Simple Workout Log vs Meso

Ironotes is a simple workout log for people who care about getting stronger - not chasing the latest fitness trend. They've already found the few things that drive almost all of their results: progressive overload, a handful of proven lifts, and consistency. That's why they choose a minimalist app that stays out of the way and just works. Why lifters choose Ironotes: "Simple, intuitive, effective. No fancy gimmicks. I was able to set everything up in ten minutes." "Offers the functionality of subscription services for absolutely free." "Free. Clean. Journal. PBs. A few charts. Just get the app." Follow your own program. Log sets without interrupting your workout. Know what you lifted last time. See your progress and consistency. Keep hitting PR's. No paywall to get started. No sign-up. No ads. No mandatory subscription. If you enjoy using Ironotes, you can support its development with a voluntary donation. Build your workouts • Create unlimited custom workouts • Full control—no templates or restrictions Log your training • Log weight, reps, and sets in seconds • Auto-load previous sets • Session history at a glance • Built-in rest timers • Tag sets however you like: RPE's, RIR's, warm-ups, targets etc. Track progress • Strength and volume trends • Workout consistency • Personal records • Workout and exercise notes Your data stays yours • Apple Health integration • iCloud sync • CSV export • Supports kg & lbs No sign-up. No questionnaires. No AI workout plans. No social feed. Just a simple workout log for getting stronger. Terms of Service: https://ironotes.app/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://ironotes.app/privacy-policy

You train; Meso keeps count. Meso is the gym version of your coach's spreadsheet: the same grid of sessions and weeks, the same words (tonnage, RIR, F for failure) and what a spreadsheet can't give you on the gym floor — what's on today, every set pre-filled with last time, and a reading of whether the block is moving. TODAY • Which session is due this week, with each exercise's prescription (sets × reps, target RIR). What you did last time waits in the workout, where you use it. • Start it in one tap. Deloads and the end of the block are announced, never sprung on you. THE WORKOUT • One line per set: load, reps, RIR, tick. Two taps per set is the goal. • Pre-filled from your best recent session of the same exercise (a deload never drags it down). After every set, the open sets follow it at their own reps and RIR; the ones you changed by hand stay as you left them. • Warm-up sets at 40/60/80 % that never count. Substitute an exercise by muscle. Bodyweight and cardio rows without meaningless numbers. • Notes per exercise and per session. Resume where you were after a pause or a restart. PROGRESS • The grid: exercise × week, with tonnage and the change against the same exercise, never against a substitute. • Effort as RIR (reps in reserve). "F" means to failure and is kept apart from an estimated 0. THE PROGRAMME • Type a block in your coach's notation (reps, ranges or pyramids like 12-10-8-8, blocks like 1×6 + 2×10, sets to failure, rest-pause, supersets, RIR per week or per set) or start from a template: full body ×3, upper/lower ×4, push/pull/legs ×6. • Paste a block from Apple Notes, or the cells of your Excel or Numbers sheet, and Meso reads it. If a row doesn't add up, it tells you why instead of guessing. • When the block ends, Meso offers a deload week with the loads already brought down. • Next block from this one, with the ramp carried over and the loads already there. LEARN • Every rule Meso applies comes with its source and its grade of evidence (solid, probable, disputed): RIR, volume, progression, deloads, cycles. What Meso does not do, and why, is written down too. MESO PRO — ONE PURCHASE, FOR GOOD Meso is free, and the whole training loop is free: the programme, templates, Today, the workout with pre-fill and warm-ups, history, the next block, Learn, the Progress grid and Apple Health. Meso Pro is a single purchase — no subscription, shared with your family — and adds: • Progress by week (volume per muscle against the 10–20 band, hard sets) and by exercise (e1RM and tonnage over time, across blocks). • Send the week to your coach as text, or the whole block as CSV. • The next step: before the first set, more reps or more load from last time (double progression), with "Apply" and "Why?". • The RIR check when a set doesn't add up, gyms with bar and plates ("60 = 20 + 2×(20)") and the block summary. • Four more colour themes, each in light and dark. Try it free for 30 days first, once per Apple ID. Nothing is charged: when the month ends the Pro features close again, and whatever you created with them stays yours. PRIVATE No account, no ads. Anonymous usage statistics of our own (how blocks are created and how sessions end, never your exercises, loads or notes), which you can turn off in Settings. Your programmes and sessions stay on your device and in your own iCloud. Apple Health is write-only and off by default. No streaks, no confetti, no guilt for a missed day. Progress is measured in blocks, not days. There is also an optional tip jar. It unlocks nothing. English, Spanish and French. Kilograms or pounds.