Which workout app lets me build my own routine?

Start with the kind of plan you own

A repeated weekly routine and a multi-week program need different things from an editor. For a repeating Upper/Lower routine, you need named days, exercises in the right order, and editable sets and reps. A twelve-week program may also need scheduled variations and week-specific targets. Write those requirements down before you choose.

Creating a routine here means entering a plan you have chosen. An app that generates exercises for you is doing a different job. If you want to move an existing written plan quickly, the routine-import comparison covers that separately.

What the editor should let you change

In SayLift’s routine editor, you can rename days, rearrange exercises and change sets and reps. Its coach follows the routine you keep in the app. The next working weight comes from the logged training record; a routine is not a promise that every session will be completed at one fixed load.

Several app workflows to consider

SayLift pairs an editable routine with voice logging. It fits the lifter who wants to keep their own exercise choices and spend less time entering the completed session.

Hevy lets you add exercises when building a routine or recording a workout. Its logging documentation explains that workflow. Strong uses workout templates that you can change during a session, as described in its first-workout guide.

For a program organized over several weeks, look at the builder and program structure before the logging screen. Boostcamp’s own overview includes a custom-program workflow. These products address different planning preferences; a feature list alone will not tell you which editor suits your plan.

Try a small plan before transferring everything

1. 1Create one training day with two exercises from your existing routine.
2. 2Set different rep targets on the two exercises so you can see how the editor handles them.
3. 3Record a sample session with completed reps that differ from the target.
4. 4Change the next planned session and check that the saved session still shows its actual numbers.
5. 5Return to the routine after closing the app. Make sure you can find and edit it without rebuilding it.

When your gym changes the session

A busy rack or an unavailable machine can force a change. Record the exercise you actually performed under its own name. Keep a note if the change affects how you will interpret the session later. Turning a machine press into a barbell press in the log makes the history harder to compare.

The same distinction helps when you revise a routine after several weeks. The plan describes what comes next; the history describes what happened. Treat the first session on a new movement as its own starting point.

Who SayLift is for

SayLift suits iPhone lifters with an existing routine they want to keep adjusting. The editor provides the structure; manual or voice logging records the completed work. Voice entries pass through a review screen so you can check the exercises and numbers before saving.

A small first session is enough to test whether this fits your workflow. Get SayLift on iPhone, create a training day and look at the resulting history before moving the rest of your plan.