Strength training and running in one app — with a plan that sees both as one week.
I train hybrid myself – lifting and running in the same week. IronStride is the app I was missing for it: strength training and running in one iPhone app, with Apple Watch. No account, no ads, no tracking.
Hybrid training means strength and endurance in the same weekly plan. The usual apps only do one of them properly — strength apps don't know heart rate zones, running apps don't know periodization.
IronStride replaced two apps side by side, because they couldn't do exactly this: show a week that contains both as one week.
Any training app can log sets and record runs. These are the reasons I built IronStride.
When you open it, your day is there in the right order — with one big button for the next session. Once it's done, the next one moves up. If today doesn't work out, move it right on the session to tomorrow, the day after, or any date; Apple Calendar follows.
Plan opens the current week with all seven days — including the free ones. Tap a free day to add something; for a run, add the run type and distance right away: easy on Wednesday, long on Sunday. Swipe to the next week. You see what the whole week costs, not just a single session.
A training block sets the waves, deload weeks and weekly volume — steadily rising or towards a target. The distance is distributed across what's actually in your week; "Polarized (80/20)" really means 80/20. Set caps per run type once, and any shortfall shows up instead of vanishing. Running deloads can be offset from strength deloads.
One set after another, with suggestions from your progression rule and what you actually managed last time. Above the sets you'll find the hole numbers for J-cups and safeties, and the plate calculator tells you what goes on the bar — using your own plates.
Polar, Garmin, Wahoo and almost every other chest strap speak the same Bluetooth standard. Pair it once, and IronStride connects on every run by itself — even with the screen locked. The strap takes priority over watch and Health, because it measures electrically at your chest rather than optically at your wrist.
The watch records a run on its own — distance, pace, heart rate, elevation and map — and guides you through the segments of your run template with taps on the wrist. For strength training it shows one set per screen, from the same progression math as the iPhone.
Planned sessions appear in Apple Calendar at your usual training time. Drag an event to another day there, and the session moves in IronStride too — even across weeks. Deleting in the calendar, on the other hand, never deletes a workout.
The "This week" card on Today shows the health guideline minimum as three separate values: 150 minutes of endurance, two strength sessions, 60 strength minutes per week. Running five hours and never lifting doesn't meet the recommendation — a single combined bar would have hidden exactly that.
Today, Progress and Library work without any planning at all. Tap the small images to enlarge them.
Today to train, Plan for the week, Progress to look back, Library for templates, exercises and shoes. Settings live behind the gear icon.
Strength and run templates in groups, swap exercises without losing sets. The database knows families and variations — equipment, angle, grip — and search finds down to the variation.
Run templates built from segments, an interval builder, voice cues ten seconds before every change, heart rate and pace zones. Afterwards: map, splits, elevation profile, best efforts and GPX export.
Strength and running separately: weekly volume, sets per muscle group, e1RM trend, weekly mileage, distance records and a VO2max estimate, plus a yearly overview.
Weight, body fat, muscle mass and measurements over time, plus progress photos that stay inside the app and never land in your photo library.
A workout done without the app can be logged in full afterwards, and a run with a GPS jump can be corrected. Everything you can create, you can also edit and delete.
Strength and endurance in the same training plan: lifting for muscle and maximal strength, running for endurance – planned as one week so the two don’t hold each other back. IronStride shows strength and running sessions in the same week and tracks your weekly load across both.
No. The watch records runs on its own and guides you through intervals with taps, so your iPhone can stay at home. Without a watch, heart rate comes from a Bluetooth chest strap – Polar, Garmin, Wahoo and almost all others work.
Everything is free to use: unlimited templates, periodization, recording, Apple Watch, export. Statistics go back 90 days; IronStride Pro – a one-time purchase, no subscription – unlocks your full history.
Yes. The app speaks English and German and follows your system language; you can also switch it for IronStride alone. This page is also available in German.
On your device and in your own private iCloud, synced between iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch — whether or not you buy anything. Plus backup and CSV export. No server of mine, no account, no tracking, no ads.
The whole app is free; every insight covers the last 90 days. "IronStride Pro" is a one-time purchase that unlocks your entire training history. Nothing gets deleted or stops being recorded.
Buying it supports a single developer who builds the app in his spare time.
Questions and bug reports are answered on the support page; everything else is in the manual.
The app is in testing via TestFlight before launching on the App Store. I'm looking for anyone who fits strength and running into the same week — at the gym, in a home gym or on the road.
Send me an email with your Apple ID — the iCloud address you use for the App Store; without it, Apple can't invite you to TestFlight. Testing is free, comes with no obligations, and the full version is unlocked.
