How to write a workout program for a client, step by step.
A good client program is not a list of favourite exercises. It answers a few questions in order: what the client wants, how much time they have, which movements they need, how hard each set should be, and how next week will be harder than this one. Here is that order, with tables you can use as a template.
4 min read
01 / Intake
Ask before you write.
- Goal. What they want in the next three months, in their words.
- Time. How many days a week they can train in a normal week, not their best week, and how long each session can be.
- Equipment. Commercial gym, home gym, dumbbells only, or a mix.
- Training age. How long they have trained consistently, and which lifts they already know.
- Health. Injuries, pain, conditions and medications. Anything medical goes to a clinician before you program around it.
02 / One goal
Optimise for one thing at a time.
A program can lean toward strength, muscle, general fitness or a sport, but it can only be built around one of them at a time. Pick the main goal, write down how you will see progress (heavier lifts, more reps, sessions completed), and let everything else support it.
03 / The split
Fit the plan to their week.
| Days a week | Split | Each muscle trained |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 3 | Full body | 2 to 3 times a week |
| 3 | Upper, lower, full body | Twice a week |
| 4 | Upper lower | Twice a week |
| 3 or 6 | Push pull legs | Once or twice a week |
Each of these is written out in full in the free workout plans, and the guide to workout splits compares them. Use them as starting templates and adjust for the client.
04 / Exercises
Choose by movement pattern.
Cover the main movement patterns across the week, compound lifts first in each session, then smaller exercises for the muscles the goal cares about.
| Pattern | Easier | Harder |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | Leg press, goblet squat | Back squat, front squat |
| Hinge | Dumbbell Romanian deadlift, hip thrust | Deadlift, Romanian deadlift |
| Horizontal push | Chest press machine, push-up | Bench press |
| Vertical push | Dumbbell shoulder press | Standing overhead press |
| Horizontal pull | Seated cable row | Barbell row |
| Vertical pull | Lat pulldown | Pull-up |
| Single leg | Step-up, reverse lunge | Bulgarian split squat |
| Core | Plank, dead bug | Hanging knee raise, ab-wheel rollout |
Start newer clients with the easier column. Every exercise here has a guide in the exercise library.
05 / Sets, reps and rest
Match the dose to the goal.
| Goal | Reps per set | Rest between sets |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3 to 6 on the main lifts | 2 to 4 minutes |
| Muscle | 6 to 12, up to 15 on small exercises | 1 to 3 minutes |
| Endurance | 12 to 20 | 30 seconds to 1 minute |
Most clients do well on 2 to 4 hard sets per exercise and roughly 10 to 20 sets per muscle a week, starting near the low end. Finish most sets with one or two clean reps left.
06 / Progression
Write next week into this week.
Give every exercise a rep range and a rule: add reps until every set reaches the top of the range, then add the smallest weight jump available. Clients know what to do without messaging you, and you can see from their logs whether it is working. How to track progressive overload has a worked example.
07 / Check-ins
Adjust from what they log.
Each week, look at sessions completed, whether the weights moved, and anything they reported, such as a short night or a sore knee. Change one thing at a time: an exercise that does not suit them, a day they keep missing, or a rep range that has stalled.
08 / In GymTribe
Build it once, assign it, adjust it.
In GymTribe you build workouts for a client from the app's exercise library, save templates for days that repeat, and assign them. The client logs every set in the same app where they log food, sleep and steps, and you can adjust their targets and send a reminder when they need one. See how coaching works.
In short
Goal, week, patterns, dose, progression.
Answer those in order and the program almost writes itself. This is general training information; refer anything medical to a qualified clinician.
