Workout Writer is an iPhone app for creating structured running and cycling workouts by typing them in plain text, then sending them straight to your Apple Watch or Garmin.

**We're currently finishing off our Suunto integration, so please DM if you're a Suunto user who'd like early/beta access!**

# A: Answer - What problem does it solve?

Creating structured workouts on a watch can be painfully slow and complicated. Sharing them with a group is difficult.

The actual idea came from run club - I’d noticed that after sessions, people would often describe the workout we’d just done using similar notation it in Strava:

*Warmup 10 min*  
*6 x 800m threshold, 90 sec rest*  
*Cooldown*

So I started wondering if I could use the same types of notations to create the workout in the first place?

That’s what Workout Writer does. You type the workout, the app previews the structured version as you type, and then you can schedule it for use on your watch.

It also includes powerful sharing features, that allow you to share a workout that's automatically adapted to the fitness level of the person/people receiving it.

# B: Better - Why is this better than the alternatives?

The main difference is that you don’t need to tap through lots of forms, steps, repeats, targets, and nested screens.

You just write the workout in the way runners and cyclists already tend to describe workouts.

For example:

*Warmup 1 mile Easy*  
*6 x*  
*400m Threshold, 200m Float*  
*Cooldown 10 min*

The preview updates immediately as you type, so you can see exactly what the app has "understood" before sending anything to your watch. I wanted it to be flexible with what it understands, but also fail quickly if it doesn't understand something so you can see right away.

I should also mention: this is not an AI wrapper or vibe-coded app I threw together in a weekend - not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that. I’m a long-time iOS developer, and I started building it in June 2023 when Apple announced WorkoutKit.

The parser itself is deterministic, not AI. For workouts, I didn’t want “probably right”, I wanted the same input to produce the same structured workout every time. It was also really important to me that the preview updated immediately, not once some off-device model had time to think about it, so it is literally just "lots of code" doing the work here 😅

There are optional AI features, but they're really peripheral to the main features of the app, and are really just there for keeping things fresh or generating a new intervals set for you if you need the inspiration.

# C: Cost

**Workout Writer is free to download and try.**

There’s a free workout limit, then Premium unlocks unlimited workouts use and extra features like sharing & AI generation.

Premium is available as an in-app purchase. Current pricing is:

* Yearly: US$24.99 - with a week's trial 
* Monthly: US$4.99 
* Lifetime: US$59.99

One other thing to note about the pricing is that I was really keen to avoid hitting people with a paywall if they're receiving a shared workout - when you're just trying to start a run is not when you want to have to think about that kind of thing - so even if you've hit the free limit, you can always receive and schedule a shared workout without upgrading.

[Download on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6608967303?pt=466010&mt=8&ct=rdiosapps2)  
[www.workoutwriter.com](http://www.workoutwriter.com/)

I’d genuinely love feedback, especially from runners, cyclists, Apple Watch users, Garmin users, or anyone who has ever tried to build interval workouts on a tiny watch screen.

Workout Writer: Run & Ride - Forget the painful running/cycling workout creators on Apple Watch & Garmin. Use simple text to easily create your workout plan.