Program template
Personal training program template: a blank card plus the rules to fill it
Most templates hand you someone else's exercises. This one gives you a blank card, the intake answers that fill it, and the rules that decide weeks two to four.
By RaiNGE product teamUpdated 8 min read
Written for personal trainers and gym teams onboarding new clients.
Jump to the weekly templateSee how RaiNGE turns client intake into a program draft you review, edit, and approve. See trainer software
On this pageWho this template fits
Who this template fits
Use it for general-fitness clients starting with you, from complete beginners to people with a few years of casual training. It assumes three sessions a week in a gym with dumbbells, a cable stack, a pulldown, and a bike or sled. Clients training at home can run the same structure with the dumbbell only workout program.
A blank card with six slots a day
The card has three full-body days with the same six slots each day, so every pattern trains three times a week. Write one exercise per slot from the intake answers, then fill in sets, reps, a starting load, an RPE target, and a note you would say on the floor.
The blank program card
Three days, six slots a day. Each slot takes an exercise, sets × reps, a load, an RPE target, and a note. Copy it as text, or use the PDF or CSV below.
Day 1
Full body A
Notes for the day: ________
- Squat: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Hinge: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Push: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Pull: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Carry: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Trunk: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
Day 2
Full body B
Notes for the day: ________
- Squat: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Hinge: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Push: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Pull: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Carry: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Trunk: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
Day 3
Full body C
Notes for the day: ________
- Squat: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Hinge: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Push: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Pull: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Carry: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
- Trunk: ________
- __×__ · load __ · RPE __
When to adjust
- A clean week: every session done, form stable, soreness manageable
- Progress one variable: a rep, a small load jump, more range, or more control
- Readiness check-in 60-69%
- Drop a set or cut load 5-10%
- Readiness check-in under 60%
- Drop a set, cap effort at RPE 7, and lengthen rest
- Pain 3-5/10 on an exercise
- Cut load or range
- Pain 6-7/10
- Stop that movement and use a conservative alternative
- Pain above 7/10, or sharp, worsening, radiating, or unfamiliar
- Stop loading and refer out
Download the card as a printable PDF, with the intake questions and a four-week review log on page two, or as a CSV for your spreadsheet with one row per slot.
Intake questions that change the program
Collect the inputs that change exercise choice, dose, or review notes before you pick a single exercise. If an answer cannot change the prescription, the handoff, or a review note, drop the question.
Before session one
- A pre-exercise health screen such as the PAR-Q+ is complete, and every yes answer has been followed up.
- Current pain is recorded as a 0-10 score with its location.
- Training days and times are agreed, including a fallback day.
- The equipment list matches where the client will actually train.
- One goal for the first 12 weeks is written down in the client's words.
Week one: three baseline sessions
Week one collects evidence while it trains. Keep 2-3 reps in reserve on every set, record the working load for each exercise, and note which movement needs the most coaching. Week two earns its progression from what you see here.
For the exercises themselves, use the three days from weeks 1-4 of the 12-week beginner strength program: box squat, incline push-up, cable row, and farmer carry; dumbbell RDL, half-kneeling press, pulldown, and dead bug; split squat, floor press, and chest-supported row. Each day fills four of the card's six slots and the week covers all six, so leave the rest blank or add a carry or trunk exercise if time allows.
Two week-one checks change the card most often. If spine position changes at the bottom of the hinge, stop the range just above it. If technique is inconsistent but nothing hurts, simplify the setup or shorten the range before you add load.
Weeks two to four: progress from the response
Keep the same exercises for all four weeks so you can compare sessions. Each week, review completion, soreness, confidence, and pain reports, then decide whether the next week progresses, repeats, or regresses.
Example: in week 1 the client does 3×8 box squats holding a 25 lb dumbbell with 3 reps in reserve, and soreness is mild. Week 2 moves to 3×10 at 25 lb. Week 3 moves to 3×8 at 30 lb. If week 3 soreness lingers into Day 2, week 4 repeats week 3.
After week 4, most beginners move into the 12-week beginner strength program at phase 1 or phase 2, depending on how clean the first block was.
Adjust for pain, readiness, and equipment
The intake fields above are the same context RaiNGE drafts from: goals, training history, equipment, schedule, injury and pain notes, and readiness check-ins. The AI output is a draft, and the coach reviews, edits, and approves it before it reaches the client. See personal training programming software for how that review works.
Common questions
Should the first session include fitness testing?
Keep it light. Working loads at 2-3 reps in reserve on the template exercises tell you more than a max test, and they double as training. Skip one-rep maxes and exhausting circuits in week one, because heavy soreness after session one makes session two harder to sell. Add a simple baseline, such as a timed carry, if the goal needs one.
How do I adapt this template for online clients?
Choose exercises the client can set up alone, and ask for a video of the two patterns that need the most coaching in week one. After each session, collect an effort rating and a pain score. Progress more slowly than you would in person, because you see fewer reps.
What if a new client can only train twice a week?
Fill two sessions on the card instead of three, and put squat, hinge, push, pull, and a carry in each so every pattern appears twice a week. Progress one variable after a clean week, and revisit a third day after four weeks of full attendance.
When should I stop using the template for a client?
After week 4. By then you have working loads, recovery patterns, attendance, and pain history for that person, which is what the next block should be written from. Keep the template's rules (one variable at a time, the pain bands, the readiness cut) and rewrite any slot on the card the client has outgrown.