A block is a few weeks of training with a fixed structure, and your program is written around it. If this is your first block with us, or your first structured program at all, here's what the first weeks usually look like.

Week 1 is for setting your weights

One exercise in gym mode: the “Last time” line and logging a set
One exercise in gym mode: the “Last time” line and logging a set

The weights in your program are a first estimate, based on what you wrote in your intake form. Your job in week 1 is to correct that estimate. If a set felt too light, go a bit heavier next time. If you couldn't finish the reps, log the number you actually got. By week 2 the numbers should feel like yours.

Don't chase soreness. If you can barely walk after a session, it usually means the weights went up too early. Your program is written so that what you do in week 1 you can do again in week 3, a little better.

It's not meant to feel heavy at first

A first block is usually simpler than the program people write for themselves, and that's on purpose. Progress comes from doing a little more each week than the week before, and you can only add to work you've finished. If you start close to your limit, there's nowhere left to go.

The exercises may look simpler than you expected too. The basic lifts are in your program because they work.

Consistency beats intensity

Three sessions a week kept up for the whole block will get you further than five a week for two weeks and then nothing. If your week falls apart and you can only train once, do that one session. If you miss a session, pick up where you left off, and don't try to make up for it with a double session.

Tell your coach when something's off

The “Send a report” page
The “Send a report” page

Use “Send a report” to tell your coach when:

  • an exercise hurts. I mean pain, not the burn in the muscle. Stop that exercise straight away.
  • a session doesn't fit into your week.
  • your gym doesn't have a machine that's in your program.

These are normal messages for a coach, and they help your program fit your real life.

This guide isn't medical advice. If you have an illness or an injury, or you're not sure you should be training at all, talk to your doctor first and then to your coach. The “Body & screening” step of the intake form asks about this too.

What happens at the end of the block

The home page a few days before the block ends, with the Renew button
The home page a few days before the block ends, with the Renew button

About a week before your block ends, the app reminds you to request your next program so there's no gap. Your next block is written from your previous program, your renewal answers and your weight trend. So keep entering “Today's weight”, and log every session in gym mode so your coach can see what you did.