Doing a workout

The readiness check, logging sets, rest timers and finishing.

1. On Today, tap Start a workout. Your next workout is chosen for you. The start screen shows your gym's logo, your PT's photo, the workout and about how long it takes; tap Start when you're ready.
2. Readiness check: how you slept, your energy and soreness, and any pain. If today looks tough, a lighter session is suggested (one set fewer, no weight increases). Training on your own? Say how long you've got, and you're told if the workout won't fit, with the lighter session offered when that would.
3. Warm-up, if your PT added one: their note and a countdown. Start it when you're ready, or skip it.
4. Log each set: set the weight and reps with + and −, then tap how hard it was. Prefer pounds? Choose kg or lb under Account, Weights. Easy means 4 or more reps left, Solid 2 to 3, Hard 1, Max none. For holds, start the timer, then say how much longer you could have held.
5. Single-leg and single-arm exercises: log the weight and reps for your right and left side separately. Each side gets its own suggestion from its own history, so a side that's recovering from an injury moves at its own pace. Progress shows left and right side by side.
6. Cardio: done to a time, a distance or calories. For a distance or calories, type the time it took from the machine's screen; for a time, type how far you went and the calories if the machine shows them.
7. Jumps and throws for distance, like a broad jump or a single-leg hop: type your best distance in each set, in metres. Single-leg hops have a distance for each side, and Progress compares them.
8. Rest: a timer counts down and tells you what's next.
9. Finish: rate the whole session from 1 to 10. You then see Today's records: each exercise you did, the total weight lifted, your estimated one-rep max, and whether your top set was up, down or the same as last time. Cardio shows your time, distance and calories, and jumps your best distance.

If something hurts, tap It hurt. What happens next.

The voice coach

In the iPhone app, Ironlark can speak during your workout: each exercise, set and weight, your rests and what's next, and when a hold or cardio timer is nearly done. Turn it on under Account, Voice coach, or with the speaker button at the top of a workout. It uses a voice already on your iPhone, so nothing is sent anywhere, and your music gets quieter while it speaks. For a more natural voice, download an Enhanced or Premium voice in the iPhone's Settings, Accessibility, Spoken Content, Voices, then choose it in Ironlark.

Replacing an exercise

Machine taken, or an exercise doesn't suit you today? Tap Replace this exercise before logging a set and choose another. The closest matches come first. Sets you've already logged stay as they are, your remaining sets become the new exercise, and your programme doesn't change.

Changing a workout afterwards

Logged the wrong weight, or did a different exercise? Open Progress, find the session under Recent sessions and tap Edit session. You can change weights, reps, times and effort, add or remove sets, and change, add or remove exercises. Your progress and next weights update from what you save. The session shows that it was edited, and your coach can see it.

Still stuck? Email [email protected].