Programs: the library, switching and your own

A program is the set of days and exercises you repeat each week. Liftspan builds one for you, and the program library has twelve more to choose from: three free starters and nine Pro programs. With Pro you can also build and save as many of your own as you like. Whichever you run, Liftspan still sets the weights, moves them up, plans your deloads and works around the joints you flag.

Open the Programs screen

1. Tap the 🗺️ Plan tab.
2. On the Your program card, tap Change program.

The Liftspan plan

This is the plan built from your setup answers: your goal, the number of days you picked, and the muscles you want to build. It is the default, and it follows those settings when you change them.

The program library

Each card shows how many days a week the program runs, about how long a session takes, its level (Any, Beginner, Intermediate, Experienced or Advanced) and how hard it is (the five dots). Use the chips at the top to filter by 2 to 3 days, 4+ days, Strength, Muscle, Joint-friendly or Little kit.

See the moves before you start

Tap See the moves on any program, free or Pro, to see every day and every exercise. The moves are picked for you: from the equipment in the room you train in, and without anything that loads a joint you have flagged. So the preview is what you would actually be doing, not a generic list.

Start a program

1. Tap Start this program on the card. On a Pro program without Pro, this opens the Pro screen, where you can start the free trial.
2. Confirm. A fresh block starts at Week 1.

Your weights come with you. Liftspan remembers the weight you reached on every exercise, including sessions from this week, and uses it whenever that exercise appears again, in any program. Sessions you already did this week still count toward your streak.

A few things to know:

• Library programs run in 8-week blocks: seven weeks that build, then a lighter deload week. If you have flagged a joint, blocks are 6 weeks, so the lighter week comes around more often.
• Library and saved programs set their own days per week, so the days setting on the You tab is locked while you run one. Switch back to the Liftspan plan to change it.
• You can switch with a workout open: the switch closes it. Everything that comes with you and what starts fresh is on Switching programs.
• Switching between the Liftspan plan, the free starters and programs you have already saved is always free.

Pick a program when you set up

New to Liftspan? On the first screen, tap 📚 Pick one from our program library. Choose a program, then answer a few quick questions (your goal, your experience, where you train and anything to train around) so the weights fit you and the moves fit your joints. Your first workout is Day 1 of that program.

Why it works this way

Most programs you find online were written for one imaginary lifter with a full gym and no history. Liftspan keeps what makes a program work, its days, its order and its rep ranges, and fills each slot with a move that fits you. A program like Shoulder-Friendly Upper also leaves out overhead pressing for everyone who runs it, and on top of that Liftspan still works around anything you flagged yourself.

The weights move up only when you have earned it, a rep or a small jump at a time, and every block ends with a lighter week so your body can catch up before the next one. That rhythm is what lets you keep training for years, not just for one good month. Not medical advice: if something hurts, stop.

Favorites PRO

Tap the ☆ on a library program, or ☆ Favorite on one of your own, to keep it at the top of the list.

Build your own program PRO

You can start from scratch, or from any program on the screen:

• Tap ✏️ Customize on a library program, or Customize on the Your program card, to start from that program.
• Tap + Build a program to start from nothing.

In the builder:

1. Give the program a name. With Pro you can save as many programs as you like; choose New program or one you want to replace.
2. Use the day chips to move between days. + Day adds one (up to six) and Remove day takes one away. Name each day if you like, such as "Push day".
3. Tap + Add moves to search the library or filter by muscle. It shows moves that fit your equipment. Tap Add on each one you want, up to ten a day, then Done adding.
4. Adjust each move: − and + change its sets, ↑ moves it up, and ✕ removes it.
5. If a move loads a joint you flagged, it is marked "⚠️ Loads your knees" with a suggested alternative. Tap Use to take the suggestion, or keep your choice.
6. Tap Save program.

Reps come from your goal, and Liftspan sets the starting weights from what you have already lifted, or from an estimate for new moves. From then on it coaches your program exactly like its own: progression, deloads, supersets and sync.

Already have a program on paper, a whiteboard or in a screenshot? You can import it from a photo or text instead of building it by hand. Your first import is free.

Edit, duplicate or delete a saved program

On the Programs screen, each saved program has Use this, ✏️ Edit PRO, Duplicate PRO and Delete. You cannot delete the program you are currently running; switch to another one first. Deleting cannot be undone. Without Pro you have three save slots.

If your Pro membership ends

Your saved programs stay, keep running, and can still be switched to. A Pro library program you are running keeps running too. Starting a different Pro program, building new programs and editing existing ones need Pro. The Liftspan plan and the three starters are always free.

Related guides: Upper lower split: a 4 day workout plan, 3 day full body workout plan, a dumbbell-only workout, a hotel gym workout and deload weeks, explained. What changed and when: Liftspan updates.

Common questions