Last Updated on December, 2024
Strength training has many core benefits, like balance, coordination, and posture. All of which are extremely important to overall health. That said, weightlifting is the best way to strength train yourself.
And for this, especially when training alone, following the right workouts is important to ensure you gain and maintain muscle mass over losing it.
Here is a list of the best weightlifting apps that will serve as a personal trainer throughout your strength training journey. All these apps cater to different experience levels, offer a great variety of workouts, and help you positively progress.
Read to figure out the best weightlifting app that resonates with you.
Table Of Contents
7 Best Weightlifting Apps for Strength Training
1. Alpha Progression Intelligent Strength Training (Overall Best)
Here’s why the Alpha progression strength training app scored first place on our list and is titled the best overall.
This best weightlifting app is jam-packed with impressive and helpful features that help maintain good overall functionality while ensuring ease of use.
The stand-out feature of this best weightlifting app is the AI-generated custom training plans based on the latest meta-analyses and literature reviews in exercise science.
The generator builds a muscle-building plan considering your input factors like how often you want to train, preferred time duration, muscle groups you want to target, and equipment availability.
If you want, you can further customize the generated plan to include more of your preferences or simply create one from scratch.
It gives you plenty of flexibility to work with and create the best plan while accommodating even the tiniest of your preferences.
The AI of this strength training app provides you with recommendations to support your long-term progress. It analyzes your performance from past and present sessions to give precise recommendations on how much weight to lift and how many reps to do.
This pushes users to test their strength levels.
This weightlifting app features an intuitive gym logger to track the progress of your weightlifting sessions, which is then graphically displayed through charts. This great feature motivates users to optimize gains by recognizing patterns to improve further.
This strength training app features a huge curated hypertrophy exercise database with over 550+ exercises, each with instructional videos and exercise evaluations that explain the effect of the particular exercise on building muscle mass.
It is beneficial to keep users aware of such information to understand its stability and how best to approach it.
To further optimize your exercise routine, Alpha progression facilitates periodization of plans to manage muscle usage for accelerated muscle gain, track RIR (reps in repetition) over the training course, and schedule a deload to recover from accumulated fatigue.
With these many fantastic features, it is no wonder Alpha Progression Intelligent Strength Training has topped our list of best weightlifting apps. Also, you can try this app for FREE through their 14-day free trial.
Key Features:
- Custom training plans that are science-based and 100% tailored to your needs.
- Supports long-term progress through recommendations for every set on how best to reach the set.
- Charts display progress over time to ensure improved performance through optimization.
- Exercise evaluations for all weightlifting workouts of the huge hypertrophy database to keep users well informed.
- RIR, periodization, and deloads to further optimize the training cycle.
Pros
Cons
2. Fitbod (For Beginners)
Fitbod is a simple yet one of the best weightlifting apps in terms of effectiveness. And the massive user base is proof.
Like Alpha progression, Fitbod also uses an AI algorithm to auto-generate workout plans based on your previous activity and current goals.
Your strengths, weaknesses, gym equipment availability, and other variables are considered when creating these plans.
These plans evolve to reflect on your improved and continuing to improve personal performance.
Fitbod ensures that these workout plans match your abilities, creating a motivational yet challenging environment for you to keep progressing and want to progress in lifting weights.
It also facilitates high self-customizability through its interactive UI. You can change workout types, durations, reps, cardio options, etc., to match your likes.
This weightlifting app has a massive library of 900+ exercises featuring demonstrated tutorials with instructions for guidance as a personal trainer.
Fitbod allows you to train on multiple fitness goals and decide your preferred training splits based on muscle groups and recovery.
An interesting feature that Fitbod offers is muscle recovery tracking.
This feature is crucial to keep track of your muscle group usage to know what muscles are targeted or missed out in your workouts and when to target fresh muscle groups again after recovery to ensure you don’t overwork them.
Key Features:
- AI algorithm to auto-generate workout plans that keep changing to reflect your growing capabilities and personal performance.
- High self-customizability through its interactive UI to incorporate your likes and dislikes.
- Demonstrated tutorials with instructions to guide you through as a personal trainer.
- Multiple fitness goals and training splits offer a variety of training styles while accommodating preferences.
- Muscle recovery tracking to ensure all muscles are targeted and worked out.
If you want to know more details about the Fitbod App, we have an in-depth Fitbod App review.
Pros
Cons
3. Caliber (Best for Home Workouts)
Caliber is another great weightlifting app that uses a science-based approach to incorporate exercise, nutrition, and habits to help you build muscle and maintain, lose, or gain body weight.
With Caliber, you will be assigned a dedicated coach who will work with you to help you achieve your personal health and fitness goals.
A coach from Caliber will create an effective full-body personalized training plan for you, considering insights from the latest research science in exercise to help you achieve faster progress to reach your unique goals.
Your Caliber coach will also design a flexible nutrition plan to suit your lifestyle, eating habits, and activity level.
You can request the coach to incorporate your favorite foods, too. Since these nutrition plans are based on scientific data, results are assured. Also, your coach will help you develop sustainable and healthy habits to accelerate your progress towards your goals.
To help you stay consistent with your action plan, your dedicated caliber coach, a certified trainer, will provide expert guidance and help you stay accountable while keeping you motivated.
Taking your progress to another level, Caliber lets you track and visualize your personal performance. As your caliber coach updates your program plan every week, you can follow through with the activities to gain personalized performance metrics to visualize your progress.
Key Features:
- Full body personalized training plan developed based on science-based exercise research to achieve your goals.
- Flexible nutrition plan tailored to fit your lifestyle and eating habits to keep transition digestible.
- Support to develop sustainable and healthy habits to accelerate progress.
- Caliber coach guidance to stay consistent and accountable to the plan to achieve assured results.
- Tracks and visualizes your personal performance with metrics for an easier and more intuitive grasp.
Pros
Cons
4. Bodyfit (For Bodybuilding)
The Bodyfit App by bodybuilding.com is a traditionally styled weight lifting app with extensive premium content for users of all levels.
Bodyfit workout plans are created by top fitness experts, with some having over 20+ years of experience.
There are over 90 plans and programs with classics like Shortcut to Shred, LiveFit, and many more to maximize muscle mass.
The programs in this fitness app come with meal plans for nutritional support, full transformation guides, and daily workout videos to guide you through your plan and support you to achieve continuous progress.
You can also track your own workouts to evaluate your progress for improvement.
Key Features:
- Top fitness experts developed workout programs for effectiveness.
- Nutritional support, full transformation guides, and daily workout videos for comprehensive guidance to achieve your goals.
- Track your workouts to understand your progress and figure out improvement areas.
Pros
Cons
5. Pliability (For Recovery)
Pliability has an extensive library of over 1500+ workout routines focused on specific goals, sports, body parts, and other target aspects to improve strength and performance.
Since they have multiple focus areas, you can easily find a mobility routine to suit your goals.
This weight lifting app follows a daily routine as a workout of the day (WOD) concept to help users adapt mobility training as second nature and do it in small and often chunks rather than just once a week and all at once.
This habit can improve true transformation results.
For effective results, the exercises featured are developed on scientific research to ensure maximum movement and flexibility.
The Pliability app illustrates data on the duration and the muscles worked for specific routines. This will help you find the best routine based on the time you are willing to allocate and the muscles you want to work.
An interesting feature included in the Pliability app is the mobility test. You can take a mobility test through the app to evaluate your overall mobility levels and identify weaknesses to work on.
Key Features:
- An extensive library of over 1500+ workout routines is designed on multiple targets, so there’s always something for everyone.
- Workout of the day (WOD) concept to support users in building a habit to achieve true results.
- Exercises are backed by scientific research to ensure effectiveness.
- Data on the duration and the muscles worked helps you find routines to align your capacity.
- The mobility test allows you to determine areas you need to work on for further improvement.
Pros
Cons
6. Sweat (For Women)
Sweat is an app with workouts specifically designed for women by women.
The workouts are created as structured programs by expert trainers to fit into your lifestyle, and you can do them anywhere and anytime you want without any equipment.
Within the structured program created for you, if you don’t feel like performing a particular exercise, Sweat recommends alternatives that will have a similar effect to that particular exercise so that you don’t have to skip the exercise.
The app features a built-in forum and community feature to allow users to interact with other users to share their fitness journey as a form of engaged motivation.
The app also offers a meal planning feature for added value. Every day, you will receive recommendations on meal planning with recipes to help you be aware and eat healthier.
Key Features:
- The structured programs by expert trainers are science-backed for effective results.
- Sweat recommends alternative exercises with similar effects to ensure users stay on their routine.
- The built-in forum and community act as a support system to keep users motivated.
- Comprehensive recipe section to make better and healthier meal choices.
Pros
Cons
7. Future (For Personal Guidance)
When working out with Future, a dedicated coach will personalize your training plans with unlimited workouts.
You can discuss your lifestyle and other variables with your coach when personalizing the plan to meet your goals.
Unlike other general apps, this personal touch in this fitness app makes a difference in keeping you on track for continued progress.
You will be matched with coaches based on a quiz you take as you sign up.
An interesting feature is that you get to choose your expert trainer out of these matches, and you get a lot of options.
There will be details on the coaches’ experience, qualifications, interests, approach to fitness, etc., to help you decide on the best fit.
Your choice will largely determine your experience and the results of the workouts.
You are given a direct communication channel with your coach to record your workouts and send them for feedback and reviews to ensure your technique is right, even if you are a beginner. This is also beneficial to avoid potential injuries due to improper form.
Key Features:
- Interaction with a dedicated coach ensures accountability and motivation throughout your fitness journey.
- The coach creates a personalized plan considering personal variables to ensure positive results.
- You can record your workouts and send them to your coach for review to ensure you are following the correct form.
- You can choose your own coach based on your preferences.
Pros
Cons
A Guide to Get the Best Weightlifting App
Variety in Workouts
Look for variety in the workouts library. Having to repeat the same workouts over and over again will make you bored and lose interest.
Sometimes, even worse, it can overwork certain muscle groups. So, having a variety will keep you interested while ensuring the inclusion of workout programs targeting multiple muscle groups.
Ability to Log Workouts
Logging your workouts is very important to track and evaluate your progress.
Understanding this data will give you the ability to focus on areas you need improvement so that you can focus on workouts targeting those areas.
Creating Custom Workouts
Weight lifting apps generating personalized workouts are becoming more and more common. This is crucial because the workout routines will be based on your health and fitness goals.
If the app’s algorithm can generate a workout plan based on your current fitness level, considering your likes and dislikes in workouts, it will not make it helpful for you to achieve your specific goals; it also becomes more enjoyable for you to follow through as it features workouts that match your ability.
Eventually, when you master this, you can also push yourself to try out more advanced workouts.
Demonstrated Tutorials
Since you won’t have a personal trainer guiding you through the workouts, it is crucial to ensure the exercise library features demonstrated tutorials and reading content to ensure you perform the exercise as precisely as possible to prevent potential injuries due to mis-posture or improper form.
Insights into Muscle Group Recovery
This feature is usually only found in some fitness apps, but if offered, it can be a game changer to track workouts and adjust them according to the muscle usage of your previous workouts.
That way, you can ensure you target most of your major muscle groups and allow muscle recovery to prevent overworking.
Additional Features
Other features that can improve your overall experience with the app include compatibility with fitness trackers and wearable devices to allow syncing of your physical activity data.
As you progress through your workout plan, if the app rewards you with incentives like badges or stickers, it will help motivate you to reach more milestones.
Similarly, a workout app offering or allowing you to set an element of challenge will help you challenge yourself and motivate you to keep improving to achieve those challenges.
Apps that send push notifications or scheduled reminders benefit beginners and individuals who struggle to keep up with their workout plans.
Frequently Asked Questions
Final Words
There are plenty of weightlifting apps in the market. A free weightlifting app can offer you the basic features to get you started. In contrast, paid apps will give you many more features and functionality to take your fitness journey to the next level.
The winner of my list of best weightlifting apps is Alpha Progression. It features a super smart algorithm that acknowledges your personal goals, body composition, equipment availability, and many more variables to generate the best workout plan.
And it has a massive and satisfied user base that stands as a guarantee. Besides, it has a free trial to let you test it out.
Most of the apps reviewed above offer free trials. So be sure to test it out to understand if the app is for you.
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