Programs & workouts

Building workouts

Do I build each workout individually, or can I group a push/pull/legs split?

Build reusable workouts in Vault → Training → My Workouts, then schedule them into a plan. Folders on the left of the library keep a collection, such as a full PPL split, together. See Building a workout.

What’s the difference between Simple, Standard and Video guided workouts?

They’re display modes on the same data. Standard puts sets, reps, weight, RIR/RPE, tempo and rest in the row. Simple leads with the coaching note and keeps the numbers behind a pencil. Video guided is follow-along training. Sections and groups exist in all three; nothing is taken away, you’re just not asked for it. See the three types.

One naming trap: the mode is called Standard when you create the workout and Advanced in the Configuration panel where you change it later. Same setting, two names.

How do I build a superset or circuit?

Tick the exercises you want together, and the bar at the foot of the list offers Group as superset and Group as circuit. The group gets a rounds chip, starting at 3 rounds with 60 seconds between them, and you can give the group a name. Members are lettered A1, A2, B1, so the client’s app runs them together.

How do I set a different weight for each set?

Type the whole scheme into the Reps field. Separate the sets with a comma or a slash, join a rep count to a load with ×, and end each value with its unit:

You type	Means
10×25kg, 8×30kg, 6×35kg	Three sets, reps by weight
10 / 8 / 6	Reps only, descending
8-12 × 20-25kg	A rep range at a weight range
30sec × 50%	Time at a percentage of your intensity reference
500m / 400m / 300m	Distance per set
10 × bw	Reps at bodyweight

The field shows no examples of its own, so keep this table handy. The full grammar is in Building a workout.

Why did my rest of “1m 30s” come out wrong?

Rest on an exercise row is in seconds, and the field is strict. It throws away everything that isn’t a digit and reads what’s left as a number, so 1m 30s is stored as 130 seconds and 1m becomes 1 second. Type 90. The rest chip on a group is more forgiving and takes 90, 1:30 or 90s, which is why the two can behave differently on the same screen.

Program structure

What do the program phases mean (Foundation, Build, Peak, Deload…)?

Foundation = learn the basics · Build = gain muscle/strength · Peak = perform your best · Deload = easy recovery week · Taper = ease off before an event · Recovery = very light/rest · Maintenance = hold results · Specialization = focus one area · Transition = bridge between phases · Fat Loss = deficit plus cardio.

What’s the difference between the Vault library, plans, and content-only mode?

Vault → Training and Vault → Nutrition hold single reusable items: workouts, exercises, nutrition templates, foods. A plan combines them into a multi-week schedule, and lives on Vault → Mixed Plans and on the My Plans tab of Training. For meal-plan-only or education-only delivery, create the plan as content only: no weekly schedule, just a library that opens on a start date.

After several weeks I replaced the whole training block, why does it show the wrong week or lose logs?

Protocol counts the active week from the plan’s start date and expects new blocks to be appended, not to replace the old one. If you swap the whole block, reset the start date so week 1 shows again. Logged sets only carry across weeks when exercises come from your exercise library; free-text exercises don’t keep history.

My client eats the same every day, but the plan shows “Day 2” all week. How do I change what they read?

What a client reads on a day is the name of the thing on it, so rename the nutrition template or the workout itself and every day pointing at it follows. That is usually what you want anyway: if the same meal plan sits on all seven days, it is one template used seven times, and one rename fixes the week. See Programs and the weekly grid.

What clients see

I activated a plan but the client says they can’t open it

An active plan is readable straight away, even when its start date is in the future, and a plan with no start date is always open. So check the plan’s status first: only Active reaches the client. Pending is invisible by design, which is what a freshly duplicated plan starts as. See Duplicating a plan.

If the plan is active and the client still sees nothing, check they are looking at the right app account, and that the plan is on their record rather than still sitting in your Vault.

Why won’t my video-guided (follow-along) exercises play?

Video-guided workouts only work with video uploaded into Protocol, not YouTube or external links. The guided player needs a real video file to control looping and timing. For a regular exercise demo, a YouTube link is fine.

Can my program videos be vertical / full-screen on a phone?

Yes, the player supports portrait full-screen. Shoot the program vertically and it fills the phone screen.

Why does my client see a stock photo on their plan?

Those are automatic fallback images, one for workouts and one for nutrition, shown when no plan image is set. Upload your own on the plan’s Settings tab.

Where does my education content (videos, PDFs) show up for clients?

Add it on the plan’s Content tab, either for the whole plan or for one phase. It appears in the client app’s plan tab. Name the section clearly, for example “Resources” or “Start here”, so clients actually find it.

Where do clients find the meal schedule and reading materials inside a plan?

Static materials live in the per-plan resources tab, which you can rename. Clients often don’t think to look there, so rename it to something obvious for your audience.

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Full builder walkthrough: Workouts & training · multi-week plans: Programs and the weekly grid.