I stopped going to the gym a couple of years ago, but that didn’t end my gym sessions. Instead, I set up a home gym and train four days a week with the same motivation.
I have more fun in my home gym, where I do both weightlifting and calisthenics. It’s called hybrid training, but no matter the style, I always wear my Samsung Galaxy Watch during training sessions.
However, the watch alone isn’t enough. You need the right apps to make training more fun and help you stay motivated throughout the session. I have both: the watch and the app I love using while training.
I didn’t pick a random gym tracker for my Galaxy Watch. I spent a couple of days searching the internet to find the best fit for me. I’m glad the effort paid off.
I tested five gym trackers on my Galaxy Watch before choosing my favorite one.
Quick Lift is the easiest gym tracker I’ve ever used
It’s also the most beginner-friendly
Quick Lift is a no-nonsense gym tracker. You can open the app and log your workout by selecting from built-in exercises on the watch. Before you start, you can add the number of sets and the weight you want to lift.
However, if you are a regular gym-goer, finding the right exercise each time from a plethora of built-in options isn’t smart, and it’s frustrating. That’s why you have “Routines.”
I have four routines, each including several exercises I selected from the built-in options. When I train my legs, I go to the “Leg Day” routine and log my sets. That’s how easy it is.
This gym tracker is free to use, but it also has a “Pro” tier. The paid plan unlocks Live heart rate and calories during workouts, progress charts, routines, and a couple more features.
While it’s easy to get started, I don’t like important features like Live heart rate, calories during workouts, and routines available behind a paywall.
So, I kept looking for more gym tracker apps on my Galaxy Watch.
My Workout Plan, Samsung Health, and Gym Day are decent ones
But they all lacked what I was looking for
I love the Gym Day app. It lets you create exercises for each day and add notes when you finish. It shows your Live heart rate and calories burned during workouts, plus it has all the basic features you need.
However, the biggest issue with the Gym Day tracker is that it’s mobile-first. That means I can’t start anything from my watch. I need the phone to add exercises and start my workout. My Galaxy Watch acts only as an extension, which is not what I want.
My Workout Plan is another decent gym tracker app. You can create routines that include multiple exercises. The benefit of this is that you don’t need to start the next exercise manually. The next exercise starts after a few seconds’ break that you set.
You can also add different weights to each set, which adds more depth to the stats. But the app also suffers pretty much the same issue as Gym Day, as the former is too dependent on the phone. You can add or modify your exercises from the watch.
The Samsung Health app, on the other hand, doesn’t have this issue. You can create exercises, start an exercise, get Live heart rate, and see the calories you burn during a workout, all on your watch.
You can also create workout routines using the Samsung Health app, similar to many third-party apps, but you’ll need your phone for this. Still, I’d put the Samsung Health app ahead of the other two apps for its more watch-first approach.
Hevy is the most comprehensive Gym tracker I’ve ever tested
And it’s the one I’m sticking with
Then there is Hevy. This is, hands down, the most comprehensive gym tracker app I’ve ever used.
Like other Gym tracker apps, Hevy needs your phone to set it up and enjoy all its features, including creating routines. However, its phone dependency feels like a minor issue after you get your hands on some of its handy features.
After creating routines in the Hevy app on your phone, you can start one from your watch. It lets you add weight to each set while setting up routines, get heart rate and calorie information, and all those important details on your watch.
No need to worry if you are a beginner. The app also has pre-built routines, so you can get to the most important part quickly: the workout. You can also set rest times between sets and add notes to each exercise.
I also love how I track my workout progress over time, which shows how much weight I’ve added. This is called Progressive Overload, and I love tracking it.
I gradually increase the weight, reps, and frequency to challenge my muscles. The app motivates me when it tells me I have lifted more weight than a year ago.
Hevy is more than a gym tracker app
Hevy isn’t just a gym tracker app. I consider it a complete health app, ideal for both advanced users and those just beginning their workout journey.
Hevy also has social features. The app’s Home page looks a lot like Instagram, and you can follow athletes and invite friends to join. You can also compare your workout with other users in the app.
No other gym tracker app comes close to Hevy. This is the best I’ve ever used.
