Workout Generator: Build a Weekly Lifting Plan

How the workout generator works

This is a rule-based workout generator, not AI. The same inputs always return the same plan. It selects an editorial split, matches exercises to your equipment, sets rep ranges from your goal, and fits working sets inside a transparent time budget. It does not use your training history or Trainer's adaptive coaching engine.

Two or three days use full-body sessions. Four use upper/lower. With weights, five use push/pull/legs plus upper/lower; six repeat push/pull/legs. No-equipment plans keep upper/lower at higher frequencies because floor drills cannot make a genuine loaded pull day. Unlisted weekdays are rest days.

Goal, experience, and exercise choices

Strength uses 5–8 reps on main movements with 150-second rests. Muscle uses 8–12 with 90-second rests. General fitness uses 10–15 with 60-second rests. Accessories generally use 10–15 reps and shorter rests; timed core holds are labeled separately. These are starting choices, not exclusive rep ranges for each outcome.

Beginners receive two working sets where time allows and simpler variations. Intermediate lifters receive three and different variations. Short sessions can contain single work sets. Preparation sets are separate. The American College of Sports Medicine's position stand, *Progression Models in Resistance Training for Healthy Adults*, provides general programming context; this exact algorithm is an editorial template, not an ACSM-validated program.

The session-time calculation

Estimated time equals preparation plus repetition time plus between-set rest plus transitions. The model allows three seconds per rep at the top of the range and counts both sides of unilateral work. It reserves five minutes for preparation, or seven in a gym, and one minute between exercises, or ninety seconds in a gym.

The generator first assigns three main movements, adds sets that fit, and includes optional movements only when time remains. It never shortens the prescribed rests to squeeze in another exercise. The estimate cannot predict queues or your warm-up needs. Longer preparation or rest means doing less work or allowing more time. A ninety-minute budget does not force ninety minutes of volume.

A worked example: three days, forty-five minutes

Choose muscle, beginner, three days, full gym, and forty-five minutes. Monday starts with goblet squats, machine chest presses, and seated cable rows. Romanian deadlifts, dead bugs, and shoulder presses follow when they fit. Wednesday changes the emphasis to a hinge and overhead press; Friday starts with single-leg work.

The main movements use 8–12 reps and ninety-second rests. Begin with a manageable load that leaves about three clean reps in reserve. If every working set reaches twelve with the same technique and reserve, add the smallest available increment next time. Reset toward eight reps and build again. A missed target means repeating or reducing the load.

Equipment limits matter

Dumbbell plans assume only a pair and floor space. Floor presses replace bench presses, and rows need no extra bench. Dumbbells provide loaded rows but no vertical pull here. Bodyweight plans require no furniture or bar, so prone upper-back drills appear with an explicit limitation: they do not replace progressive loaded pulling. Add suitable equipment when back-strength progression is the goal.

Use the warm-up calculator for an illustrative barbell ramp. Practice judging reserve with the RPE calculator. The progressive overload calculator shows a transparent rep-before-load scenario; none of these tools can observe technique or assess an injury.

Turn the template into a repeatable week

Choose a schedule you can repeat before adding visits. Beginners can start with two or three days; more sessions are an option, not a requirement. Keep notes on actual reps, loads, rest, and meaningful substitutions. Read the beginner full-body plan for context and the progressive overload guide for decisions after a difficult session.

This page provides a starting week. Trainer's coach adapts training week to week using the app's coaching flow. This generated plan does not automatically transfer to the app.