User guide

Your first workout

You do not need an account, internet connection or completed profile to log a workout. You can add body weight, a goal and RIR later. Before your first session, check your units and rest duration in Profile → Settings.

1. On Home, choose Quick start to open a blank workout.
2. Use Add to select exercises. Search by name or filter by muscle group and equipment.
3. Tap a set's values to enter weight and reps, or time and distance depending on the exercise.
4. Mark each set completed after doing it. Entering values alone does not complete a set.
5. Choose Finish and confirm saving. Find the saved workout in Logs.

For repeatable sessions, build a routine or repeat a saved workout.

Where to find things

• Home: quick start and recent workouts.
• Routines: your prepared workout plans.
• Exercises: the exercise library, favorites, variants and default sets.
• Logs: the calendar and saved workouts.
• Profile: body weight, your goal, personal details and access to Settings.

Example: enter 40 kg and 10 reps for your first working set of bench press. After doing the set, mark it completed and optionally add RIR. For the next set, record what you actually did, even if it differs from the planned 10 reps.

Workouts and sets

• Working or warmup: tap the set type indicator to switch. Warmups are excluded from records and working-performance reviews.
• Another set: add one at the exercise, even after completing it. The new set starts pending, with RIR unset.
• Delete a set: use Undo in the brief message if you change your mind.
• Replace an exercise: swipe its card and choose Replace. This is available before any of its sets are completed and does not change the routine.
• Remove an exercise: swipe its card and confirm removal. This also removes its sets from the current workout.
• Order and notes: use the workout's reorder action; edit notes at each exercise.

Minimize the workout to browse the app and return through the bottom panel. Discard workout removes the draft; Finish saves it. Finishing does not automatically complete unfinished sets.

Entered values and completed sets are different

Values copied from a routine or previous workout are a starting point. Marking a set completed confirms that you did it. If you marked the wrong set, tap again to undo completion. Mark sets individually to accurately record a partially completed exercise.

The whole-exercise status cycles through pending, completed and skipped. Marking the whole exercise completed also completes all of its sets. Skipping it returns its sets to pending, so do not use this to mark just one omitted set.

When your plan changes during a workout

You can replace an occupied machine with another exercise before completing any of its sets. If you have already done some sets, keep their record and add the new exercise separately. Before finishing, check your completed sets and describe any changes in the workout note.

Routines

A routine is a prepared exercise list for a repeatable session, such as an upper- or lower-body day.

1. Open Routines and create a routine.
2. Name it, select exercises and prepare sets, variants and notes.
3. Save it, then start a workout from its detail screen.

Values entered in the routine take priority. Zaber can fill empty values from history. During the workout, adjust them to match what you actually do.

You can rename, duplicate or delete routines. Deleting a routine preserves saved workouts.

Routine, repeat workout or quick start?

• Routine: use a prepared plan repeatedly. Make lasting changes to the plan in the routine editor.
• Repeat workout: start from a particular session in your history. This creates a new workout and preserves the original.
• Quick start: choose exercises as you go.

Carry-over example: if your routine specifies 10 reps, that value stays. An empty weight field can be filled from the last completed workout for that exercise and variant. Before completing the set, check that its values match today's performance.

Set completion and RIR do not carry over into a new workout. Repeating a workout also starts with a blank workout note, so yesterday's poor sleep does not describe today's session.

Exercises and variants

Use Exercises to manage exercises, favorites, default sets and notes. The tracking type determines the fields: weight and reps, bodyweight, added weight, assistance, duration or distance.

Create a variant for a different grip or execution. Each variant has separate default sets, notes, history and records. When creating one, you can independently copy default sets and assign older workouts without a variant; the app shows how many workouts will be reassigned before you confirm.

Switching a variant in a workout or routine loads its last sets and note, or its defaults if no history exists. You cannot switch after completing a set in an active workout. Deleting a variant preserves existing workouts and history.

What to enter for each tracking type

• Weight & Reps: the load used and reps completed, for example on a barbell press.
• Bodyweight Reps: reps completed, for example on push-ups.
• Weighted Bodyweight: only the added load and reps, for example on weighted pull-ups. Do not add your body weight to the load field.
• Assisted Bodyweight: assistance and reps. At the same rep count, lower assistance means less help.
• Duration: time, for example on a plank.
• Duration & Weight: time and load used.
• Distance & Duration: distance covered and time.
• Weight & Distance: load and distance, for example on a loaded carry.

Use the unit shown beside the field. Keep the way you count load consistent for each exercise so that its history remains comparable.

When to use a variant

For example, track wide-grip and narrow-grip pulldowns as two variants. Give each a name that makes the setup easy to recognize next time. Assign older history only if it actually belongs to that variant; otherwise start its separate history from now.

Rest between sets

Start the countdown using Rest. Choose minutes and seconds with the wheels or use a quick preset.

In Profile → Settings, set the default duration, automatic start after completing a set, completion sound and haptic feedback. Older versions have Settings directly in the bottom navigation.

The countdown remains visible when the workout is minimized. Supported iPhones also show the workout and rest through a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in Dynamic Island.

Automatic rest starts when you mark a set completed, not when you merely enter its values. To control each break yourself, disable auto-start and use the Rest button.

If you cannot hear the end of rest, check that completion sound is enabled in Settings. On iPhone it uses media volume; if headphones are connected, check your audio output too. A silent countdown may still be running correctly.

History, charts and records

In Logs, select a calendar day and open a workout. Swipe between months or use Today to return to the current day. Repeat a saved workout from its detail screen with fresh, pending sets.

Open exercise progress using the chart icon in an active or saved workout, or through the exercise detail. Your active workout and rest timer continue while you browse.

• Charts use the last 30 entries and completed working sets.
• Tap a point to inspect its set. Metrics depend on tracking type; lower assistance means less help.
• Variants have separate histories. Switching variants in progress does not change the active workout.
• For Weight & Reps exercises, the best set is ranked using estimated 1RM, so a record is not always the heaviest load.

Reading your progress

Estimated 1RM is calculated from logged load and reps; it is not a measured maximum attempt. Charts and records help you spot a trend, but do not mean you should attempt that load in your next workout.

The exercise chart and whole-workout review look at your records differently. A chart can show performance even when the review has no earlier session with matching loads and working-set count for direct comparison.

Before deleting a workout, check its date and name. Deleting it removes its contribution to history and can change charts and later workout comparisons. Export a backup first if you want to keep the record outside the app.

Reps in reserve — RIR · 1.0.10

RIR is your estimate of how many more reps you could have done after a set. It is optional for working sets of exercises that track reps.

• 0: no more reps left.
• 1, 2 or 3: estimated reps remaining.
• 4+: four or more.
• Not set: unknown reserve, not zero.

Enter RIR when editing a set; for a completed exercise, tap the RIR value at the set. Warmups have no RIR. Previous RIR is not automatically copied into a new workout or added set.

Example: you completed 10 reps and estimate you could have done two more. Enter 10 reps and RIR 2. Do not add RIR to your completed rep count.

RIR 0 describes having no reps left after a set; it does not necessarily mean you attempted and failed another rep. If you cannot estimate it, leave it unset. You can add a general impression of difficulty in a note.

Notes: exercise, workout and goal · 1.0.10

Notes add context that numbers alone cannot capture. Choose the location that matches what you want to record:

• Exercise note: execution, machine setup or how this exercise felt. For example, “Seat 4, final set had no reps left.”
• Workout note: an observation about today's whole session. For example, “Slept poorly, bench felt hard, rows felt fine.”
• Goal note: a longer-term intention in Profile. For example, “I want to lose weight gradually and maintain strength.”

Adding a workout note

1. In an active workout or saved workout detail, tap Workout note.
2. Write your observation and choose Save. You can also edit the note while finishing the workout.
3. To remove it, clear the text and save the empty field. Cancelling the dialog keeps the original text.

Workout and goal notes each have a 500-character limit. Short, specific sentences usually suffice. If you mean only the final set or one exercise, say so explicitly.

An exercise note can come from its defaults or a previous workout. This saves retyping machine settings, but update an old comment about difficulty before today's review if it no longer applies.

When you create an AI review, these notes are sent too, including notes on skipped exercises. They can explain an occupied machine, for example, but do not turn a skipped exercise into completed work. See AI coach for details.

Profile, body weight and goals · 1.0.10

In Profile, add body weight with a date and time, including past measurements. View 30 days, 90 days or all time, and tap a chart point to inspect a measurement.

Open one of your own measurements in the list to edit it. Swipe and confirm to delete. Measurements from other apps show their source and must be edited in that app or in Health.

When did your goal start?

Choose lose, maintain or gain weight and set its start date. If you have been losing weight for three months, enter the actual start date in the past. Replacing later goal changes requires confirmation; earlier phases are preserved. Workout reviews then use the corrected history.

Personal details can optionally store your year of birth, not your full birth date. The current workout review does not yet use age in its recommendations.

Your goal note

Open the goal editor, fill in Goal note (optional) below the goal type and start date, and save. The text describes your priorities; it does not itself change a lose-weight goal to maintain or gain. When changing phase, check the selected goal and date too.

Example: you were losing weight from January and want to maintain from October. Start the new phase in October. A September workout will still be reviewed using the goal and goal note applicable at that time.

Why is there no weight trend yet?

One measurement is enough for a chart point, but not for a coaching trend. Record measurements with their actual dates. Multiple measurements in one day are averaged for the trend, so they do not replace measurements on different days.

Apple Health · iOS, 1.0.10

1. Open the Apple Health card in Profile and connect.
2. Enable reading body weight to import measurements and history from Health.
3. Separately enable writing from Zaber to save new measurements to Health too.

Sync runs when opening Profile or returning to the app. Use the sync icon beside the last-sync time to refresh manually. Continuous background sync is not guaranteed.

Enabling writing does not export old, unlinked measurements. Edits and deletions of linked Zaber measurements sync when writing is enabled and sync succeeds. Edit measurements from other apps in Health or the app that created them.

If measurements are missing, check Zaber's body-weight access in Health and sync again. Android supports manual weight entry; Apple Health is not available there.

Reading and writing work independently

If you log weight through another app or a scale connected to Health, enabling reading is enough. If you want to enter weight in Zaber and see it in Health too, enable writing as well. Disabling writing pauses outgoing changes; it does not delete existing Health measurements.

A last-sync time does not guarantee that Health shared every measurement. If history is empty, check that Health contains body-weight records and that Zaber is allowed to read them. Body-weight sync is separate from workout and heart-rate recording on Apple Watch.

Workout reviews · 1.0.10

A review opens after saving a workout on your phone and is also available in its history detail. Your workout is saved before the review loads.

Tap the Workout details heading to expand locally calculated facts for the whole workout and individual exercises: completed working sets, available comparisons, RIR, your goal and weight trend. These calculations work offline. The optional AI coach uses them to write an explanation.

• Comparisons cover completed working sets of Weight & Reps exercises with the same set count and loads in the same order.
• Up to three comparable earlier workouts from the previous 90 days are used, within the recorded goal phase. Warmups and unfinished sets are excluded.
• Repeated drops in reps with recorded RIR 0 are highlighted. The records do not establish the cause.
• Advice is calculated separately for each supported exercise. An extra rep is suggested only with enough history, RIR of at least 2 in every current working set of that exercise, a maintain/gain goal and a sufficient weight trend without a significant decline. The review does not automatically suggest increasing the load.
• Missing data leads to a request for more history, RIR, a goal or measurements. Bodyweight, timed and distance exercises are not yet compared for performance.

The weight trend compares two 14-day periods, not total change over three months. It needs measurements on at least two days per period, at least 14 days between the first and last measurement, and a measurement in the last week. Expand How this was assessed for exact conditions.

A comparable-workout example

Last time, you completed three working sets at 40, 40 and 40 kg, with 28 reps in total. Today you have the same three loads and 29 total reps. Those records can be compared. If you add a fourth working set or change a load today, that earlier workout no longer qualifies for direct comparison.

When several comparable workouts exist, the baseline is the middle value of up to three results, or their average when there are two. The comparison rep count therefore may not be just your last workout's result. Missing comparison data does not mean stagnation.

AI coach · 1.0.10

AI coach provides a short explanation of your performance and advice for your next workout, based on Zaber's calculations and your notes. Creating a new review needs internet; a saved response can be read offline.

1. Save a workout or open its detail in Logs.
2. Check the records and add a note if you want to explain the circumstances.
3. In the AI coach card, tap Create AI review.
4. On first use, read which data is sent and confirm permission. No AI request is sent without it.
5. Wait while the response is being prepared. You do not need to tap repeatedly.

Reading the response

The opening summarizes the main result. Short insights and a Next workout section may follow. Matching recommendations are grouped; exercises needing a different approach appear separately. Not having a paragraph for every exercise does not mean it was omitted from the request.

How the coach uses notes

Set values remain the basis for calculations. Notes provide your own assessment and circumstances. For example, “all exercises RIR 0” can be considered as your report, but does not fill individual set fields with zeroes. If a set says RIR 2 while the note says RIR 0, the sources conflict; the set value is used for calculations.

“Today felt hard” does not establish a particular RIR. A goal note describes an intention, not an achieved result. The coach should not turn those statements into new measured values.

What is sent and what permission means

When you tap, Zaber sends a summary through its server to OpenAI: exercises with completed working sets, set and rep counts, available comparisons, recorded RIR, your goal and body-weight averages. It also includes goal, workout and exercise notes, including those on skipped exercises. Your full workout history and year of birth are not sent. Notes are sent as written, including any personal details you put in them.

Withdraw AI permission removes permission for future AI requests. Saved responses stay on your device. Creating another review requires permission again; withdrawing it does not itself delete data already sent to the provider.

Why did the response disappear after editing a note?

A saved response belongs to a particular summary of your data. If a note or another review input changes, the old response stops appearing. Tap Create AI review again to send the full current summary, not just the changed note. Editing alone does not send anything automatically.

If a review fails

• AI is taking too long: wait a little and try again.
• The response could not be verified: it did not pass validation; you can request a new review.
• Temporary limit reached: try later. Repeated taps do not reset the limit.
• General error: check your connection. If it keeps happening, send feedback with the exact message and approximate time of the attempt.

An AI error does not delete your saved workout. You can still view its local details without AI. Older builds may show the same general error message for several causes.

Apple Watch

The watch complements the iPhone app. Your paired iPhone must be reachable; Zaber on Apple Watch is not a standalone offline workout logger.

1. Start a workout on your iPhone or repeat a recent workout from the watch.
2. Complete sets and control rest on the main watch page. Edit weight, reps and RIR on the phone.
3. Swipe left for detailed metrics and actions to finish or discard the workout. Both actions ask for confirmation.

With Health permission, an active workout starts heart-rate, active-calorie and duration recording. Completed recordings are saved to Apple Health. This flow does not support simultaneous recording in Apple's Workout app.

If disconnected, open Zaber on the iPhone and reconnect. Finishing on the watch does not automatically open a phone review; find it later in workout history.

Rest and the next set on your wrist

During rest, add or subtract 15 seconds or end the break. Below the countdown, the next pending set shows its exercise, variant and values. Automatic rest follows the setting on your phone.

If a command fails because the connection was lost, reconnect first and check the state on your phone. The watch does not queue set-completion commands offline. Add notes and create AI reviews in the phone app.

Settings, backups and a new phone

Profile → Settings contains language, metric or imperial units, rest, sound and haptics. Data actions are near the bottom.

1. Finish or discard any active workout.
2. Choose Export backup and save the file somewhere accessible from your new phone.
3. On the new phone, open Zaber, choose Import backup and select the file.
4. Review the preview and confirm restoration.

Restoring replaces current data; it does not merge it. If the new phone already has data, export a backup from it first.

Backups include workouts, routines, exercises and settings; version 1.0.10 also includes body weight, goal history, birth year and RIR. Health sync settings do not transfer. Restoring does not replay historical writes or deletions to Health.

Zaber has no login account or its own cloud sync between phones. Use export and import to transfer data explicitly. Reset app data in Settings deletes the app's local data.

Checking that you have a usable backup

Export creates a .zaberbackup file. Actually save it from the share sheet, for example to Files; merely opening the sheet does not save a copy. Check its name, date and location. Keep your original phone's data until you have checked several workouts, routines and your profile on the new phone.

The current version also backs up notes and saved AI responses. AI permission does not transfer: confirm it again on the restored device before a new request. A backup contains your records, so choose a storage location whose access you control.

If import reports an invalid file, select the original Zaber export, not a screenshot or manually edited document. If the backup came from a newer app version, update Zaber on the destination phone first.

Frequently asked questions