Build your own workouts and programs
The Workout Library under Workouts has two builders. Create Workout builds a single session from segments; Create Program arranges saved workouts across weeks. Both save into your library, where the session or program can be scheduled like any from the catalog. See Workouts and the training calendar for the library itself and Training programs for scheduling.
The workout builder
The page opens with an Activity Type picker (Running, Cycling, Strength, Swimming, Hiking, Walking, Yoga, Stretching), a header for the Workout Name and a Short description (optional), a difficulty of Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced, and two outcome menus, Goal and Also targets, which label what the session is for.
| Goal option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Aerobic Base | Builds the easy-effort engine that everything else stacks on. |
| Threshold | Raises the pace or power you can hold when it gets comfortably hard. |
| Aerobic Ceiling | Pushes your top-end oxygen use so hard efforts feel less desperate. |
| Speed & Economy | Sharpens fast, relaxed movement so speed costs you less. |
| Muscular Endurance | Trains muscles to keep producing force when they are tired. |
| Muscle Growth | Adds muscle size through moderate loads and steady volume. |
| Max Strength | Builds your ability to move heavy loads with confidence. |
| Power | Develops explosive force for sprints, jumps, and surges. |
| Mobility | Expands the range you can move through with control. |
| Balance & Stability | Steadies joints and posture so strong positions feel safe. |
| Technique | Grooves cleaner movement patterns while you are fresh. |
| Recovery | Low-strain movement that helps you absorb harder training. |
Running, cycling, hiking, and walking also show a distance unit (km or mi) and a pace unit (per km or per mi) that the segments use. Swimming is always in metres.
Segments
The palette on the left lists the segment types for the chosen sport. Select one to add it to the canvas; drag blocks to reorder; select a block to edit it; the cross on a block removes it.
| Sport | Segment types |
|---|---|
| Running | Warm Up, Interval, Recovery, Tempo, Cool Down, Easy, Long |
| Walking | Warm Up, Easy, Interval, Recovery, Cool Down |
| Hiking | Warm Up, Easy, Long, Climb, Recovery, Cool Down |
| Cycling | Warm Up, Interval, Recovery, Tempo, Cool Down, Climb, Sprint, Cadence Drill, Power Zone |
| Strength | Exercise, Superset, Circuit, Rest, Warm Up, Cool Down |
| Swimming | Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly, Kick, Pull, Drill, Warm Up, Cool Down |
| Yoga | Sun Salutation, Standing Pose, Seated Pose, Balance Pose, Vinyasa Flow, Savasana |
| Stretching | Dynamic Stretch, Static Stretch, Foam Roll, Mobility Drill |
What a segment asks for depends on its family:
- Cardio (running, cycling, hiking, walking): a duration in time or distance, and an intensity target of Heart Rate (bpm), Pace, or, for cycling only, Power (watts). Pace can be a single Target or a Range. Climb segments add Grade and elevation; cadence drills add a Cadence target.
- Swimming: a distance in metres in steps of 25, an optional HR Target, and a Send-off, the time between the start of one repeat and the next, including rest (for example 120 for 10 x 100 on 2:00).
- Strength: an exercise segment takes Sets, Reps (a number, a range such as 8-10, or AMRAP), Weight in your unit system, Rest (seconds), and Notes such as a lifting tempo. A superset or circuit takes a list of movements, Sets or Rounds, Reps per movement, a weight, and notes. A rest segment takes Rest Duration (min).
- Yoga and stretching: a movement or pose, a hold or rep count (per side where it applies), and notes.
The movement catalog
For exercise, pose, and stretch segments the name field is a searchable catalog: type in Search movements to filter by name or muscle group, and select a movement to fill the label (which stays editable) and prefill per-side and equipment where the catalog knows them. Where the catalog has no entry for the sport, the segment falls back to a plain list of common names.
A catalog movement opens a panel with How to do it (numbered steps, with a tempo and breathing cue where there is one), Form cues, Watch out for, and Skip or modify if. The last section is framed the same way on every movement: General wellness guidance, not medical advice. If any of these apply to you, choose the suggested alternative.
Loops and variables
Create Loop adds a container that repeats the segments inside it a set number of times. Drag segments into it or add them from its own palette, and set the repeat count on the loop.
Any numeric field, a pace, a heart rate target, or a loop’s repeat count can be linked to a variable with the link button next to it. Variables have a type (number, pace, or heart rate) and a default value, and are listed in a Workout Variables panel above the canvas where you can change the value once and have every linked field follow. Variables are also what a program adjusts week by week and what a fitness test re-personalises, so a pace you want scaled by your fitness should be a variable, not a typed number.
Load estimate and saving
The header shows the running total of minutes and distance and an estimated load in AU: minutes multiplied by how hard the session is expected to feel on a 1 to 10 scale, estimated from the segment types and your fitness level. Next to it is a label from Light through Moderate, Hard, and Very Hard to Extreme, scaled to your level. The same AU figure is what the calendar’s weekly column adds up; see Training load and readiness.
An optional image can be added (JPEG, PNG, or WebP, under 5 MB); a refused upload shows Upload failed with the server’s status code, such as 403.
Save Workout (or Update Workout when editing) is enabled once the workout has a name and at least one block. Note:
- Clear All empties the canvas at once, and changing the activity type rebuilds the palette and clears the blocks. Neither asks you to confirm.
- A save that fails says so under the top bar, Couldn’t save this workout: (reason). Nothing was saved., and keeps your work on the builder so you can try again.
The program builder
Create Program opens a grid of weeks against days with a header for the Program Name and a Program description (optional), a type of Running, Strength, Cardio, Yoga, or Mixed (cycling and swimming programs use Cardio or Mixed), a difficulty, and a duration from 1 to 52 weeks. An optional image follows the same rules as a workout’s.
Filling the weeks
Each cell is a day. Add a saved workout from your library to a cell, remove it, or open its variable overrides to change a value for that day only. Days run Mon to Sun here; the training calendar itself runs Sunday to Saturday, so a program’s Monday lands on the calendar’s second column. With no workouts in your library the grid reads No workout plans available. Create some plans first to assign them here.
Mesocycle periodization
Switch on Enable mesocycle periodization to shape the weeks into build and recovery cycles:
| Field | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Build Weeks | 1 to 51 | 3 |
| Recovery Weeks | 1 to 51 | 1 |
| Cycle length | Build plus recovery weeks, shown not typed | 4 weeks |
| Volume +% | 1 to 20 percent per build week | 5 |
The Cycle Preview colours each week Build or Recovery and states how many full cycles fit the program, with any partial cycle at the end. Build weeks grow by the volume percentage week on week; the preview shows a recovery week at about 60 percent of a build week.
The weekly load preview
The right-hand column totals each week as load, duration, distance, or AU (choose which with the toggle above it), with a bar, the change from the previous week as a percentage, and a hover summary. Two notes appear in that summary when they apply: Recovery week: volume reduced to ~60% and Volume increase >10%: monitor for overtraining, the latter whenever a non-recovery week is more than 10 percent above the one before.
The overload warning
Before you save, the builder checks your existing calendar against the 7-day form projection from the Training Load page. If the sessions already scheduled would push you into deep fatigue, a red notice reads Your current schedule already projects deep fatigue by the date, Consider a lighter first week for this program. If the projection could not be computed, an amber notice says Load forecast unavailable right now, so we can’t check whether your current schedule risks overload. with a Retry button. An unavailable forecast is reported as unavailable, not as no risk.
Saving and scheduling
Save Program (or Update Program) adds it to your programs. Schedule it from the library like any other program: pick a start date and the sessions land on the calendar, personalised from your fitness profile and scaled by week from an easier start to the full goal session. See Training programs and Plan sessions that complete themselves.