Workout program template.
Build a clean, printable training plan instead of starting from a blank page. Pick the split and days, set how many exercise rows each session gets, add your business and client name, then print it or save a PDF. Free, no sign-up, and the same sheet works for a client program or your own.
build your program
on the sheet
Each training day prints as its own block with exercise, sets, reps, load or RPE, rest and notes. Switch the extras on or off.
Warm-up line per day
A single line at the top of each session for the ramp-up, mobility work or prescribed warm-up sets.
Conditioning line per day
A line under the lifting for cardio or conditioning: what, how long, how hard.
Week-by-week notes box
A progression box at the end of the sheet: what changes in week 2, 3, 4 and beyond, written down before the block starts.
your program
after the print
If a document like this goes out to every client, the rebuilding is the part worth retiring: in Coachway, forms, programs and meal plans live in the client app - sent, filled in and stored per client, no printer involved.
see inside Coachwaythe short answer
A workout program template is the repeatable structure of a training plan with the individual content left blank: one block per training day, and a line per exercise for sets, reps, load or RPE, rest and notes. A good template removes the blank-page work so a coach's time goes into exercise selection, loading and progression, which are the parts that are actually individual. Build one above with your split and days, then print it or save it as a PDF - it works equally as a workout plan template for your own training.
Three choices before you write a single exercise.
The template gives you the shell. These three decisions fill it in the right order, and every one of them comes before picking exercises. Once the shell exists, the phases that run inside it (4-week blocks, one variable per phase, anchor lifts, the week-4 review) are set up in how to set up training phases for online clients.
first: days, then split
The split follows the schedule, not the other way round. Two or three honest days a week points at full body; four points at upper/lower; five or six earns push/pull/legs. A perfect split the client cannot attend is a worse program than a plain one they can.
second: progression is the plan
A list of exercises is not a program until you have written what changes week to week. Decide it before the block starts and put it in the notes box: add a rep, add load, add a set. If nothing is planned to change, nothing will.
third: the notes column works both ways
Your cues go in before printing; the client's numbers and comments come back after. A returned sheet with real weights and a "shoulder felt off" scribble is worth more than any adherence guess, and it is what you program the next block from.
For the loading itself, the one rep max calculator turns a recent rep max into working percentages, and the warm-up set calculator writes the ramp to a top set so the warm-up line is prescribed rather than improvised.
Where the program sits.
The program is written after the intake form has told you the goal, history and schedule, and it is judged through the weekly check-in that follows it. If you are deciding what goes inside the shell, the guides on creating a client workout program and programming principles cover the decisions, and workout templates for personal trainers walks through three filled-in examples of this exact sheet. Writing programs for many clients at once is its own problem - this guide is about exactly that.
Frequently asked questions.
What should a workout program template include?
One block per training day, and inside each block a line per exercise with sets, reps, the load or RPE, rest, and a notes column. Add a warm-up line at the top of each day and a week-by-week notes box at the end for progression. That covers everything a client needs to run the session without messaging you mid-workout, and everything you need afterwards to see what actually happened.
How many exercises should one training day have?
For most clients, four to six working exercises per session is the honest range: one or two main lifts, then accessories. Programs fail in the last third of the session first, so if a client keeps cutting the same final exercises, the template is telling you the day is too long. The builder defaults to six rows and lets you print fewer on purpose.
Is a printable template better than Excel or Google Sheets?
They solve different problems. A printed sheet lives on the gym floor, needs no phone, and gets filled in between sets, which is why paper still survives in serious gyms. A spreadsheet keeps history and does arithmetic. A simple pattern that works: print this template for the training week, then transfer the numbers to your sheet or coaching app afterwards. If you find yourself rebuilding the same spreadsheet per client every month, that is the point where coaches usually move programming into software.
Should every client get the same workout program template?
The structure can repeat; the content should not. The same upper/lower shell can hold a powerlifter and a fat-loss client, but with different exercises, loads, rest and progression. That is what makes a template useful: it removes the blank-page work so your time goes into the choices that are actually individual. A template used as a finished program, unchanged, per client, is how coaching quality quietly drops.
How long should a client run the same program?
Four to eight weeks is the working range for most people: long enough to progress on the same exercises, short enough that adherence and interest hold. Change the loads and reps week to week, not the exercise list, and use the notes box to plan that progression before the block starts. If the client is still adding weight or reps in week eight, there is no rule that says you must change anything.
See what Coachway can do for your coaching business
Coachway was built on knowledge from working with 150 online coaches over 6+ years, who all hit the same wall - slow platforms, clunky workflows, wasted hours. Start your 14-day free trial and see what we fixed - the whole platform, no charge today, cancel anytime under Billing.
