How to build a 4-week block on the program calendar

Plan the four weeks before you build

Decide two things before you open the calendar: the days you train, and the percentage for each week. Keep the plan short enough to fit on one line. A Back Squat block might look like this:

• Week 1: 70% of max.
• Week 2: 75%.
• Week 3: 80%.
• Week 4: 60%, a lighter week to recover.

Use percent of max for the main lifts. Then the same block works for every athlete, because each one gets a weight from their own max.

Build week 1 once

1. 1

   Pick who it’s for

   Open Programming and search for an athlete by name. For a team or a position group, click Multi-Athlete and pick athletes by name or by category.

2. 2

   Add a block to a day

   Hover over a day and click the plus button in its corner. Pick a category, like Lifting, and the exercise panel opens on the new block.

3. 3

   Add the exercises

   Click Add Exercise, type part of a name and click the exercise. Then fill in Sets and Reps.

4. 4

   Set the load

   Under Load, pick % of Max and type the percentage for week 1.

5. 5

   Fill in the rest of the week

   Do the same for each training day, with Prep or Drills blocks where you need them.

Take your time on week 1. Every week after it starts as a copy.

Copy it to weeks 2, 3 and 4

Press on an empty spot in the calendar and drag a box across week 1. Every block the box touches is selected. Right-click one of them and pick Copy Selection.

Now right-click the empty space on Monday of week 2 and pick Paste Here. Do the same on weeks 3 and 4. The copy stays ready until you clear it, so one copy covers all three weeks.

Paste on the same day of the week the copy starts on. Week 1 starts on a Monday here, so paste on Monday, and every block lands on the same day it had in week 1. The calendar’s weeks start on Sunday, so don’t paste on the first square of the row.

Change only what moves

Now step through the weeks and change the percentages. Click a block, open the exercise and type the new number. The sets, the reps and everything else came with the copy.

Here’s what that Back Squat block works out to for an athlete with a 275 max:

• Week 1: 70% is 195 lbs.
• Week 2: 75% is 210 lbs.
• Week 3: 80% is 220 lbs.
• Week 4: 60% is 165 lbs.

Coach Reps rounds up to the next 5 lbs, so 70% of 275, which is 192.5, shows as 195. An athlete with a different max gets their own numbers from the same block.

Want the sets to climb inside each week too? Turn on Progressive Overload, and every set gets its own percentage.

Give the block a name

A name tells athletes what the next four weeks are for. Hold Shift and click each Lifting block in the four weeks. Right-click one of them, pick Rename Phase and type a name, like Base strength. You can add a short note too, and the athlete sees it.

The blocks stay Lifting blocks. Only the label changes: each block on the calendar now shows the name. Your athletes see it too, on the phone and on the web, with your note at the top of the block.

Check it, then deliver

Everything so far is a draft. Your athletes don’t see any of it until you press Deliver to Athletes.

Before you do, look over the four weeks. Hover over a block to see its exercises with their sets, reps and percentage. When it looks right, press Deliver to Athletes. Each athlete gets the block with their own weights.

Need to change something later? Edit it, and the change stays a draft until you deliver again. Discard Draft takes back your edits to the days ahead.

Decide how far ahead athletes see

Some coaches don’t want athletes reading week 4 on day 1. The head coach can set how far ahead athletes see. It’s in Settings, under Programming: the next 7 days (the app calls it Current week only), up to 12 weeks ahead, or every date.

Save it for next time

When a block works, keep it. Select the four weeks, right-click and pick Save Selection as Template. Next season, you can place the whole block on any date, for any athlete or group.