Templates
6 min readSave a workout once, reuse it forever.
A template is a single-day plan you save and start from again and again. This guide covers what templates are, how to build one, how they differ from multi-week training blocks, and how to launch a session from one.
What a template is
A is a plan for one workout that you save to reuse. It holds the exercises you want, in order, with your target sets, reps, and anything else you want prefilled. Instead of rebuilding your push day from scratch every time, you start it from your template and go.
Templates are yours to create. This is the planning tool every athlete gets: a single-day plan you own, edit, and reuse as often as you like. They are the fastest way to make a repeatable workout repeatable.
Because a template is just a saved plan, you can keep as many as you like: one per training day, a variation for a busy week, a travel version with only dumbbell work. They are there the moment you need them.
- 2:30Bench Press4 sets · 6 reps · 80 kg · RPE 8
- 2:00Overhead Press3 sets · 8 reps · 42.5 kg · RPE 8
- 1:30Triceps Pushdown3 sets · 12 reps · 30 kg
Create a template
Building a template feels like planning a workout on paper, only tidier. You add exercises, set your targets for each, and save. Everything you set is a starting point: you can always change a number in the moment when you actually train.
For each exercise you can set target sets, reps, weight, an effort target, and rest. The app can also suggest warm-up sets for a working exercise, so your ramp-up is handled without you spelling out every light set by hand. A cardio exercise swaps those boxes for the ones it tracks, so a treadmill run asks for duration, distance, calories and incline.
There is no rush to make it perfect. Save it, train from it once, and adjust the targets afterward based on how the session really went.
- Start a new templateGive it a name that tells you what it is, like Push day or Legs A.
- Add your exercisesPull movements from the library, in the order you want to do them.
- Set your targetsFor each exercise, set target sets, reps, weight, effort and rest. A warm-up suggestion is available.
- Save itYour template lands in your library, ready to start any time.
Save a finished workout as a template
The other way to get a template is to work backwards. A session you improvised and liked does not have to be retyped: open it from your history, pick "Save as template" from the workout actions, name it, and it lands in your library ready to start again.
What carries over is the workout as you actually trained it. Every exercise in the order you did it, each set kept as a warm-up or a working set, with the reps you performed, the weight, the effort value, your rest time and your notes. Where the plan asked for a range like 8 to 10, the range is kept rather than the single number you hit that night, because the range is the instruction.
The name field starts prefilled with the workout name, or its date if it never had one. The template editor opens as soon as you save, so you can tidy a target while the session is still fresh in your mind.
- Open the workoutIn History, tap the session you want to reuse.
- Choose Save as templateIt sits in the workout actions, alongside deleting the workout.
- Name itThe field is prefilled with the workout name or its date. Whatever you type replaces it.
- Adjust and keepThe template editor opens on save, so you can correct a target before the plan settles.
Templates versus training blocks
It is worth being clear on the difference. A template is one day. A is a multi-week program, several training days that repeat and progress across weeks. They solve different problems, and Ironstead keeps them distinct on purpose.
As an athlete, templates are the plans you create yourself. Multi-week blocks come from a coach. If you want to build one for your own training, that path is open too: coach yourself with a self-coach account, and the full block-building tools are yours.
In practice, many people use both. Templates cover the workouts you repeat week in and week out, while a block gives a stretch of training a direction over time. One is not better than the other, they answer different questions about your training.
Start from a template
When it is time to train, you open a template and launch it as a live session. Your targets come in prefilled, so logging is just confirming or adjusting what you actually did, set by set.
Every session you finish this way still flows into your history exactly like a workout you built on the spot.
Nothing about starting from a template locks you in. If you decide mid-session to add an exercise, swap one out, or cut a set short, you just do it. The template gave you a head start; the session is still yours to run however the day demands.
And when a template stops fitting, you change it or make a new one.
- StartPush day3 exercises · ~45 min · yesterday
- StartPull day4 exercises · ~54 min · 3 days ago
- StartLeg day4 exercises · ~63 min · 5 days ago
Common questions
- Can I make a multi-week program from templates?
- Templates are single-day plans. A multi-week program is a training block, which is a coach feature. Coach yourself with a self-coach account to build one, and use templates for repeatable single days.
- Do I have to hit the targets in my template exactly?
- No. Targets are a starting point. When you train from a template, you log what you actually did and can change any number in the moment.
- Can I edit a template after I save it?
- Yes. Templates are yours to change any time. Update the exercises or targets and the next session you start reflects the changes.
- Can I turn a workout I already did into a template?
- Yes. Open the session in your history and choose "Save as template" from the workout actions. The exercises, sets, reps, weights, effort values, rest and notes carry over as you trained them; failed and unperformed sets are left out.
Ready for the bigger picture?
Learn how multi-week training blocks work: weeks, days, slots, progression and deload.
Training blocks guide