How to Get Started with the Hevy App on iOS or Android

Hevy is a free workout tracker for iOS and Android, so getting started means installing it from your phone's app store, then building a routine before you log your first session. That order matters: Hevy is built around planned routines, and the site's own framing is "build routines and track progress," so a routine is the structure your logged sets hang off of. If you just want to record a one-off workout, you can still do that, but you'll get more out of the app by setting up a routine first.

What Hevy is, in one line

A gym workout tracker and planner: you plan lifting routines, log workouts as you do them, and track progress over time. It's positioned as free, and it runs on both major mobile platforms.

Step 1: Install the app

1. Open the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android) on your phone.
2. Search for "Hevy" — the listing is titled "Hevy - The #1 Workout Tracker & Gym Logger App."
3. Install it and open it.

There's no desktop-first path here; the product is a phone app, so plan to set it up on the device you'll actually carry to the gym.

Step 2: Build a routine before you log anything

This is the step people skip, and it's the one that determines whether the app feels useful or like a blank form.

• Create a routine and give it a name that matches how you actually train (for example, "Upper A" or "Push").
• Add the exercises you intend to do, in the order you'll do them.
• Save it. From then on, starting a workout means opening the routine rather than rebuilding the session from scratch.

If you don't have a split in mind yet, Hevy's own content includes guides such as "Best 3-Day Workout Split: The Complete Guide (2026)," which is a reasonable starting point for choosing a structure before you encode it as a routine.

Step 3: Log your first workout

Once a routine exists, the loop is: start the routine, work through the exercises, and record what you actually did — the sets, and the weight or reps for each. The point of logging in the moment rather than from memory afterward is that the numbers stay accurate, and accurate numbers are what make progress tracking meaningful later.

Step 4: Use the progress side

Logging is only half of it. The app's stated purpose is to "measure progress," which means the value shows up after you've logged the same exercises more than once — you can compare this week's numbers against last week's instead of guessing.

What you can expect to track

Common snags

• Starting with logging instead of planning. You can log without a routine, but you lose the structure that makes repeat sessions easy to compare.
• Inconsistent exercise names. If the same movement gets logged under two different names, your progress view splits into two. Pick one name per exercise and stick with it.
• Expecting a web app. The product is described as an iOS and Android app; set it up on your phone.

Is it the right pick for you?

Hevy fits if you want a free tracker on iOS or Android, you train with some repeatable structure, and you care about seeing progress over time rather than just ticking off a session. If your training is entirely unstructured and different every time, the routine-first design will feel like overhead — though you can still log individual workouts. For a fuller comparison against other trackers, the question of whether Hevy is a good choice relative to alternatives is worth reading alongside this setup guide.