Writing programmes that clients actually follow

Adherence is your design problem

When a client does not follow a programme, the default explanation is that they lack discipline. That explanation is convenient and usually wrong, because it locates the problem where you have no leverage.

The more useful framing: adherence is an outcome of programme design, and you control the design. A programme with poor adherence is a programme that was too long, too complicated, too frequent, too boring, or required something the client did not have.

Read the left column carefully. Every one of those instincts comes from a good place — thoroughness, precision, a desire to demonstrate value. And every one of them reduces the chance the work gets done.

Session length is the biggest lever

Of all the variables, session duration has the largest effect on whether sessions happen.

• 40–45 minutes is the sweet spot for most non-athlete clients. It fits a lunch break, an early morning, or the gap before collecting children.
• 60 minutes is fine for committed clients with reliable schedules.
• 75+ minutes will be skipped. Not always, and not by everyone, but the drop-off is steep and predictable.
• Total weekly volume matters more than per-session volume. Four 40-minute sessions beats three 70-minute sessions on both volume and adherence — see how many sets per muscle per week.
• Count realistically. Four exercises at three sets with two minutes' rest is roughly 35 minutes of work plus a warm-up. Twelve exercises is not a 45-minute session however you arrange it.

The practical test: write the programme, then time yourself doing it. Coaches are routinely surprised by how long their own prescriptions take.

Fewer exercises, repeated longer

Two related decisions that most coaches get wrong in the same direction.

Fewer exercises

• Four or five per session. One or two compounds, two or three accessories.
• The urge to cover everything comes from thinking of a session in isolation rather than a week. You do not need to train every muscle in every session.
• Fewer exercises means more sets per exercise, which means better progression data and better skill acquisition.
• It also means less equipment queuing, which is a real adherence factor in a busy gym.

Repeated longer

• Eight to twelve weeks on the same block. Long enough for the client to get good at the exercises and for progression to be visible — see how to structure a training block.
• Novelty is not a training variable. Clients sometimes want variety, and giving it to them destroys the comparison that shows them progress.
• Familiarity reduces soreness, which improves adherence — see delayed onset muscle soreness.
• If a client is bored, change one exercise, not the whole programme.

A coach who rewrites a programme every four weeks looks attentive and is preventing progress from becoming measurable.

Write it so a person can read it

Programmes are frequently written in a notation that makes sense to the coach and not to the client.

• "4x8-10 @RPE7, 3-1-1 tempo, 90s" means nothing to most clients.

• "4 sets of 8–10 reps. Stop when you have about 3 reps left in the tank. Rest 90 seconds between sets." Same information, comprehensible.

Principles:

• Spell out anything you have not taught them. RPE, RIR, tempo notation and percentages all need explaining before they can be used — see reps in reserve and failure.
• Name exercises the way the gym names them. "Seated cable row", not an abbreviation or a name only you use.
• Include a link or a demonstration for anything unfamiliar.
• Say what the target is. "Add 2.5 kg when you hit 10 reps on all sets" turns progression into a rule the client can follow without you.
• Add a one-line rationale. "This block is about building your squat and adding upper-back volume." Clients who understand the purpose adhere better.
• Put it somewhere they will actually see it. A programme in an email attachment is a programme that gets lost. In MyFitsy the assigned programme is what the client opens when they start a session, with last week's weights already on screen — which removes the two most common friction points at once.

Plan for the bad week

Every programme should contain its own reduced version, provided at the outset. This is the single most under-used adherence tool available.

• Name it clearly. "If you only have 20 minutes: exercises 1, 2 and 3, two sets each."
• Provide it on day one, not in response to a missed week. Giving it upfront signals that imperfect weeks are expected rather than a failure.
• Make it genuinely minimal. Something achievable on the worst realistic day.
• Tell them it counts. A completed short session maintains the habit, which is the thing that matters most over years.
• Include a home version if travel or gym access is variable.

Individualising properly

The things that genuinely need to be individual, in order of importance:

1. Available equipment. A programme requiring a cable machine the client does not have is unusable. Ask specifically, with photos of their gym if online.
2. Available time and days. Build around their actual week, not an idealised one.
3. Injuries and what hurts. Non-negotiable.
4. Experience level. Which determines exercise complexity and rate of progression.
5. What they enjoy and what they hate. Ask directly. An exercise they dread will be dropped, and it takes the session with it.
6. Their goal. Which should be specific and current — see setting a goal you can measure.

Notice that four of the six are logistical rather than physiological. Coaches often individualise the physiology carefully and the logistics not at all, which is the wrong way round for adherence.

Progression rules the client can apply

A programme that requires you to decide every load change makes the client dependent and creates work for you. Better to give them a rule.

• "When you hit the top of the rep range on all sets, add weight next time." Simple double progression, and it works for most people most of the time.
• State the increment. 2.5 kg on lower body, 1–2.5 kg on upper body, 1 kg on isolation work.
• State what to do on a bad day. "If the weight feels much harder than usual, use less and keep the reps."
• State when not to progress. "During your holiday week, or if you are ill, repeat the same weights."
• Review the rule monthly rather than adjusting weekly.

See progressive overload for the underlying principle and what to do when a lift stalls for the exception handling.

Reviewing whether it worked

A programme is a hypothesis. At the end of a block, check it.

• Adherence first. What percentage of prescribed sessions happened? Below 70% and the programme was wrong, whatever the physiology.
• Then progression. Did the working weights move on most exercises?
• Then the client's experience. What did they enjoy, dread, or quietly skip?
• Then the goal. Did it move toward the stated outcome?
• Change one thing for the next block, not five — see when to change the plan versus stay the course.

Recording which programmes produced good adherence for which kinds of client is how you get better at this. Over a few years it becomes the most valuable thing you know.

Common questions

How many exercises per session?

Four or five for most clients. One or two compounds plus accessories.

How long should a session be?

40–45 minutes for most non-athlete clients. 60 for committed ones with reliable schedules.

How often should I change the programme?

Every eight to twelve weeks. Change one exercise sooner if boredom is genuinely an issue.

Should I use RPE or percentages?

Only if you have taught the client to use them. Otherwise plain rep targets with a "leave 2–3 in the tank" instruction.

What if the client wants more variety?

Change one exercise per block and explain why repetition is what makes progress visible.

Should every client get a bespoke programme?

Individualise equipment, schedule, injuries, experience and preferences. The underlying structure can be a template you adapt.

How do I know if my programme is too hard?

Adherence below 70%, sessions running long, or the client consistently reporting they are exhausted rather than worked.

Should I include cardio?

Daily walking as a target, yes. Hard conditioning only if it serves the goal and fits the recovery budget.

The practical version

• Adherence is a design outcome you control, not a client character trait.
• Four or five exercises, 40–45 minutes. Session length is the biggest single lever.
• Same block for eight to twelve weeks — you cannot progress what you keep changing.
• Write in plain language, name exercises as the gym does, and give a progression rule.
• Include a twenty-minute version on day one, not after a missed week.
• Individualise the logistics as carefully as the physiology.