A physical therapist colleague of mine reviewed my peer programming course in my pursuit of getting it accredited. He said something like, “Wow, I really need to refine my process after viewing the course content.” That might be the number one complaint on the program design side of strength coaching: how long it takes to program for one client.
The question is, how can you write online workout programs faster?
I’m Annie, a certified strength and conditioning specialist. I give you the tools you need to build a data-driven and sustainable online health and fitness business.
People ask me how long it takes to program for a one-on-one client, and that’s kind of a silly question because how long it takes me doesn’t determine how long it will take you. However, I think anyone who can be more efficient and provide the same value in less time wants that outcome.
Today, that is exactly what we are covering. Tangible ways that you can speed up your program design process without sacrificing quality or value for your clients.
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If you want to write online workout programs faster, you need efficiency through repeatable systems.
Before we get into my suggestions for more efficient program design, I want to be clear about a few things. You do not need to be creating every client program from scratch. You are undoubtedly wasting time if that is your current reality.
Using pieces of one client’s program in another client’s program is not a crime and does not mean you aren’t providing them with individualized program design. Stop stressing. The way we increase efficiency and provide the same in less time is through repeatable systems.
1. Have Your Overall Skeleton Already Built
This is your method, if you will. You likely have an order in which you program: warmup, pre-lift segments, the main lift, and supersets. Even if you program a more metabolic conditioning style, there is still an identifiable method to your madness. Find it and write it down in one program that you can then copy and paste for each new client.
For instance, if you have a warmup that you have every client do, plug that in so you never have to program it again. Throughout this process, think about things that you do with almost every client. If you do it every time, is there a way to do it once and be done? Sometimes there’s not, but it’s worth asking just in case.
If you’re newer to this and need a crash course in how to write a workout program, check out my video on how to write a workout program. This will give you a good base to start from in terms of a repeatable structure.
2. Use Phase-by-Phase Programming
When I ended with my one-on-one clients in 2022, I had to transfer them to other coaches. If those coaches also used True Coach, which is what I used at the time, one of those coaches and a physical therapist noted two things. He changes exercise selection way too often, phase to phase, and he pointed out the phase-to-phase approach that I took versus programming on a continuous manner for his clients.
A lot of coaches and practitioners either program continuously week by week or month by month. This is not your most efficient option. A phase is typically four to six-week blocks. The programming can be the same week to week or include progressions. When you use phases, you can label them and include notes to refer back to. If another client has a similar need, these phases can become go-to bases for other programs.
You wouldn’t use the same exact prescription as we discussed earlier, but if the needs and prescription fit, don’t remake the whole program. Even if you don’t pull over the entire phase to tweak for another client, you can pick and pull pieces of a phase that are already created.
3. Create Base Phases
These are a number of programs that are pre-made and fit most of your client’s needs. Think of them as templated programs. You’re not just giving every client this phase or templated program; you would obviously then need to progress them from the base phase that you’ve created.
The point is, you likely have clients with similar goals and needs. This allows you to create a few base initial phases which you can then tweak and edit to match each client’s needs and assessments. You do not need to be programming each one-on-one client from scratch. If you already have clients, think of one to three whose programs you could use as a way to start your base program.
There is freedom here. Literally, just having three phases that fit your most common needs when it comes to your clients. You’d copy and then edit these as the client’s first phase. Then copy their current phase and tweak it for their next phase. Are we seeing how much more time you could be saving in your program design?
Especially if you don’t change a ton of things month to month, why make a whole new program from scratch? Copy, paste, edit, assign, and move on. Personally, I don’t see a need to create more than one phase as a base because the progressions from that first phase are based on that individual client’s progress. But, in theory, you could create three-month programs and tweak them from there. Ultimately, that’s up to you.
Conclusion: Write Online Workout Programs Faster
Inside Pure Programming, you get access to my master template that breaks down macro, meso, and micro cycles, allowing you to have one system for long-term periodization. But for now, I hope that this video gives you some ideas of how you can save time and increase efficiency without sacrificing your style or value of program design for your clients.
Let me know in the comments below what programming software you currently use. At the time of this video, all our programming is held in True Coach. True Coach is still my favorite, and here is a referral link for you to try if you’re a coach looking for online software to use.
I hope you enjoy these educated gains, and I’ll catch you guys in the next one.
If you enjoyed this, you would probably enjoy this: How to Write a Workout Program
