Walkthrough · Build Workouts
How to Build a Workout Plan: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Quick answer: To build a workout plan, pick one goal, decide how many days a week you can train, choose a weekly split, select exercises that cover every major movement pattern, set your sets, reps, and rest, plan how the work gets harder over time, and track every session so you can adjust.
This page covers both halves of the job. First, how to build a workout plan on paper in 7 steps. Then, how to build that workout plan in Fit Viz, with a short video for every step, so it runs on a phone, a client's app, or the TVs in your gym.
Jump to: The 7 steps · Build it in Fit Viz · Video based workout · Text based workout · Quick Workout · Athletes, trainers, gym owners · FAQ
How to build a workout plan in 7 steps
A good workout plan is a short list of decisions made in the right order. Make them once, write them down, and every session after that is just following the page.
Step 1: Pick one goal
Strength, muscle, fat loss, endurance, or general fitness. Each goal changes the plan: how heavy you lift, how long you rest, and how much cardio you carry. A workout plan aimed at everything trains nothing well, so choose one primary goal for the next 8 to 12 weeks.
Step 2: Decide how many days you can train
Be honest about your week. Three sessions you finish beat five you skip. Two to four days suits most beginners, and you can add a day once the habit holds.
Step 3: Choose your weekly split
The split is how you divide the work across your training days.
| Days per week | Split that fits | What a week looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Full body | Full body · rest · rest · full body |
| 3 | Full body | Mon / Wed / Fri, one rest day between sessions |
| 4 | Upper / lower | Upper · lower · rest · upper · lower |
| 5 | Push / pull / legs plus two | Push · pull · legs · upper · lower |
| Class-based gym | Daily format rotation | Strength day · conditioning day · mixed day, repeated |
Step 4: Select exercises by movement pattern
Cover the patterns before you chase a variety: a squat, a hinge (deadlift or hip thrust), a push (press or push-up), a pull (row or pull-up), a carry or core movement, and some conditioning. Four to six exercises per session is plenty. Put the hardest, most technical lift first.
Step 5: Set sets, reps, and rest
| Goal | Sets | Reps | Rest between sets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 3 to 5 | 3 to 6 | 2 to 4 minutes |
| Muscle | 3 to 4 | 6 to 12 | 60 to 90 seconds |
| Endurance and conditioning | 2 to 3 | 12 to 20, or timed intervals | 30 to 60 seconds |
These are the standard starting ranges coaches use. Timed formats such as EMOM, AMRAP, and Tabata replace the rest column with a clock, which is where a workout timer earns its place.
Step 6: Plan how it gets harder
A workout plan only works if it progresses. Add a little weight, a rep, a set, or shave the rest each week, and take a lighter week every fourth or fifth week. That principle is called progressive overload, and it is the difference between a plan and a list of exercises.
Step 7: Track every session and review every 4 to 6 weeks
Log the sets, reps, and loads you actually did. After four to six weeks, look at the numbers: keep what is moving, change what has stalled. If you have an injury or a medical condition, check with a health professional before starting a new plan.
That is how to create a workout plan on paper. The next section shows how to build it so it plays on a screen with exercise demos, timers, and coaching notes.
Build your workout plan in Fit Viz: The walkthrough
Every workout in your plan is built in the same place. Build one, save it to your library, and reuse it across weeks, clients, and classes.
Build Workouts
Tap on the menu bar (three lines on top left of the screen) If the menu bar is already open, navigate to ‘Build Workouts’
You have 3 ways you can choose to build a workout:
- 1.Build a Video Based Workout
- 2.Build a text Based Workout
- 3.Build a Quick Workout
- 1.Single Quick Workout (Video Based Workout)
- 2.Multiple Quick Workouts
Which one should you choose? A video based workout suits classes and clients who need to see each movement. A text based workout suits experienced athletes who only need the prescription. A Quick Workout suits days when you need a finished session in under a minute.
Build a Video Based Workout
1. Notes (Coaching Notes, Gym News, Gym Updates, Whiteboard)
This is where you will put any useful information regarding the workout i.e workout structure or flow, challenges or upcoming events or that you would like to appear as notes before a workout session/class right before workout begins.
You can choose the background color on the next section below, then select if you need the notes to appear mid workout and at the end or only at the beginning
2. Playback Settings
There are 3 Categories here:
1. Workout setting - allows you to adjust the page, how many exercises you want per page and how long/duration of each page will be before moving to the next workout block/page.(The page can have up to 9 exercise demonstrations). If you prefer text only, choose the text slide above (demo will be in another video). Click on this link -> To see how to build a text based workout
If you have set up your tv app, besides the page setting you can assign the workout page to a specific tv in your facility
The "Rep Count" in the middle will dictate how many times the page will loop
To reorder exercises simply drag the 3 horizontal lines and move it to the position you prefer. You can also delete/remove the exercise from the workout or make a copy. All these settings are besides the exercise
To the right of the screen, you can see a list of the exercises we have selected prior to finalizing the workout. If you are content, click "Create workout"
If you forgot anything you can always come back to this workout which you can access from the “Build workout Tab -> Workout Library -> Facility Workouts -> Tap on the three vertical dots -> Tap Edit and adjust anything in the workout using the steps above.”
Video: Build Video Based Workout (Workout Setting)
Link: https://youtu.be/0zf5Urmqo-4
Build a Workout from the FITVIZ Phone App (Workout Setting)
Link: https://youtube.com/shorts/TlAXaHmjT1Y
Where this fits your plan: the Notes slide is the place for the session goal from Step 1 and the sets and reps from Step 5. No TVs set up yet? See Connect & Manage TV Devices.
2. Exercise Settings -> Select this if your workouts are time based and would prefer having one exercise at a time on the screen with a dedicated time for each exercises
Video: Build Video Based Workout (Exercise Setting)
Link: https://youtu.be/KeuqpcktlHc
Build a Workout from the FITVIZ Phone App (Exercise Setting)
Link: https://youtube.com/shorts/td7-msEsVRA
3. Timer Settings - Works similar to Workout setting where you can have multiple exercises on the screen however this one will now allow you to set a custom time (advanced timer setting with an indicator on each exercise which will guide the class during the workout session clearly pointing out which exercise is being performed)
Video: Build Video Based Workout (Timer Setting)
Link: https://youtu.be/Mjv3-hV_Zjo
Build a Workout from the FITVIZ Phone App (Timer Setting)
Link: https://youtube.com/shorts/fzBh0ziyIV8
Which playback setting matches your plan?
| Your session | Setting to choose |
|---|---|
| Strength or mixed work, several movements per block, athletes moving at their own pace | Workout setting |
| Time based work, one movement on screen at a time | Exercise Settings |
| Stations or circuits, several movements on screen, custom work and rest times | Timer Settings |
Build a Text Based Workout
The process of building any workout follows a similar pattern across the platform, make sure you watch the video on Build Video Based Workout (Workout Setting) which goes through the whole process
Video: Build Text Based Workout
Link: https://youtu.be/GdY9ZaxQdTQ
Build a Text-Based Workout from the FITVIZ Phone App
Build a Quick Workout
You can either build a single or multi workouts using our Quick Workout function, where our platform will take a few inputs from you then proceed to build the workout(s) for you which builds the workout in under a minute and will build multiple workouts(up to 6) for you in under 2 minutes
Watch the videos below to better use the Quick workout tool
Single Workout:
Video: Build a Single Quick Workout
Link: https://youtu.be/nRtMPd8T5Y8
Build a Quick Workout from the FITVIZ Phone App (Single Workout)
Link: https://youtube.com/shorts/EJ2VXrDfcs4
Multi Workout
Video: Build Multi Quick Workouts
Link: https://youtu.be/OuMhbjS6ZDk
Build a Quick Workout from the FITVIZ Phone App (Multiple Workouts)
Link: https://youtube.com/shorts/TEQb4Hdz-pg
Where this fits your plan: the multi workout option builds up to six sessions in one pass, which is a full training week from Step 3 in about two minutes. Edit anything it gives you before you save.
Want to try the workout builder on your own plan? Start free, no credit card, and build your first workout while the videos are fresh.
From one workout to a full workout plan
One workout is a session. A plan is those sessions arranged over weeks and put in front of the people doing them. Each of those jobs has its own walkthrough:
- 1.Arrange the weeks. Make Workout Programs chains your saved workouts into a multi-week program with progressions (Step 6).
- 2.Send it to people. Assign Workouts delivers a workout to one athlete, one client, or a whole class.
- 3.Put it on the calendar. Schedule Workouts loads the week ahead of time (Steps 2 and 3).
- 4.Run it in the room. Display Workouts shows the session on your TVs.
- 5.Track it. Log Workouts records scores, loads, and PRs (Step 7).
How to build a workout plan for the way you train
Athletes: build your own workout plan
Training on your own, you need three things: a plan that fits your week, demos you can trust, and a record of what you did. Build your own workout plan with the steps above, or let the FitViz app adjust each day's session to your readiness score and heart rate.
Training for a race? The HYROX training plan is already built, week by week.
Personal trainers: a custom workout plan for every client
Writing a custom workout plan for each client is the job; rebuilding the same sessions every week is the waste. Build each workout once, save it to your library, copy it, adjust it for the client in front of you, and assign it to their app. Quick Workout drafts the session so you edit instead of starting from a blank page.
Start free for 14 days, with no per-client fees · See everything in personal trainer software
Gym owners and coaches: one plan, every class, every screen
For a class-based gym, the plan is the week's programming and the hard part is delivering it the same way in every session. Build the week with multi Quick Workouts or from your own workout templates, assign each page to a specific TV, and let the workout display run the room with demos and timers while your coaches coach. Add live heart rate zones if you coach by intensity.
5 mistakes to avoid when you build a workout plan
- 1.Planning for your best week. Build for the week you actually have. Missed sessions break a plan faster than easy ones.
- 2.Too many exercises. Four to six per session, done well, beat ten done in a rush.
- 3.No progression. If week six looks like week one, you wrote a list, not a plan.
- 4.Changing it every week. Give a plan four to six weeks before you judge it.
- 5.Not writing it down. A plan you cannot see is a plan you will not follow. Save it, display it, log it.
Frequently asked questions
How do I build a workout plan as a beginner?
Pick one goal, train two or three days a week with full-body sessions, and use four to six basic movements: a squat, a hinge, a push, a pull, and a core exercise. Start light, add a little each week, and log every session.
How many days a week should a workout plan include?
Two to four days suits most beginners and three to five suits experienced trainees. The right number is the one you can repeat every week, with at least one rest day between hard sessions for the same muscles.
How long should I follow a workout plan before changing it?
Four to six weeks at minimum. Most training blocks run 8 to 12 weeks, with the weights, reps, or intervals progressing inside the block.
How do I create a workout plan for clients?
Start from the client's goal and schedule, build each session once in your library, then copy and adjust it per client rather than rewriting it. In Fit Viz, assign the finished workout to the client's app and review their logged results to plan the next block.
Can I make a workout plan automatically?
Yes. The Quick Workout function takes a few inputs and builds a single workout in under a minute, or up to six workouts in under two minutes. You can edit any of them afterward from your Workout Library.
What is the difference between a workout and a workout plan?
A workout is one session. A workout plan is a set of sessions arranged across a week and progressed over several weeks toward a goal.
Is Fit Viz free to build workouts?
Fit Viz has a free plan for athletes, personal trainers, and gym owners with no credit card needed, and the Professional plan is free for the first 14 days.
Build your first workout today
You now know how to build a workout plan and where every setting lives. The fastest way to make it stick is to build one.
Related walkthroughs: Make Workout Programs · Assign Workouts · Display Workouts · Back to the self-guided tour