Step-by-step walkthroughs for every mode
The classic high-intensity interval protocol, fully configurable.
From the home screen's Modes section, tap Tabata.
Adjust Prep/Warmup, Work, Rest, Cooldown, Cycles, and Sets with the +/- steppers. The defaults (10s prep, 20s work, 10s rest, 8 cycles) match the original 1996 Tabata protocol. Prep/Warmup can be extended well past a short countdown if you want a real warmup period, and Cooldown is optional and runs once after the last cycle.
A Tabata work interval in progress, with the round counter below.
Expand Display & sounds to pick a time-display style and the cue sounds for round start, countdown, and finish, plus a toggle for spoken motivational phrases just for Tabata.
Tap Start. The screen color shifts with each phase (prep/warmup, work, rest, cooldown) so you always know where you are at a glance.
Tap it any time to read what Tabata is and how it's meant to be used — the work interval is meant to be all-out, 100% effort.
Round-by-round routines for anything Tabata's fixed structure doesn't fit.
From the home screen, tap Custom Workouts, then the New button.
Give the workout a name, then tap + Add round for each round. Each workout needs its own name: if another workout already uses it, Tabata Forge asks you to pick a different one when you save.
The round list for a custom workout, with reorder, duplicate, share, and delete on each row. (Screenshot from an earlier version.)
Tapping a round opens its editor: name, duration, a spoken entry cue (with a toggle to speak it or not), a motivational-phrases toggle, and a background — a solid color, a photo from your device, or one of the bundled gallery images. You can also add your own recorded voice clip and sound effects from files on your device.
The round editor, including the background color/photo/gallery picker.
Expand Display & sounds at the top of the builder to set a display style and cue sounds that apply to every round in this workout.
Tap the save icon in the top bar, then the play icon to run it immediately, or find it later in your Custom Workouts list.
Each workout in your list shows Last used (today, yesterday, or how many days ago), or Never used. It's green when you've used the workout recently and orange when it's been a while. Choose how many days count as "a while" in Settings → Custom workouts.
Open a workout someone else made, or share one of your own.
A workout comes as a single .tfworkout file. Fitness creators may email it to you, send it in a
message, or put a download link on their website. Tabata Forge never downloads anything itself.
Tap the attached or downloaded file and choose Tabata Forge (if Android asks, pick Just once). Or open the app, go to Custom Workouts, tap the file icon (Import workout file), and pick the file.
Tabata Forge shows who made the workout, how many rounds it has, and whether it includes audio, along with a notice that it comes from a third party. Nothing is added until you tap Import. If you've already imported the same workout you can Replace existing or Add as copy (a copy gets a number after its name, such as "(2)").
The workout appears in Custom Workouts with the creator's name and logo. Some workouts begin with a spoken intro from the creator: the logo is shown while it plays, and you can tap Skip intro. Creator workouts run fully offline; only the optional Watch the video and Website links need the internet, and they ask before opening in your browser.
A creator's workout is theirs, so the original can't be edited. Tap it to see why, or tap the duplicate icon to make your own copy, which you can change however you like and use on your own device. The copy keeps the creator's credit, and a modified copy can't be shared; Tabata Forge explains this if you try.
In Custom Workouts, tap the share icon on a workout and choose an app such as email or messages. You can share workouts you made yourself (if they include images or audio, you'll confirm you have the right to share them) and a creator's original, unchanged, which goes out with the creator's own credit and confirmation. The person who receives it opens it on their Android phone as described above, and may share it onward.
Deleting a workout also removes the images and sounds only it used. To clear out leftovers, open the three-dot menu in Custom Workouts and choose Free up space…; it shows what would be removed and asks first.
Are you a fitness creator? See the Creator Kit for how to make a workout file.
A fixed number of equal work windows, back to back.
From the home screen's Modes section, tap EMOM.
Rounds is how many windows you'll do; Interval is how long each one lasts (60 seconds is traditional, but any length works). A new round starts the instant the previous one ends — there's no separate rest segment.
EMOM's configuration screen: rounds, interval, and prep.
Do your set number of reps as fast as you can at the start of each round, then rest with whatever time is left before the next one begins. The less time you spend resting, the harder the workout. Tap the "?" icon on this screen any time for a reminder.
Two simple, single-purpose timers.
From the home screen's Other Timers section, tap Countdown, set minutes and seconds, and tap Start for one timed effort. The duration you set is remembered the next time you open Countdown.
Tap Stopwatch to count up with laps — useful for anything that isn't on a fixed clock.
Optional encouragement, spoken aloud during your workout.
Tap the gear icon in the top-right of the home screen to open Settings, then go to Motivation and enable "Spoken encouragement during work." It's on by default.
Tap Manage phrases to edit the phrase list — phrases can use
{ROUND}, {REMAINING}, and {TOTAL} placeholders that fill
in your current round and round count.
Tap Choose voice to pick from your device's installed text-to-speech voices, and use the Motivation volume and Speech rate sliders to tune it — both have a Test button so you can preview changes.
The Max cues per minute slider (0.5 to 3.0, default 1.5) sets the most cues a round can have for each minute of its length, rounded down but always at least one. They're spread through the round, never closer than 10 seconds to other speech, and nothing is spoken in rounds under 10 seconds. You can also switch motivation off for a single round in its editor.
A creator can include their own recorded encouragement. When a workout has it, those recordings play instead of the phone's spoken phrases, chosen to suit the round (for example, a line just for the last round). The same switches and the cues-per-minute limit still apply.
See your progress, and undo an accidental edit or delete.
Tap History on the home screen for a bar chart and a log of every workout you've run, completed or stopped early. When you've run more than one workout, a Workout menu at the top lets you look at All workouts (the default) or just one. Switch between 30 Days, 12 Months, and All Time above the chart. The chart, totals and list all follow your choices. Use the share icon to share a summary.
The clear icon deletes history, and it asks first, telling you exactly what will go: with All workouts selected it clears everything; with one workout selected it clears only that workout's entries, from every date. Time ranges only change the chart, so they don't limit what gets deleted.
The History chart with its 30 Days / 12 Months / All Time range picker, and a full log below. (Screenshot from an earlier version, before the Workout menu.)
If you've edited or deleted one of the workouts Tabata Forge ships with, open Custom Workouts and tap the restore icon in the top bar. It adds back any missing built-in workout as a fresh copy — named with "(restored)" so it's easy to tell apart — without ever touching your own edits.
Tap the reset icon on either screen's top bar to put its timing, display style, and cue sounds back to their defaults.