Workouts · Health & Body · HourLife Premium
Every set you lift, every circuit you run, and how often you really train.
Log strength workouts set by set, run timed circuits, start from templates, and see how often you train.
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Start where you left offA template brings back last time's weights, set by set, so the first thing you do is lift, not type.
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Circuits on a clockA circuit counts each step down, rests between them and tells you what is next, so you can put the phone down.
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Eight weeks at a glanceInsights counts your sessions week by week and by weekday, so a quiet stretch shows before it becomes a habit.
Your first week with Workouts
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Begin a starter
Under "Quick start", tap "Begin" on "Full Body Strength" or one of the other four. The exercises and sets are filled in, so the first workout needs no setup.
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Log as you go
Type the weight and reps for each set and tap the check. "+ set" copies the set above. Tap "Finish" at the end, and the session joins your history under its day.
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Make it yours
Open "Templates" from the ⋯ menu and edit a starter, or add your own with the exercises and sets you really do. Next time, it starts from the weights you lifted.
Every step, in detail
- 1 Open Workouts. Under "Quick start", tap "Begin" on one of the starter templates, or tap "All" to pick from every template.
- 2 For something of your own, tap "Custom workout", use "Add exercise" to build the list, then tap "Start Workout".
- 3 Enter weight and reps for each set and tap the check to complete it. Use "+ set" to add another.
- 4 Tap "Finish" when you are done. The session moves into your history under its day.
Eight weeks of training, counted the way Insights counts them
Insights looks at whole calendar weeks: the last four against the four before them, this week against last week, and the weekday you show up on most. Tap a day to add a session or take one away, and the cards follow.
Sample · 20 sessions up to Tuesday, Oct 20, 2026
You’ve logged 1 workout this week.
10 this month, 20 all time.
Your eight weeks
The weeks here start on Monday. In the app they start on the day your iPhone’s region starts the week. A day you add counts as a 45-minute session.
Consistency · 8 weeks
Training more often lately — 11 sessions in the last 4 weeks.
“avg / week” is every session you have logged, over the whole weeks since the first one. It is not the average of these eight bars.
Cadence
A quieter week than last — 4 sessions the week before.
Averaging 2.9 sessions per week · ~42 min each.
Training rhythm
You train most often on Tuesdays.
Based on your full workout history.
When two days tie, the one earlier in the week is named. Here Tuesday and Thursday both have 6.
One session’s volume, while you lift and after
Volume is weight times reps, added up over the sets. While the session is open, the header counts only the sets you have checked. Once it is finished, the history card counts every set with a weight and reps in it. Check and uncheck the sets to see both.
Sample · Upper body, Saturday, Oct 10, 2026
Bench press+ set
- 160kg ×8
- 260kg ×8
- 360kg ×7
Barbell row+ set
- 150kg ×10
- 250kg ×10
- 350kg ×10
Overhead press+ set
- 135kg ×8
- 235kg ×8
SATURDAY, OCT 10
2:44 PM 45 min 8 sets 3440 kg
Bench press · Barbell row · +1 more
Where 3440 kg comes from
- Bench press · 60×8, 60×8, 60×71380
- Barbell row · 50×10, 50×10, 50×101500
- Overhead press · 35×8, 35×8560
A hatched set is unchecked: the live tile leaves it out, the history card and Insights still count it. A set can’t be removed once the session has started, so give a template the number of sets you really do.
What a template fills in, and how long a circuit runs
A strength template brings its exercises and sets. The first time, each set starts from the template’s reps. After that, it starts from what you lifted the last time you ran that template, set by set.
Sample · an “Upper body” template
Bench press · 3 × 8
- 1kg×8
- 2kg×8
- 3kg×8
Barbell row · 3 × 10
- 1kg×10
- 2kg×10
- 3kg×10
Overhead press · 2 × 8
- 1kg×8
- 2kg×8
Bench press · 3 × 8
- 160×8
- 260×8
- 360×7
Barbell row · 3 × 10
- 150×10
- 250×10
- 350×10
Overhead press · 2 × 8
- 135×8
- 235×8
The bench press starts at 7 reps on its third set, because that is what Oct 10 ended on. A set the last run didn’t reach starts from the template’s reps. The five starters carry no weight; a weight on a template can be set in HourLife for Mac.
Circuits
The two starter circuits on one clock.
A circuit runs each step down to zero, rests, says what is up next and moves on by itself. There is no rest after the last step.
20 Minute Cardio Intervals
- 1Treadmill run3:00 + 1:00 rest
- 2Rowing machine2:00 + 1:00 rest
- 3Stationary bike3:00 + 1:00 rest
- 4Jump rope1:30
Mobility Reset
- 1Hip flexor stretch1:00 + 0:10 rest
- 2T-spine rotation1:00 + 0:10 rest
- 3Shoulder CARs1:00 + 0:10 rest
- 4Pigeon pose1:00 + 0:10 rest
- 5Foam roll3:00
The timer runs the steps as written, 12:30 for 20 Minute Cardio Intervals and 7:40 for Mobility Reset. The “~20 min” and “~12 min” on their rows are each template’s own estimate. You can pause, restart a step, skip ahead or “Skip rest”, and a circuit logs no sets, so it adds nothing to volume.
Finish, close or discard, and the session you forgot
Only one workout is open at a time. Starting another, from a template or a habit, opens the one you left instead.
- Finish
Ends the session now. Its minutes run from when you started, it joins your history under its day, and a habit connected to Workouts is checked off.
Kept - Close Workout
Keeps it open. The “In progress” banner on Workouts and the “Active workout” card on Today take you back, with the clock still running from the start.
Still open - Discard Workout
Deletes it, sets and all. It never reaches your history or Insights.
Gone
The morning after
A session left open overnight is finished at its last checked set.
Each time you open Workouts, a session open longer than “Auto discard unfinished workouts” is tidied up.
Sample · started 6:00 PM, opened again 7:10 AM
- 6:00 PMYou tap “Begin”. The clock starts.
- 6:52 PMThe last set is checked. You put the phone away without tapping “Finish”.
- 6:00 AM12 hours since the start. Nothing happens yet; nothing runs in the background.
- 7:10 AMYou open Workouts. The session ends at 6:52 PM, the time of its last checked set, and counts 52 minutes.
With no checked set, the same session is deleted instead. The setting, in Workout Settings under “AUTO CLEANUP”:
- Never
- After 4 hours
- After 8 hours
- After 12 hours
- After 24 hours
“Never” keeps every open session until you finish or discard it. A session finished this way still checks off a connected habit.
The month in Insights
“Insights” in the ⋯ menu opens on the cards drawn under Eight weeks. Below them come the month’s volume and a calendar of your sessions, here from the sample as it first loads.
Volume · this month
You’ve moved over a tonne of weight this month.
45 working sets logged so far.
10 October sessions: 3 × Lower body, 3 × 5k easy run, 3 × Upper body, 1 × Mobility Reset. Runs and circuits add sets or minutes, not load.
Training calendar
October 2026
Up to three dots a day, one for each session. Tap a past day with a dot to see its sessions.
Tips
- Closing a workout is not the same as discarding it. "Close Workout" keeps the session to resume later. "Discard Workout" deletes it.
- Set up a template for any session you repeat. Templates show on the main screen with a one-tap "Begin", and each run starts from the weights you lifted last time.
- Give a template the number of sets you really do. A set you leave unchecked still counts toward the sets and volume on the history card and in Insights.
- Weight is logged in kg.
- If you log a past session late, open it and use "Edit" to set the real date, time and duration.
Questions
About Workouts day to day.
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Does Workouts read my workouts from Apple Health or the Apple Watch?
No. Workouts are logged in HourLife, and Workouts neither reads nor writes Apple Health workouts. Sessions and templates sync between your devices through iCloud.
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What happens if I close a workout halfway through?
"Close Workout" keeps it. An "In progress" banner on Workouts, and the "Active workout" card on Today, open it again. "Discard Workout" deletes it.
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I forgot to finish a workout. Is it lost?
Not if you checked a set. The next time you open Workouts, a session running longer than "Auto discard unfinished workouts" (12 hours unless you change it) is finished at the time of its last checked set. A session with no checked sets is deleted. Choose "Never" to keep every open session.
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Where do the weights come from when I start a template?
From the last time you ran that template, set by set. The first time, each set starts from the template's reps, and from its load if you gave it one in HourLife for Mac. The starters carry no load, so you type the first weights yourself.
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Can I log in pounds?
No. Weight is entered and shown in kg, and volume is in kg, or in tonnes past 1,000 kg in Insights.
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Can finishing a workout tick off a habit?
Yes. In the habit's "Connect Module" sheet, pick Workouts, optionally choose a template or exercise as the "Workout target", and turn on "Auto-check when done". A duration habit gets the workout's minutes and a count habit gets its sets.
Works with
Where Workouts hands off to the rest of HourLife.
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Habits
In a habit's "Connect Module" sheet you can pick Workouts, choose a template or exercise as the "Workout target", and turn on "Auto-check when done", so finishing a matching workout checks off the habit.
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Today
The "Active workout" card on Today resumes a session in progress, and a habit connected to Workouts can start its workout straight from its row on Today.
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Calendar
Finished workouts appear on the day's timeline in Calendar, under the "Workouts" source.
Read and try
Books from the library that Workouts puts into practice, and something to try on paper or in the browser.
Already have HourLife?
Workouts is under Health in the module list. The ⋯ menu on the Workouts page holds "Insights", "Custom Workout", "Templates", "Exercises" and "Settings".
Workouts is in the Library, under Health & Body. If it isn’t there, turn it on in Settings → Look & Feel → Modules. It needs HourLife Premium.
What would you like to know?
Ask a question about this feature or tell us what’s missing.
Try Workouts in HourLife.
HourLife is free to download. Workouts comes with HourLife Premium.
