOS beta, so today it is less proven than every shipping app above. Logging, history, the watch app and import from Hevy and Strong are free; there is no feed. If you live on Apple devices and want something finished now, Strong or SmartGym is the safer pick. See Beatweek vs Strong.

Who should pick what

• You want a mature, plain logger on the wrist: Strong.
• You want the richest watch app and heart rate zones, and will pay: SmartGym.
• You want a free tier, Android later, or friends in the app: Hevy.
• You want the app to plan your sessions: Gravl, or Fitbod if the iPhone comes with you.
• You want set-by-set targets on your own program and are willing to try a beta: Beatweek.
• You use Alpha Progression or Boostcamp: they have no watch app; both use Live Activities instead. On Wear OS, see the Wear OS list.