Free Workout Plan Generator: Build Your Weekly Workout Plan
Answer 6 quick questions and get a free weekly workout plan for your goal, schedule and equipment, with sets, reps, rest, cardio and a form guide for every exercise.
Step 1
Every plan builds strength and muscle. Your goal changes the reps, rest, cardio and your nutrition targets.
Step 2
Men and women gain muscle at similar rates from the same training, so your exercises won’t change. Your sex helps set your calorie and protein targets.
Step 3
From 65 we add balance work to every session. Your height and weight set your calorie and protein targets.
Please check your numbers. Age 18 to 100 (this plan is for adults), height 4′7″–7′3″ (140–220 cm) and weight 80–500 lb (36–227 kg).
Step 4
Be realistic. A plan you can keep beats a perfect one you can’t.
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Including a 5-minute warm-up.
Step 8
Your job and daily movement change how much you burn, so they change your calorie target.
Step 9
Pick any that apply, or skip. We’ll swap in gentler exercises. If something hurts, see a doctor or physical therapist first.
Last step
These change what’s safe, so your answer matters. Pick any that apply, or skip.
Choosing your exercises…
This free workout plan generator builds you a weekly strength program in about a minute. Tell it your goal, your sex, age, height and weight, how many days you can train, the equipment you have, your experience, how long each session can be and anything to work around, and it lays out your week, your exercises, your sets and reps, your rest times and how much cardio to add. It then sets your daily calorie and protein targets and shows a sample day of meals. Every exercise links to a step-by-step form guide.
How the generator builds your plan
Good strength programs for most people are built from a handful of basic movement patterns rather than a long list of machines. The generator fills each workout with one exercise per pattern, picking the version that suits your equipment, level and any joints you need to protect:
| Pattern | What it trains | Example exercises |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | Thighs and glutes | Goblet squat, chair squat |
| Hinge | Hamstrings, glutes and back | Romanian deadlift, glute bridge |
| Single leg | Legs, balance and hips | Reverse lunge, step-up |
| Push | Chest, shoulders and triceps | Push-up, pike push-up |
| Pull | Back and biceps | Dumbbell row, inverted row |
| Core and carry | Trunk control and grip | Dead bug, plank, farmer’s walk |
With two or three days a week, you get full-body workouts, so every muscle is trained each session. With four days, the plan splits into upper-body and lower-body days. Either works: a meta-analysis of 25 studies found that, for the same weekly number of sets, training a muscle once or several times a week produced similar muscle growth (1). Frequency is mostly a way to fit in enough work, so pick the schedule you can keep.
Session length sets the number of exercises: four for 20 to 30 minutes, five for 30 to 45 minutes and six for 45 to 60 minutes. If you choose sensitive knees, lower back or shoulders, the generator swaps in gentler options, such as chair squats, glute bridges and incline push-ups.
Sets and reps by goal
| Goal | New or returning | Training regularly | Rest between sets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build muscle | 2–3 sets of 8–12 | 3–4 sets of 8–12 | 60–90 seconds |
| Get stronger | 3 sets of 6–8 | 3–5 sets of 4–6 | 2–3 minutes |
| Lose fat and get fit | 2–3 sets of 10–15 | 3 sets of 10–15 | 45–60 seconds |
| Stay healthy and mobile | 2 sets of 8–12 | 2–3 sets of 8–12 | 60–90 seconds |
These ranges follow the American College of Sports Medicine position stand on resistance training, which recommends that beginners train two to three days a week with loads they can lift about 8 to 12 times (2). Two findings shape the details:
- Heavy weights build strength best, but lighter weights build muscle too. A meta-analysis found that heavy loads produced bigger gains in maximal strength, while muscle growth was similar across light and heavy loads, as long as sets were taken close to failure (3). That is why the strength plan uses lower reps and longer rests.
- More sets build more muscle, up to a point. A meta-analysis of weekly training volume found a graded dose-response relationship: more weekly sets per muscle produced more growth (4). The plans start modest and leave room to add sets. Our guide to how many sets per muscle per week explains how far to take it.
Cardio, fat loss and recovery
Every plan adds cardio on your non-lifting days. World Health Organization guidelines advise adults to get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week, plus muscle-strengthening activity on two or more days (5). For most people, easy Zone 2 cardio is the best fit alongside lifting; our Zone 2 heart rate calculator gives you the right pace.
If your goal is fat loss, the plan adds more cardio and shorter rests, but the calorie deficit does most of the work. A review of weight-loss research concluded that dieting alone loses some muscle along with fat, and that adequate protein and exercise, especially resistance training, help keep muscle and improve strength (6). Your plan includes calorie and protein targets for your goal, explained below, and our calorie calculator and protein calculator go into more detail.
Why it asks about your sex, age and body
The generator asks ten quick questions. Your answers change the plan only where the evidence says they should:
- Sex. Your exercises, sets and reps stay the same. In a 2020 meta-analysis, men and women on the same program gained muscle size and lower-body strength at similar rates, and women gained relatively more upper-body strength, mostly in short studies of beginners (7). Two of its authors are affiliated with fitness-education businesses. Your sex does change your calorie and protein targets, because it is part of the equation for the calories you burn at rest.
- Age. From 65, every session ends with a balance exercise, such as a single-leg stand next to a counter. WHO guidelines advise adults over 65 to do balance and strength training on three or more days a week (5), and a Cochrane review of 108 trials found that balance and functional exercise cut the rate of falls in older adults by about a quarter (8). You can ask for balance work at any age if your balance isn’t great or you’ve had a fall, and the plan then skips lunges that need a lot of balance.
- Height, weight and daily activity. These set your calorie and protein targets. If your goal is muscle and your BMI is 30 or higher, your calories are set at maintenance instead of a surplus. In one 16-week trial, women with overweight or obesity who lifted weights and ate more protein while eating 500 calories a day below maintenance gained lean mass as they lost weight (9). That trial was funded partly by the dairy industry.
- Pregnancy. The plan uses lighter sets, leaves out exercises done lying on your back and jerky moves like kettlebell swings, and sets cardio at 150 minutes a week of moderate activity. That follows the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which advises avoiding long periods lying flat on your back after 20 weeks, contact sports and activities with a high risk of falling, and stopping to call your doctor if you notice warning signs such as bleeding, dizziness, chest pain or regular painful contractions (10).
- Health check. If you tell it about a heart condition, high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness or a doctor’s limit on exercise, the plan asks you to get your doctor’s OK first, as standard pre-exercise screening such as the PAR-Q+ advises (11).
Your nutrition targets and a sample day of meals
Below your workouts, the generator shows your daily calories, protein, carbs and fat, then a sample day of meals that fits them. You can switch the sample day between everything, vegetarian and vegan, and open a full 7-day plan with a shopping list in our meal plan generator, with your numbers already filled in.
- Calories. It estimates the calories you burn at rest with the Mifflin-St Jeor equation (12), which a systematic review found to be the most reliable of the common equations (13), then adds your daily activity and the sessions in your plan. To lose fat, it takes off about 500 calories a day, never more than a quarter of your maintenance or about 1% of your body weight a week, and never below 1,200 calories for women or 1,500 for men. To build muscle, it adds about 10%. For strength or health, it keeps you at maintenance.
- Protein. It aims for 2.0 g per kg of body weight a day when you’re losing fat, 1.8 g to build muscle, 1.6 g for strength and 1.4 g for health, and at least 1.2 g from age 65. For a higher body weight, it uses the weight that matches a BMI of 27. In a 2018 meta-analysis of 49 trials, extra protein added little more muscle above about 1.6 g per kg a day, though the uncertainty range reached about 2.2 g, which is why the targets sit a little higher when you’re dieting (14). One of its authors has received grants from the US National Dairy Council.
- When it holds back. If you have kidney disease, it sets protein at 0.8 g per kg, the level the 2024 KDIGO guideline suggests for chronic kidney disease stages 3 to 5 without dialysis (15). It also doesn’t build a sample menu, because kidney diets often need tailoring for potassium, phosphorus and sodium too. If you have, or have had, an eating disorder, it leaves out calorie numbers altogether.
Calorie targets are estimates. Weigh yourself for two to three weeks, and if your weight isn’t moving the way you want, adjust by 100 to 200 calories a day.
How to progress, and when to change the plan
- Leave two or three good reps in the tank on each set. Form comes first.
- Use double progression. When you can do the top of the rep range on every set, add a little weight, or switch to the harder variation in the exercise guide, and work back up.
- Take an easier week every six to eight weeks, with fewer sets, then keep building.
- Keep the same plan for at least eight to twelve weeks. Progress comes from doing the same lifts a little better each week, not from constant change.
Sticking with it matters more than any detail. If you are not sure what kind of training you will enjoy, try our ancient warrior quiz, and use the exercise library to learn every move properly.
This generator is educational and is not medical advice. If you have a health condition, are pregnant, or have pain when you exercise, check with your doctor or a physical therapist first. See our medical disclaimer.
Sources
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Krieger J. How many times per week should a muscle be trained to maximize muscle hypertrophy? A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the effects of resistance training frequency. J Sports Sci. 2019;37(11):1286-1295. PubMed 30558493
- American College of Sports Medicine. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708. PubMed 19204579
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523. PubMed 28834797
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sports Sci. 2017;35(11):1073-1082. PubMed 27433992
- Bull FC, et al. World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Br J Sports Med. 2020;54(24):1451-1462. PubMed 33239350
- Cava E, Yeat NC, Mittendorfer B. Preserving healthy muscle during weight loss. Adv Nutr. 2017;8(3):511-519. PubMed 28507015
- Roberts BM, Nuckols G, Krieger JW. Sex differences in resistance training: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res. 2020;34(5):1448-1460. PubMed 32218059
- Sherrington C, Fairhall NJ, Wallbank GK, et al. Exercise for preventing falls in older people living in the community. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019;1:CD012424. PubMed 30703272
- Josse AR, Atkinson SA, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM. Increased consumption of dairy foods and protein during diet- and exercise-induced weight loss promotes fat mass loss and lean mass gain in overweight and obese premenopausal women. J Nutr. 2011;141(9):1626-1634. PubMed 21775530
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Physical activity and exercise during pregnancy and the postpartum period: ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 (reaffirmed 2023). Obstet Gynecol. 2020;135(4):e178-e188. PubMed 32217980
- PAR-Q+ Collaboration. The Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone (PAR-Q+), 2025. eparmedx.com
- Mifflin MD, St Jeor ST, Hill LA, Scott BJ, Daugherty SA, Koh YO. A new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure in healthy individuals. Am J Clin Nutr. 1990;51(2):241-247. PubMed 2305711
- Frankenfield D, Roth-Yousey L, Compher C. Comparison of predictive equations for resting metabolic rate in healthy nonobese and obese adults: a systematic review. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105(5):775-789. PubMed 15883556
- Morton RW, Murphy KT, McKellar SR, et al. A systematic review, meta-analysis and meta-regression of the effect of protein supplementation on resistance training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength in healthy adults. Br J Sports Med. 2018;52(6):376-384. PubMed 28698222
- Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) CKD Work Group. KDIGO 2024 clinical practice guideline for the evaluation and management of chronic kidney disease. Kidney Int. 2024;105(4S):S117-S314. PubMed 38490803
This article is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. See our Medical Disclaimer before changing your exercise, diet, or supplement routine.
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Frequently asked questions
Is this workout plan generator free?
Yes. It is completely free, needs no sign-up and runs in your browser. Use the Save or share button to copy a link that brings your plan back any time.
How many days a week should I work out?
Two or three full-body sessions a week is a proven start for beginners, and four days with an upper and lower split suits people who train regularly. For the same weekly number of sets, research finds similar muscle growth whether you train a muscle once or several times a week, so choose the schedule you can keep.
Can I build muscle at home with no equipment?
Yes. Choose Nothing, just my body and the plan uses push-ups, pike push-ups, lunges, glute bridges, inverted rows and core work. Lighter loads build muscle when sets are taken close to failure, and each exercise guide shows harder variations for when the basic move gets easy.
Does the workout plan change for women?
The exercises, sets and reps are the same, because a 2020 meta-analysis found that men and women on the same program gained muscle and leg strength at similar rates. Your sex, age, height and weight change your calorie and protein targets, and if you are pregnant the plan leaves out moves done lying on your back and keeps the effort moderate.
Does the generator give me a diet plan too?
Yes. Below your workouts it shows your daily calories, protein, carbs and fat and a sample day of meals, with everything, vegetarian or vegan options. One tap opens a full 7-day meal plan with a shopping list in our free meal plan generator, with your numbers filled in.
How long should I follow the same workout plan?
Stick with it for at least 8 to 12 weeks, adding a little weight or a few reps as you go. Progress comes from doing the same lifts a little better each week, not from changing exercises often. Take an easier week every 6 to 8 weeks.
Should I do cardio and weights on the same day?
You can, but the plans put cardio on your non-lifting days so it does not interfere with your strength sessions. If you combine them, lift first and keep the cardio easy.