Who should write my training plan?
A qualified personal trainer or coach, ideally one who will keep following you after the plan is written. In the UK, a Level 3 personal training qualification is the usual standard for individual programmes. For a specific situation, such as an injury, a pregnancy or a health condition, look for a coach with extra training in that area, and ask your GP or physio first.
Food is a separate job. A meal plan built for you should come from a nutritionist or a dietitian, not from your trainer, and a good trainer will tell you so.
What does a good training plan contain?
If a plan has no starting questions and no way to record what you did, it is a list of exercises, not a plan. A good one has all of these.
- A starting point: your goal, your training history, injuries, the days and time you have, the equipment you can use
- Each session written out: exercises, sets, reps, load or effort, and rest
- A video or clear notes for every exercise, so you know how to do it
- A progression: how loads and reps should move from week to week
- Alternatives for when a machine is taken or something hurts
- A way to log what you did, so the next weeks start from facts
Why does a generic plan stop working?
Because it was written for an average person who doesn't exist. A template ignores the knee that complains on lunges, the three days a week you actually have, and the fact that you already lift more than week one asks for.
Generic plans also don't react. When you stall, get bored or miss a week, nothing changes, and most people drop the plan instead of the plan adapting to them. That is the moment a coach earns their fee.
How often should a training plan change?
Small changes every week, bigger ones every few weeks. Loads and reps move up as you log progress, an exercise is swapped when it hurts or the equipment isn't there, and the whole plan is reviewed at regular check-ins, or sooner when your goal or your week changes.
Ask your coach how often check-ins happen and what they look like before you start. A plan that never changes is a plan nobody is reading.
How do I choose the person who writes it?
Look at results and reviews from people like you, and then talk to the coach before paying anything, as our guide on how to choose an online personal trainer explains. A short exchange tells you whether they ask about you, how they reply and whether you would enjoy being coached by them.
Price is not the whole story. A coach who costs less can be excellent, and one who costs more can be worth it for a good reason, such as a specialisation in your sport or years of experience with people like you.
How do I choose a coach on Yeki?
On Yeki a person plans your path, not an algorithm, and you choose that person. You search for professionals in the app, see their results and the reviews of the people they follow, and you can talk to them in chat before you pay anything. Ask how they would work with you, how often your plan would change and how they give feedback on your technique.
Yeki's own online personal training is coming soon, at €59.00 a month. With it you are assigned a qualified coach with a name and credentials, always the same person. You are just as free to pick any other professional in the app. Some will cost less than our plan, and we are happy about that: what matters is that you train with someone who knows you. Others will cost more for a good reason, such as a specialisation or years of experience. Every one of them is welcome.
And if your gym is on Yeki, you may not need to look at all: the plan from its coach arrives in the app for free.
What does my plan look like on Yeki?
Whoever writes it, the plan works the same way. Every exercise has a video and its sets, with your coach's notes on technique, and you log weights and reps as you train. Your coach sees what you logged and adjusts the next weeks, and chat stays open between check-ins for the questions that come up in the middle of a set.
Personal bests, body measurements and before and after show your progress across your whole history, and nothing is ever deleted. If you also work with a nutritionist, the meal plan sits next to the training plan, each signed by the person who wrote it. If your gym is on Yeki, your bookings and your membership are in the same app as your plan.
