Back to Gym support

Last updated Fri 6 Nov 2026. This page: https://backtogym.app/support

What Back to Gym is

Back to Gym is a return-to-gym program for iPhone, in 12-week blocks. It adds weight only when you're ready, and backs off when you're sore or run down.

• Seven programs: two, three or four lifting days a week, at the gym or with dumbbells at home, with a strength or a muscle focus. Setup picks one from your answers.
• A suggested weight for every exercise, in kg or lb.
• An optional cardio and core day, and a walk on rest days.
• Weeks 1–2 are easy re-entry weeks. Weeks 8 and 12 are lighter deload weeks.
• A check before each session: good to go, sore, or slept badly / run down.
• A rest timer on the Lock Screen, a Food tab with Indian and international dishes and a barcode scanner, a weekly review against your plan, charts of your progress (every week, sets per muscle, each lift's heaviest set), and drawings of every exercise.
• Widgets for today's session, protein and the phase, and Siri for logging your weight and water.

There's no account and it works offline. Your log stays on your iPhone. See the privacy policy: https://backtogym.app/privacy.

Everything is free for 28 days. After that, logging sessions and food needs a one-time unlock. There's no subscription and no ads. See "What does it cost?" below.

Your health comes first

Chest pain, dizziness or sharp joint pain means stop and see a doctor.

Calories, protein, pace and starting weights are estimates. Back to Gym is a training program, not medical advice.

Setup asks a few health questions. They don't diagnose anything. A yes means check with your doctor before you start; until they say it's OK, keep every set easy and turn on My doctor said it's OK in Plan → Profile once they have. The programs aren't made for anyone under 18 or pregnant.

If counting calories has ever made eating harder for you, turn on Hide calorie numbers in Plan → Profile. Food then shows protein, the plate guide and ticks, with no calorie numbers. Under it, Hide weight too takes your body weight, its trend, your goal weight and your pace off the screen as well. You can still log a weight: the app keeps it to check you're not losing too fast, and only says "Logged".

The app asks you to keep four rules before you start:

• Chest pain, dizziness or sharp joint pain: stop and see a doctor.
• Sore or run down? Say so before you train. The app cuts the sets and the weight.
• Out of breath? Take the full rest, or more. On cardio, keep to a pace where you can talk.
• No sets to failure in the first 8 weeks. Stop with reps left.

Questions

How do I set it up?

Open the app and tap Set up. It takes about five minutes, in fourteen short steps: Your goal, Last time, Health check, About you, Aches and injuries, When you train, Where you train, Your gym, Your program, Food, Starting weights, Daily targets, Apple Health, and Before you start.

If you set up before the goal, health and "last time" questions were added, Today shows a card that asks them. They're also in Plan → Profile.

You can skip anything and fill it in later in Plan → Profile. Leave a starting weight blank if you don't know it. Your daily targets are worked out from your answers. They're estimates: adjust them from real results.

How do I load a plan file?

A plan file holds your profile, targets, start date and starting weights.

• On the first screen, tap I have a plan file and pick it. A full backup from Plan → Your log works here too, and brings your log with it.
• Later, go to Plan → Profile → Load a plan file, or Plan → Your log → Load a program or plan file.

A plan file someone writes for you, a coach for example, loads the same way.

To make one, go to Plan → Profile → Export your plan file. It's the quickest way to set up a new phone.

Can I train two days a week, or at home?

Yes. The app picks a program from your answers in setup, and says why: Return to Gym on 3 days, on 2 days or on 4, a dumbbells-only version on 3 or 2 days for a dumbbell gym or home, and a strength focus and a muscle focus for people who train now or have finished a block. Plan → Profile → Program shows the pick for your answers now, two alternatives and every program; it never switches on its own. A switch starts on a Monday (today, if it's a Monday and nothing is logged yet): the weeks before keep their program, and your log, your week and your starting weights carry on. Today has Undo until you log something on the new program. If you do fewer lifts than planned three weeks running, the review offers the program for the days you manage. While a health question has a yes and no doctor's OK, only the 2- and 3-day programs are offered. Plan → Profile also has Session length (45 min, 60 min or as written) and Where you train.

Training at home? Enter your heaviest dumbbells in Plan → Profile → Starting weights. No suggestion goes above them, and once they're too light you add reps instead, up to 3 more, until the app says a heavier pair is the next step.

What is Your gym?

A checklist of the kit your gym has, in setup step 8 or in Plan → Profile. Where you train (a full gym, dumbbells only or home) fills it in to start with. Tick what's there. Train then shows a version of each exercise you can do. Anything unticked still shows, marked "not at your gym". If you skip it, everything shows as planned.

Can I use pounds, stone or ounces?

Yes. Setup picks units from your iPhone's region, and Plan → Settings → Units changes them: lifts in kg or lb, body weight in kg, lb or stone and pounds, height and waist in cm or feet and inches, water in litres or fluid ounces, and food amounts in grams or ounces. Each can differ: lift in kg and weigh yourself in stone if that's how your gym and your scales work. In pounds, suggestions use pound steps: 5 lb on a barbell or a machine, your dumbbell step (5 or 2.5 lb), 10 lb on a kettlebell. Your log is kept the same way whatever you pick, so changing units never changes what you lifted. Protein, carbs and fat stay in grams.

What does Busy? do?

When a machine is taken, tap Busy? on the exercise card. It lists every version of that exercise with a drawing, your gym's first. Pick one and log it as usual. Its weights are kept apart from the main lift's. Prefer this and Rather not on a version move it up or down the list next time.

What if a joint hurts?

Tick it in Aches and injuries. Train then shows a gentler version of a move that's hard on that joint, and leaves out one with no gentler version at your gym, with Show it anyway to bring it back. Pain may rise a little when you start strengthening a sore joint. Sharp pain means stop that exercise and see a doctor.

Short on time? Pick Short on time (45 min) at the start of the session: the warm-up, the first lift, one push, one pull and one carry, 2–3 sets each. Plan → Rules → If busy has more ideas.

Does the plan change by itself?

No. It suggests, and nothing changes until you tap. The review in Plan (and the top three on Today) can offer 2 days a week when 2 of 3 lifts get done three weeks running, the 45-min session as your default when you pick it most weeks, another version of a lift that's stayed at the same weight for three weeks, and, when the log shows you drifting, asks what's getting in the way and offers the fix that fits. Each has Not now (or Keep, or Keep going). On Sunday a weekly check-in asks four quick ratings and one change for next week; the ratings stay on your iPhone. At the start and end of each block you can measure your waist, a 30-second chair stand and a push-up count to see what changed.

What happens after week 12?

From the Monday of week 12, Today shows a card for block 2. It opens a page with the start date and a starting weight for each exercise, worked out from your last good sets. You can change any of them.

Nothing changes until you accept. After that, you can undo until block 2 starts. Block 1's log stays as it was.

Which diets does it support?

Four: Vegetarian, eggs and dairy included; Vegetarian, no eggs; Vegan; and Non-vegetarian. Pick one in setup or in Plan → Profile.

Your diet picks the example menu, the Food guide, the shopping list and the protein top-ups, and which foods search shows first. Non-vegetarian menus have chicken, fish and eggs, and mutton at most once a week. Changing your diet keeps your log.

Does Back to Gym know food outside India?

Yes. In setup or Plan → Profile, tell it what you mostly eat: Indian food, international food (porridge, eggs on toast, salads, wraps, pasta, stir-fries) or both. International food gets its own week of menus for each diet, fitted to your targets the same way, with its own Food guide. Both takes the international menu on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and the Indian one on the other days. Search shows dishes of your kind of food first, and every food stays in search. Your answer stays on this phone.

What is the week's plan?

Food shows each day's plan: your diet's menu with amounts fitted to your calorie and protein targets. Tell Back to Gym about food allergies, foods you'd rather not eat and fasting days (in setup or Plan → Profile) and it swaps meals for others that fit, plans vrat days with vrat foods, and turns a roza day into suhoor, iftar and a late meal. Tap Another on a meal to swap it yourself, or mark a single fasting day, like ekadashi, at the top of the day's plan. The shopping list adds up what the plan's meals need, by aisle, for the rest of the week or the next one. Suggestions only: what you tick is what's logged.

Allergies: the plan leaves out meals with them and marks others to check, and search marks foods that have them. Back to Gym goes by usual recipes and can't see labels, so always check the pack and ask when you eat out.

How do I log food faster?

Food → Add food has five quick ways:

• Saved meals. Under Eaten, tap Save as a meal, pick the foods and name it. Its + on Add food logs it again in the same amounts.
• Same as yesterday. Copies the day before, all of it or one meal.
• Recent foods. Foods you log often come first, and + adds the amount you had last time.
• Type or say it. Write the meal the way you'd say it, like "2 idli, sambar and a cup of chai", or tap the microphone on the keyboard and say it. Back to Gym finds each food in its lists. Check the foods and amounts, then tap Add.
• Scan a barcode. Point the camera at the barcode on a packet, or type the number under it. Back to Gym looks it up in its lists of packaged foods sold in India, the US and the UK. Check the amount, then tap Add. Not every product is there: if one isn't, tap Enter the label and type the name and the values from the pack once. It's kept on this iPhone and found first the next time you scan it. Values that look wrong can be corrected the same way. Plan → Profile → Your packaged foods lists them.

On iPhones with Apple Intelligence and iOS 27 there's also Photo: take or choose a photo of your meal and Back to Gym suggests what's in it. A photo is a guess, so check each food and amount.

Dishes eaten from a katori, drinks and chutneys can be logged by the katori, glass, cup, tumbler or spoon too, and drinks by the mug, can, bottle or peg.

How does Back to Gym set my calorie target?

It starts with an estimate from your age, height, weight and pace. After 4 weeks of logging food on at least 5 days a week and weighing in at least twice a week, it learns from your own log: what you logged, plus the energy in the weight you lost or gained. Each Monday it moves halfway toward what the last 4 weeks say. When your target should change, Plan → Review suggests a new one.

Nothing changes until you tap to accept. A change is at most 150 kcal down or 200 kcal up, at most every 2 weeks, and never under the lowest target the app sets. When you reach your goal weight, it offers to switch to keeping your weight steady. Plan → Profile → How the calorie estimate works has the details. Every number is an estimate.

If you answered yes to a health question and your doctor hasn't said it's OK yet, it never lowers your target: it asks you to check with your doctor first. With Hide calorie numbers on, it doesn't show the estimate or change your target.

Does a typed meal, a photo or a barcode leave my iPhone?

No. Typed meals, photos and barcodes are read on your iPhone, by Back to Gym's own rules and, where it's there, Apple's on-device model. Back to Gym doesn't use Apple's Private Cloud Compute or any other online service. The calories and protein always come from the food lists, not from the model. Photos aren't saved, and a barcode is looked up in the list built into the app.

Taking a photo or scanning a barcode asks for the camera once. Choosing a photo uses the system's picker, which shows Back to Gym only the photo you pick. Saying a meal uses your keyboard's dictation, which is part of iOS.

What does it cost?

Everything is free for 28 days, counting the day you start them. After that, logging new sessions and food needs a one-time unlock: ₹999 in India, $19.99 in the US, and the App Store's matching price elsewhere. It's paid once. Nothing renews.

• When the 28 days start: when you tap Start my 28 free days, at the end of setup or later from Today. The App Store shows it as a free purchase. Until you start them you can look around, but not log.
• What locks after the 28 days: logging sets, cardio and food on days after your last free day. Days inside the 28 stay yours to change.
• What never locks: everything you've logged, to read and export; the readiness check, the 45-min option, rests and the rest timer, the stop line and the safety rules; your daily check-in (weight, steps, sleep, water, walk), Apple Health and Siri's Log my weight and Log water; your plan, the review and Progress.
• Family Sharing is on: if you turn on Purchase Sharing, up to five people in your family group can use the unlock too. Each person's 28 free days are their own.
• A new phone, or the app deleted and installed again: sign in with the same Apple Account. Your purchases come back by themselves; if they don't, tap Plan → Settings → Purchases → Restore purchases. Your log comes back from your backup, not with the purchase (see "How do I export my log?").
• A code: Plan → Settings → Purchases → Redeem a code.
• Refunds go through Apple, at reportaproblem.apple.com. We can't see or refund App Store purchases ourselves.

How do I export my log?

Go to Plan → Your log. Export everything (JSON) saves your whole log, saved meals, settings and profile. You can also export the training log or the daily log as CSV, for a spreadsheet.

The JSON file holds your health and body details. Share it only with people you trust.

To bring a backup back, tap Import a backup or CSV on the same page and pick the JSON file. A training-log or daily-log CSV with the same columns as the exports works too. If some days are already logged, it asks whether to keep them or replace them.

Does it sync between phones?

No. Your log stays on the iPhone you log on. To move to a new phone, export everything (JSON) from Plan → Your log. On the new phone, tap I have a plan file on the first screen and pick that file.

How does Apple Health work with Back to Gym?

Health is optional. Back to Gym reads your steps, weight and sleep to fill in the daily check-in, and your heart rate to show it on cardio day. It saves your workouts, the weight you type, your waist from your profile, and the day's water and protein.

• Connect it: in setup, or Plan → Settings → Connect Apple Health.
• Change what it can read or save: open the Health app, tap your picture, then Apps, then Back to Gym.
• Turn it off on this phone: Plan → Settings has a switch for filling the check-in and one for saving to Health.

Health doesn't tell apps when you've refused to share a type. If something you refused stays blank, type it in the check-in.

How do reminders work?

There are four, and four more for the week's food plan, all set on your iPhone:

• Lifting days at 9:15am: today's workout and the first weight. It's skipped once you've finished the session.
• Weigh-in at 7:30am on Mon, Wed and Fri, unless a weight is already logged. It never shows a weight.
• Protein check at 7pm, if you've logged under 90 g of protein that day. Not on a fasting day.
• Weekly check-in on Sunday at 18:00, until it's done or skipped.
• Shopping list on Saturday at 10:00, Sunday prep at 17:00 and fasting tomorrow at 20:00 the evening before a fasting day. A lunch reminder with the plan's lunch is off until you turn it on.

Change the times, the weigh-in days and the protein amount, or turn any of them off, in Plan → Settings → Reminders and Meal plan reminders.

Back to Gym sets up the next two weeks of reminders each time you open it. If you don't open it for two weeks, they stop until you do.

No reminders? Check that notifications are on: Settings → Notifications → Back to Gym.

How do the widgets and Siri work?

There are three widgets. Add them like any other: touch and hold the Home Screen or the Lock Screen, tap Edit, then Add Widget, and search for Back to Gym.

• Today's session: the workout and the next lift with its weight, or the cardio or rest day. Tap it to open Train.
• Protein today: what you've eaten against your target, and calories unless you've hidden them. Tap it to open Food.
• Phase: the days left in this phase and in the block. Tap it to open Plan.

They change at midnight on their own, and within a few seconds of you logging something. If one says to open Back to Gym, open it once and it catches up.

Anyone holding your iPhone can see the Lock Screen. To keep weights, protein and calories off it, turn off Plan → Settings → Widgets → Numbers on the Lock Screen.

Siri and the Shortcuts app have three actions. Say "Log my weight in Back to Gym" and Siri asks for the weight. "Log water in Back to Gym" adds a 0.25 L glass; to add another amount, make a shortcut with Log water in the Shortcuts app. "Start today's workout in Back to Gym" opens Train. Logging asks you to unlock your iPhone first, and saves to Apple Health too if Back to Gym saves there.

Report a problem

Email support@backtogym.app (it's also in Plan → Settings → Help and privacy). Tell us:

• what you did, what happened, and what you expected
• your iPhone model and iOS version
• the app's version, from Plan → Your log → About

A screenshot helps. Please don't send your exported log unless we ask for it, since it holds your health details.

If you're testing through TestFlight, you can also take a screenshot and tap Share Beta Feedback, or send feedback from the TestFlight app.

Where the food values come from

Food search has 199 everyday Indian dishes, 101 dishes from other cuisines, 120 basics and 53 drinks. We work out a dish's values from our own recipe, shown with the dish, and a basic or a drink that's one thing takes its values from these sources:

• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov
• Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (Public Health England, McCance and Widdowson's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset 2021).

Yields, the oil a fried dish soaks up and a few stand-in ingredients (brown sugar for jaggery, for example) are estimates.

Scan a barcode looks up packaged foods sold in India, the US and the UK, from Open Food Facts: 9,443 in India, and in the US and the UK, the 95,357 and 69,312 products Open Food Facts users scanned there since 2023. Their values are the label's, as contributors typed them.

• Contains data from Open Food Facts, available under the Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0. © Open Food Facts contributors. Individual product values are under the Database Contents License (DbCL) 1.0.
• The packaged-food files and the script that makes them are free to download, under the same licence, at backtogym.app/data.

All food values are estimates, not lab measurements.