Plan builder: blocks, weeks and mesocycles
Short answer
In the SmartWorkout plan builder, you create your own plan for free: a plan is split into blocks, a block into weeks and a week into workouts. The mesocycle generator spreads one week of workouts over 2 to 12 weeks, and one load indicator covers the whole plan: %1RM, RPE or RIR. You set changes between weeks yourself.
How to create a plan
- On the Workout tab, next to "My Plans", tap "See All".
- Tap "+" and choose "Create new plan".
- Enter a plan name. You can skip the description, goal, workout type and training level.
- Tap "Select load indicator" and pick 1RM (a percentage of your one-rep max), RIR or RPE. You can skip the indicator: the plan then has sets, reps and rest without a load target.
- Add weeks and workouts, or a whole block at once with the mesocycle generator.
- Tap "Save".
To change a saved plan later, press and hold its card, or open the plan and choose "Edit" in its menu. From version 5.2, you can also open the builder with "+" on the Workout tab › "Create new plan", or under Workout › Plans › "Create plan".
Blocks, weeks and workouts
Blocks and weeks are tabs at the top of the builder, with the selected week's workouts below them. A block is a stage of your plan, for example 6 weeks of 8-12 reps followed by a second block of 4 heavier weeks. If your plan has a single stage, one block is enough.
- "Add Block" › "Add empty block" or "Create mesocycle".
- "Add Week" › "Add empty week" or "Create microcycle".
- "Add Workout" adds an empty workout to the week ("Create an empty unit"), a workout built from a goal and exercises you pick ("Generate Workout"), or a copy of a workout from the current plan, your log or a template.
- Press and hold a block or week tab to clone it (the copy goes at the end), change the order or delete it. The block menu also lets you rename the block and move its weeks to another block, and the week menu lets you move its workouts to another week.
Mesocycle generator
In the app, a microcycle is one week of workouts and a mesocycle is several such weeks in one block. The generator lets you build the week once, repeat it across the whole block and then change each week on its own.
- In the block tabs, tap "Add Block" and choose "Create mesocycle".
- Pick the number of workout units per week, from 1 to 6, and tap "Next".
- On the "Define Microcycle" screen, pick the number of weeks: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12. Name each unit and add exercises with sets. "Next" works once every unit has at least one exercise.
- On the "Define Mesocycle" screen, each week has its own tab. Change sets, reps or the load target in the weeks that should differ.
- Tap "Save". The weeks go into a new block at the end of the plan, or into the last block if it's empty.
"Add Week" › "Create microcycle" works the same way but adds a single week. On the "Define Microcycle" screen, you can save the week as a template from the menu at the bottom of the screen ("Save as template") and load it in the generator for your next block with "Load from template".
Sets, reps and load
- One row is several identical sets, for example 3 sets of 8-12 reps with 2 minutes of rest. The icon next to the "Main Sets" or "Warm-up sets" header splits a row into separate sets when each needs different values, and merges them back.
- Enter reps as a single number or a range: tap the reps column header and choose "Repetition range".
- A minimum without a maximum is AMRAP with a minimum: enter 8, for example, and leave the second field empty. The plan shows this set as "8 - AMRAP".
- Enter the load target on main sets of weighted exercises: RIR from 0 to 4 or RPE from 6 to 10, both in steps of 0.5, or with 1RM a percentage of your one-rep max, such as 75.
- "Add" below an exercise adds sets of the type you choose: "Warm-up", "Working set" or "Drop set".
- You set tempo and tips once for the whole exercise. To add exercises you alternate between, tap "Add Superset" ("Add Exercise Group" from version 5.2).
- "Load workout parameters" in the menu at the bottom of the screen fills in typical sets, reps and rest for a goal: endurance, hypertrophy, strength or power.
- When you replace an exercise that also appears in other weeks of the block, you choose "Replace in current week" or "Replace in all weeks".
In a workout from your plan, you see the rep range and the RIR or RPE target next to each set, and you can read the exercise tips but not edit them.
Progression from week to week
The builder doesn't change weight, reps or the number of sets in later weeks on its own. You enter the differences in each week: in the generator on the "Define Mesocycle" screen, or later in the week's tab. You can also clone a week and edit the copy.
- With the 1RM indicator: "Barbell Squat", 4 sets of 5 reps at 75% of 1RM in week 1, 77.5% in week 2 and 80% in week 3.
- With the RIR indicator: 3 sets of 8-12 reps with a target of RIR 3 in week 1, RIR 2 in week 2 and RIR 1 in week 3.
Deload week
The builder has no separate deload feature. A deload is a regular week with fewer sets and a higher RIR: clone the last week of the block, cut the number of sets and raise the RIR.
In the free plans for intermediate lifters, week 8 is a deload with about 60% of the working sets at RIR 4.
Volume and progression with Premium
With Premium, you see the "Weekly Volume Breakdown" below the blocks: sets for each muscle group in every week of the plan, against the MV, MEV, MAV and MRV zones. Before your first workout, you can tell whether each muscle group gets the number of sets you want.
During the plan, you know what to do in your next workout: add a rep, add weight or stay at your current target.
Plans from a chat, from AI or from a coach
A plan you paste as text opens in the same builder, and you edit an AI plan there after saving it. An AI plan is one week repeated for several weeks, so you add blocks, a deload and differences between weeks here.
Coaches build plans in the same builder, in coach mode, and assign them to their clients.