Two honest facts up front. First, Apple's own Workout app on the Watch is the best cardio tracker most people will ever own, and it's already installed. Second, no lifting app is good on the Watch, because logging a set on a 41mm screen mid-workout is slower than pulling out your phone. The apps that "support Apple Watch" mostly mean heart rate and a mirror of what's on the phone. That's fine. Just know what you're buying.
Built in: the Workout app
Outdoor run, cycle, swim, HIIT, Functional Strength Training and about eighty others. Heart-rate zones, custom intervals, auto-pause, and everything lands in Health and the Fitness app instantly. For anything measured in time and heart rate, don't download anything.
For lifting: apps with a real Watch app
Strong
A notebook, perfected. Two taps per set, no feed, no suggestions, the cleanest CSV export in the business. If your program lives in a spreadsheet or your coach's head, this is the fastest way to record it.
Skip it if you want demos, programming, or any kind of advice. Strong has opinions about nothing.
Strong's Watch app is the one people actually use: start the workout on the phone, log sets from the wrist with the crown, rest timer taps you when it's time. Hevy's is close behind and also runs standalone.
Hevy
The most usable free tier in the category: unlimited workouts, four routines, three months of charts, no ads. The paid tier is the cheapest around and the lifetime price beats three years of anyone else's annual. Social feed if you like that, ignorable if you don't.
Skip it if you want the app to write your program. Hevy Trainer on Pro helps, but it's a template builder, not a coach.
Fitbod
You tell it your equipment and it generates today's session from a muscle-fatigue model and a 1,600-exercise library with HD video. Good for people who never want to think about what to do. The "AI" is a recommendation algorithm, not a coach, and it can get repetitive.
Skip it if you have a plan you like already; you'll fight the generator constantly.
Fitbod's Watch app mirrors the phone and captures heart rate; Jefit adds a Watch app on the Elite tier.
For classes
Apple Fitness+
Studio classes in a dozen categories, new ones every week, with your Watch heart rate and rings on screen. Custom Plans stitch classes into a multi-week program. The polish is unmatched. Strength content is dumbbell-only and it does not track sets, reps or loads.
Skip it if you train with a barbell or want a logbook. It's television for exercise, done very well.
Where GymAdapt stands (we're the ones writing this)
No Watch app yet. What you get instead: the live workout on your iPhone lock screen and in the Dynamic Island (current exercise, set, rest countdown) so you can glance without unlocking, and every session pushed to Apple Health so it counts on the Watch's rings. If a Watch app is a must, pick Strong or Hevy today. If you want the plan and the adaptive weights and can live with the phone on the bench, that's us.
Questions people ask
What is the best Apple Watch workout app for lifting?
Strong has the most-used Watch app for logging sets from the wrist, with Hevy a close second. Fitbod and Jefit (Elite) also have Watch apps.
Does GymAdapt have an Apple Watch app?
Not yet. GymAdapt shows your live workout on the iPhone lock screen and Dynamic Island and syncs completed workouts to Apple Health, which updates your Watch rings.
Do I need a third-party app on Apple Watch for cardio?
No. Apple's built-in Workout app covers running, cycling, swimming, HIIT and dozens more with heart-rate zones and intervals.
Which workout app works with Apple Watch for free?
Apple's Workout app is free. Nike Training Club is free and integrates with the Watch. Hevy and Strong have Watch apps on their free tiers.
Not on your wrist yet. On your lock screen already.
GymAdapt keeps the current set and rest timer in the Dynamic Island and writes every session to Apple Health.
Get GymAdapt on the App Store → $7.99 a month or $49.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial. iPhone only.