Why the plans are free
Nobody should have to pay for the plan itself. A plan is a list of exercises, sets and reps, and good ones have been free online for years. The trouble is that they get lost among hundreds of random ones: spreadsheets with no source, AI plans and user-submitted plans nobody has checked. It is hard to tell them apart before you have lost a few weeks on a bad plan.
So we are building a single free library. Every plan is built to the rules described on this page, and when we find a mistake in one, we fix it for everyone. The plans will always be free, on the website and in the app.
What you pay for is coaching, meaning what happens between workouts. After every workout, Premium suggests whether to add weight, add reps or stay at your current target, and shows each muscle's weekly sets against the volume zones. We are working on weekly guidance and progress reviews.
The only thing you buy separately is AI credits, because we pay the providers every time a model is used. You spend them on AI plans and workout imports: you get 50 to start, Premium gives you up to 2000 a month, and if you run out, you can buy a pack.
One plan for one situation
Every plan answers a specific question: how many days a week you have, how long you have been training, where you train and what you want to improve. A 2-day full body plan should be a good plan for 2 days, and a chest priority plan should give the chest more sets without taking from the rest of the body what it needs to grow.
Where no sensible plan exists, we say so. Beginners don't get a 5- or 6-day plan, because they reach the growth zone in 3-4 sessions and extra days mostly add fatigue. In the table on the plans page, those cells point to the plan to take instead.
Volume from research-based zones
We count sets the same way the app does: a set that trains a muscle directly counts as 1, and a set that trains it indirectly counts as half. We compare the weekly total with zones based on a meta-analysis of 67 studies (Pelland 2025).
- Beginners: every big muscle group in the growth zone (MEV), usually 5-9 sets a week. At the start, that is enough to grow.
- Intermediates: big muscle groups get 9-12 sets in the 4- to 6-day plans, the low end of high volume (MAV).
- A priority muscle gets volume in the high-volume zone (MAV), while the rest of the body stays in the growth zone.
- No muscle in any plan goes above 20 sets a week, the threshold of very high volume (MRV).
| Zone | Sets a week |
|---|---|
| MV · Maintenance zone | 2–4 |
| MEV · Growth zone | 4–10 |
| MAV · High volume | 10–20 |
| MRV · Very high volume | 20+ |
Most muscles twice a week
At the same number of sets, frequency makes little difference to muscle growth, but strength improves more when a muscle is trained 2-3 times a week (Pelland 2025). The latest position stand from the American College of Sports Medicine recommends training each big muscle group on at least 2 days a week (ACSM 2026). That is why the plans we recommend usually train the big muscle groups twice a week.
We also publish body-part splits, where each muscle is trained once a week, because many people look for them. We mark them as acceptable, and their pages name the better choice for the same number of days.
Rep ranges, RIR and the deload
Every exercise has a rep range, an RIR target (reps in reserve) and a rest time. The range depends on the type of exercise, and RIR on your level and on how safely you can get close to failure. We don't train to failure: sets that stop 1-2 reps short build muscle about as well, with less fatigue (Refalo 2024).
- Main barbell lifts: 6-10 reps. Other compound exercises: 8-12.
- Isolation exercises: 10-15. Lateral raises and rear delt raises: 12-20.
- Beginners: RIR 2 on every exercise.
- Intermediates: RIR 2 on free-weight compound exercises, RIR 1 on machines, cables and isolation exercises.
- Week 1 is one RIR easier. It is calibration, where you find your weights.
- Intermediate plans end with a deload in week 8: about 60% of the sets at RIR 4.
The rep range is a starting point, not a fixed rule. The same 2.5 kg jump is 12.5% at 20 kg but only about 6% at 40 kg, so the lighter the weight, the harder it is to add more. That is why light exercises such as lateral raises get wider ranges, and in the home plans they start at 10 reps, because the next pair of dumbbells can be 17-33% heavier. If your next step is too big, keep adding reps for longer and move to the heavier weight only once you can reach the bottom of the range with it.
Tempo for every exercise
Every exercise has a four-digit tempo: lowering, pause in the stretch, lifting and pause at the top, in seconds. X means lifting as fast as you can while staying in full control.
Beginners usually lower the weight over 3 seconds, which makes the technique easier to learn. For intermediates, the first compound exercise of a session has a fast lift (20X0), and the others have 2-3 seconds of lowering. In priority plans, 1-2 exercises for that muscle get a one-second pause in the stretch.
We work out session time from the tempo, reps and rest with the same formula as the app, so the minutes on the website and in the app match.
Exercise choice and substitutions
Every slot in a plan has one reference exercise: for example, the lat pulldown for the vertical pull or the seated leg curl for the hamstrings. We pick exercises where it is easy to add weight from week to week.
- The first compound exercise of a session has 2 warm-up sets before it.
- An exercise that comes back on a second day keeps the same sets and reps there, so its progression stays on track.
- Every exercise has substitutes with the same movement pattern that train the same muscles directly.
- For beginners, the substitutes start with the simplest versions, and the barbell is an option for later.
- Home plans need only dumbbells and a bench. Machine plans use only machines and cables, including the Smith machine.
Priority plans
A priority plan is the same framework with more volume for one muscle. The rest of the body stays in the growth zone, so you don't lose what you already have.
- Glutes: at least half the sets come from direct glute exercises such as the hip thrust, glute bridge and hip extension. Abductions and kickbacks make up at most a third of the sets.
- You train the glutes 2-3 times a week, with at most about 8 sets in one session.
- Every glute plan includes leg curls, because the hip thrust and squat do little for the hamstrings.
- Chest, arms, shoulders and back: the main lift stays the same, and the extra sets go to 1-2 accessory exercises.
- The glute plans are for everyone. The “for women” pages carry that name because that is what people search for.
How we check the plans
Coaches review every plan before it is published: the choice of exercises, the volume for each muscle, the session length and whether the plan fits into a normal week. A plan goes into the library only when it meets every rule on this page.
When we find a mistake in a plan, or new research changes the recommendations, we fix that same plan instead of adding another version next to it. The plan on the website and the plan in the app are one and the same, so a fix reaches both at once.