Designing Workout Programs with AI

Program design is where most coaches lose the most billable hours. A custom 12-week training block can take 2-3 hours to write from scratch. With AI as your drafting partner, the same block takes 20-30 minutes — and the quality is often better because you're editing instead of starting from a blank page.

What You'll Learn

• A repeatable workflow for AI-assisted program design
• How to brief AI on training principles so it doesn't write nonsense
• Specific prompts for splits, mesocycles, and deload weeks
• How to spot and fix the common errors AI makes in programs

The 4-Step AI Program Design Workflow

1. Brief the AI with client context, principles, and constraints
2. Generate the skeleton — split, weekly structure, rep ranges
3. Generate session details — exercise selection, sets, loading, progression
4. Edit ruthlessly — replace bad picks, fix volume, add cues

Do not skip step 1. The brief is what separates a usable draft from a nonsense draft.

Step 1: The Coaching Brief

Write a one-time brief that you'll reuse and adapt across clients. Save it as a snippet in TextExpander, Raycast, Apple Notes, or just a Google Doc.

You are an evidence-led strength and hypertrophy coach. You follow these principles:

• Compound lifts come first when fresh
• 10-20 working sets per muscle per week for hypertrophy
• RPE 7-9 on most working sets, RPE 9-10 only on AMRAPs
• Progress via load when possible, then reps, then sets
• Always include a unilateral lower-body movement per lower-body session
• Avoid behind-the-neck pressing, upright rows, and barbell good mornings unless the client requests them
• Prescribe 5-10 min warm-up, 1-2 cooldown stretches per session

When I brief you on a client, write a program in markdown tables. Each session: exercise, sets x reps, load (RPE or % 1RM), rest, and a 1-line cue. Above each session, write a 1-2 line "session focus" summary.

This brief encodes your coaching philosophy. Now AI is generating in your style, not generic gym-bro defaults.

Step 2: Generate the Skeleton

Once the brief is in place, ask for the skeleton:

Generate a 4-week skeleton for an intermediate client, 4 days/week upper/lower split. Goal: hypertrophy. Show only week structure (which session on which day) and the weekly volume target per major muscle group. Do not write exercises yet.

You'll get something like:

• Day 1: Upper A (push focus)
• Day 2: Lower A (squat pattern primary)
• Day 4: Upper B (pull focus)
• Day 5: Lower B (hinge pattern primary)
• Weekly volume: chest 12 sets, back 16, quads 10, hamstrings 8, glutes 12, shoulders 10, arms 8

Now you can sanity-check before AI invests time in the details.

Step 3: Generate Session Details

Once the skeleton makes sense, ask for one session at a time:

Now write Upper A in full. Use the brief above and this client context: 34-year-old male, 5 years training, no injuries, goal of building chest and rear delts, has access to commercial gym, 60-minute session. Limit to 5 main movements plus a finisher.

You'll get a usable session. Repeat for Upper B, Lower A, Lower B.

Step 4: Edit Ruthlessly

This is where your coaching expertise matters. Things to check on every AI-generated session:

• Volume balance: Is the muscle hit hard early actually the priority muscle?
• Exercise order: Compounds before isolations, big lifts when fresh
• Loading: Are RPEs realistic given the rep ranges?
• Equipment match: Did AI prescribe a hack squat in a home gym?
• Movement variety: Same hinge pattern five times in a week?
• Rest periods: 60s rest on a 5-rep heavy squat is wrong

When something is off, just reply: "Replace the cable fly on day 1 with a dumbbell incline fly. Drop the leg extension finisher and add a 3-set seated calf finisher instead."

Specific Prompts for Common Programming Tasks

Mesocycle with Progression

Write a 4-week hypertrophy mesocycle for chest and back. Each week shows the prescribed sets, reps, and RPE. Use a volume progression: week 1 baseline, week 2 +1 set per movement, week 3 +1 set, week 4 deload (-50% sets, RPE 6). Output as a single markdown table with rows = movements and columns = weeks.

Deload Week

Convert this hard training week into a deload week. Same exercises and order. Reduce sets by 40-50%, drop top sets, and cap RPE at 6. Add a one-line note on each session about intent.

Beginner Onboarding Block

Write a 6-week onboarding block for a true beginner (never lifted) who can train 3 days/week, 45 minutes, in a home gym with adjustable dumbbells (up to 25kg), a bench, and a pull-up bar. Focus on movement quality and consistency, not intensity. Each week add slight volume or load. Include 5-10 min mobility warm-up specific to the day.

Sport-Specific Conditioning

Write a 2-day off-season conditioning plan for a recreational soccer player who already strength trains 3 days/week. One day = repeated-sprint conditioning, one day = aerobic base. Include warm-up, RPE targets, and total session time of 30-40 min.

Travel / Hotel Week

Convert this client's normal 4-day upper/lower program into a 3-day hotel-room program. Equipment: bodyweight only, plus a single 15kg kettlebell. Maintain similar muscle exposure. Sessions max 30 min.

Common Mistakes AI Makes in Programs

• Too many exercises: AI loves to stuff 8 movements into a 60-min session
• Unrealistic loading: Prescribing 5x5 at RPE 9 followed by 5x10 at RPE 9 — nobody can do that
• Generic warm-ups: "5 min cardio" is not coaching
• Wrong rep ranges for the goal: 12-15 reps for a strength block is a flag
• Ignoring the brief halfway through: Reload the brief if it forgets
• Inventing equipment: AI does not know your client's gym; you do

A Real Example: Editing AI Output

Suppose AI gives you this for a Lower A session for a hypertrophy client:

Exercise	Sets x Reps	Load	Rest
Back Squat	4 x 8	RPE 8	3 min
Romanian Deadlift	3 x 10	RPE 8	2 min
Bulgarian Split Squat	3 x 10/leg	RPE 9	2 min
Leg Extension	3 x 12	RPE 9	90s
Standing Calf Raise	4 x 10	RPE 9	60s

Quick coaching review:

• Squat at RPE 8 for 4x8 is fine for an intermediate
• RDL after squats — solid
• Bulgarian split squat at RPE 9 after squats is brutal — drop to RPE 8 or move it earlier
• 90s rest on leg extension at RPE 9 — fine
• Calf 4x10 RPE 9, 60s rest — bump to 90s minimum

Reply: "Move Bulgarian split squat before RDL, drop to RPE 8. Increase calf rest to 90s. Otherwise good."

You just designed a polished session in 4 minutes.

Key Takeaways

• Use a saved coaching brief that encodes your principles — reuse it across clients
• Generate skeleton first, then session details, then edit
• One session at a time produces better output than asking for the whole program at once
• Edit for volume, exercise order, loading, and equipment realism
• AI is a faster first draft, never a finished product — your judgment is the difference