Your first steps with Ironstead.

Ironstead is a training log built for lifting weights. You record what you did in the gym, set by set: the exercise, the weight, the reps, and how hard it felt. Over time that turns into a clear picture of your training, so you can see what is working and keep making progress.

You can use Ironstead completely on your own. Nothing about the app requires a coach. You track your own workouts, build your own single-day plans, and watch your history grow. If you later decide to train with a coach, you connect the two accounts and keep everything you already logged.

The app works on your phone and in the browser, and it is built to keep working when the gym wifi is not. What you enter is saved on your device first and syncs up when you are back online, so a weak signal never costs you a set.

Ironstead has two roles. A trainee tracks their own training. A coach manages other people and builds programs for them. A coach can do everything a trainee can and more, so the coach role is simply a superset, not a separate kind of account.

A self-coach is one person wearing both hats. You coach yourself: you hold a coach account, and you are your own trainee. This is a fully supported setup, and it is the path to take if you want to build a multi-week program for yourself.

The line between the roles matters most when it comes to planning. A trainee can create single-day template plans to reuse, and can freely edit any training block a coach has assigned to them, nothing is locked. Building a multi-week block from scratch, though, is a coach action.

• Trainee: log workouts, build single-day templates, edit blocks a coach assigned to you.
• Coach: everything a trainee can do, plus manage trainees and build multi-week blocks.
• Self-coach: one account that is both, so you can plan your own multi-week programs.

Signing up takes a moment. You give an email and a password, confirm your email, and you are in. New accounts start as a trainee, which is all you need to track your own training.

Your first choices, like whether you measure in kilograms or pounds and whether you describe effort with RPE or RIR, live in Profile settings and can be changed any time. There is no wrong answer at the start, and nothing you pick now locks you in later.

1. 1
   Sign upEnter your email and a password, then confirm your email address.
2. 2
   Set your basicsOpen Profile and choose your units (kg or lbs) and your preferred effort scale. You can change these later.
3. 3
   Log a setHead to the Workout screen and record your first set. That is all it takes to start a history.

If you train with a coach who uses Ironstead, you link your accounts with an invite code. Your coach generates the code and shares it with you. You enter it in the app, and once the coach accepts, they can see your training and assign programs to you.

Connecting does not hand over control of your account. Everything you already logged stays yours, you keep tracking exactly as before, and you can still edit anything, including the blocks your coach assigns. The connection just lets the two of you work from the same data.

You are ready to train. The Workout screen is where every session happens: you add exercises, log each set as you go, and finish when you are done. It is designed to stay out of your way between sets.

The next guide walks through that screen in detail, including how to log weight and reps, record effort, and use the rest timer. When you finish reading here, that is the natural place to go.

Common questions

Do I need a coach to use Ironstead?

No. Ironstead works fully on your own. You can track workouts, build single-day templates, and follow your progress without ever connecting a coach.

Can I plan my own multi-week program?

Yes, by using a self-coach account. Multi-week training blocks are a coach feature, and coaching yourself is a supported setup, so you get the full planning tools for your own training.

What happens to my data if I connect a coach later?

Nothing is lost. Everything you already logged stays yours. Connecting simply lets your coach see your training and assign programs, and you can still edit everything.