Training plan

What the plan is#

The plan lives in the card "Training" at the top of the Performance tab ("Výkon"). It answers three questions:

• How much a week? The target of your goal and level, in minutes (below).
• How much this week? The step: your habit plus one step towards the target.
• Where are you now? A ring for the calendar week, strength days, and a chart of the path to the goal.

The Training card, the goal choice and the sheets behind it are part of Premium, and the 7-day trial gives the same access. A free account sees no plan. Without a choice the plan follows "Health" at level "Medium".

The plan shapes how much you train, never what you do today. Today's session comes from the coach (see Daily coach). The plan only says why the day looks as it does, and the card shows both. Weather never changes the dose, only when and where (see Daily coach).

Goals and levels#

There are eight goals and four levels: "Low" ("Nízká"), "Medium" ("Střední"), "High" ("Vysoká") and "Max". A goal sets the minutes and the strength days a week. The level sets how far along the goal's ladder you aim.

Czech names: Zdraví, Kondice a vytrvalost, Závod, Síla, Hubnutí, Nabrat svaly, Málo času, Psychická pohoda.

Under the picker the line for your choice reads, for example: "300 min of moderate and vigorous activity a week (vigorous twice), 2 strength days".

Where the numbers come from#

• Health and Mental wellbeing. The WHO 2020 guideline asks 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week (Low and Medium). A study (Arem and colleagues, 2015) put the point where the benefit levels off at three to five times the minimum, 450 and 750 minutes, and found no harm above it (High and Max). For Mental wellbeing we use the same ladder, and the card says that exercise does not replace treatment.
• Fitness and endurance, A race. The WHO minimum is the floor and the rest sits inside the same two to five times band. No study names these exact numbers, so they are our own choice. A race under an hour asks less weekly volume than a half marathon, so it uses the Health ladder.
• Strength and Build muscle. The WHO asks 150 minutes. What these goals ask more of is strength days, not minutes (studies count sets per muscle, not minutes). One day maintains strength, two is the WHO guideline, and three and four days are our own choice to spread the sets.
• Weight loss. Donnelly and colleagues (2009) put 150 to 250 minutes a week at modest results and more than 250 at clinically meaningful ones, together with diet. The 300 is our own choice. The card adds: "Exercise on its own usually means only a few kilos, food does the rest."
• Short on time. Below the WHO minimum on purpose, because some activity beats none.

A level never names a promise: the plan is a pace, not a prediction of results.

The minutes the plan counts#

The target and your habit are counted in WHO moderate-equivalent minutes: moderate minutes plus twice the vigorous minutes. This is how the WHO guideline treats them, as 150 moderate minutes or 75 vigorous ones. The sheet says it: "A vigorous minute counts twice, as in the WHO guideline."

They are the day's moderate and vigorous minutes stored from your device (see Activities for how those minutes are formed). Three consequences:

• An easy session counts only in part. A 47-minute session at an average pulse of 99 adds few intensity minutes. That is why the week by day shows two numbers: the counted minutes and the length of your training.
• A day without a reading is not a zero. If the device reported neither moderate nor vigorous minutes for a day, the day is left out. In the week table it reads "no data" ("bez dat").
• A day that does not fit into the day is left out. When a day's light, moderate and vigorous minutes together are longer than your waking day (24 hours minus your usual night), we do not count it.

Under 18 a vigorous minute counts once. The WHO asks children and adolescents for an average of 60 minutes a day, minutes as they are, so the weekly target is 60 × 7 = 420 and there is no choice of goal (see Under 18 and over 65).

Your habit#

The habit is the starting line of the plan: the median of your last 4 full calendar weeks (Monday to Sunday, not counting the current week) in moderate-equivalent minutes. The median is the middle value, so one very good or very poor week does not move it much. With four weeks it is the mean of the middle two.

• A week counts as reported when the device gave minutes for at least one of its seven days. The week's sum is over the days that have a reading.
• A week with no reading at all is "no data" and stays out of the median. It is not a zero.
• You need at least 2 reported weeks out of the 4. With fewer there is no habit to climb from, and the card says so (see Why today looks as it does).
• The week in which your data begin is not a full week when the data start after its Monday. It is shown as "part week" ("neúplný") and left out of the median. A watch connected on a Sunday would otherwise count one day as a week.

The habit is shown on the card as "Habit 120 of 300 min a week" with a ring that reads the share of the target (120 / 300 = 40 %), in the path sheet as "Your habit" ("min, 4-week median"), and in the sheet "Training goal" under "The last 4 weeks" as one bar a week.

This week's step#

This week's allowance, the step, is your habit plus a step towards the target:

1. If the habit is already at or above the target, the step is the target.
2. Otherwise the step is the habit plus 10 %, but at least 30 minutes more, and never above the target.

The 30-minute floor is there because a habit near zero cannot grow by a percentage: 10 % of 20 minutes is 2.

The 10 % is the pace of the plan, not an injury rule. The largest study we know of on this (Frandsen and colleagues, 2025, 5,205 runners) found no link between the week-to-week change and overuse injury, and ten percent is our choice. The injury-related rule is a different one and applies to a single session (see Daily coach).

There is no catching up. A week below its step does not add minutes to the next one. Each Monday the habit is counted again from the last four full weeks, so a week under its step slows the next step.

The path to the goal#

The path is the list of weekly steps from this week up to the target. It is what the rule does if you meet each step. Each met step becomes a week of its own, the habit is the median of the new four weeks, and the next step is counted from it. One met step moves a four-week median only a little, so the path climbs slower than "the habit plus a tenth every week".

The path ends at the first week whose step is the goal. A step of 299.5 counts as 300, because the card shows whole minutes.

The card and the path sheet#

On the Training card the headline reads "Goal 300 min a week from 23/11" (in Czech "Cíl 300 min týdně od 23. 11."), "300 min a week this very week", or "You hold 300 min a week" when your habit already holds the goal. The chart "The path to the goal" shows:

• Bars behind you: up to 12 full weeks, measured (legend "measured"). A week with no data is a thin line.
• This week: a dashed outline of the step with a bright fill for the minutes so far.
• Bars ahead: outlined bars rising to the goal (legend "plan").
• Lines: the dashed goal line, the WHO minimum of 150 (for adults) and your habit as a short amber line over the four weeks it is taken from ("habit 120 min a week").

A tap opens the sheet "The path to the goal". It has three tiles ("Your habit", "Goal", "From"), a sentence such as "In 10 measured weeks of the last 12 you had 40 to 210 min a week, above the WHO minimum of 150 min in 4 of them.", the list "The plan week by week", "At another level" and "The rules of the path". The sheet says: "This is a plan, not a forecast: the dates hold when each week's step is met. Each step is counted again from your last 4 full weeks: a week under its step slows the next one, nothing is made up."

"At another level" shows the four levels with their minutes and when each goal week would start from today's habit ("held", "this week" or "from 1/2"). A tap on one opens the picker. It is not shown beside a race, because a level's week could fall after the race.

The week#

The plan's week is the calendar week, Monday to Sunday. "This week" counted over the last seven days would count last Wednesday on a Tuesday and could never say how many days are left.

• The ring is a dial from 0 to the goal. The bright arc is the minutes so far, the white mark is this week's step. When the step equals the goal there is no mark. The number inside reads "62 of 150 min", and "goal 300" under it while the step is below the goal.
• Strength days show "1/2": the days of this calendar week with a strength session, out of the days your goal asks. A session counts when it is a strength sport and the app counts it as a session at all (at least a minute long).
• Sessions this week show your training minutes and the number of sessions, which can be more than the counted minutes.
• The week by day shows seven bars for Monday to Sunday. The bar and the number above it are the counted minutes, up to three dots under it are sessions, a dash is a day the device did not report, an outline is a day still ahead.
• A line under the ring says how much is left: "88 min to go, 4 days to Sunday", or "today is the last day of the week", or "This week's step is done".

A tap on the ring or the strip opens "This week": the dial, the line "This week's step 150 min, 88 to go.", a table "Day by day" with "Training" and "Counted", and the card "Strength days". When the week lacks strength days it says: "1 strength day still missing this week. WHO advises strength training on at least 2 days a week. When your body allows it, strength training is in the activity picker of Today's move on the Overview." With no step yet it says: "No step for this week yet, it is counted from two full weeks with data."

On a day the body or the mode holds the plan back (rest, an easy day, illness, energy pacing) the "to go" line is not shown. A day like that is no day to make minutes up.

First weeks of a habit#

Lally and colleagues (2010) found that making a habit took between 18 and 254 days and that one missed day did not matter. So in the first weeks we count days, not minutes. If you were active in fewer than 4 of the last 8 weeks and your habit is below the target, the plan reads "For now we count days: 3 training days a week, length comes later." The week line then says "Training days this week: 1 of 3". A walker whose habit already holds the target does not count days.

Why today looks as it does#

The plan gives one reason a day, the first that applies from the top of this list. The same sentence is used by the card, the coach and later notices.

In the last row the final week reads "This week the step is the goal itself: 300 min." A device that sends no intensity minutes gets "Your device does not send activity minutes by intensity yet, so the week's plan waits for data." The card then shows "Waiting for minutes from the watch".

Illness, a break and energy pacing#

• Body rest and an easy day. The directive of the day (see Body Status and Daily coach) comes before the plan. The step does not change and nothing is added later.
• Illness. When you reported being unwell in the check-in today or yesterday, or an earlier illness is still open, the card says so. The step is not changed. For the plan this reason comes from your own check-in, not from the numbers.
• A break. When there was no training session of at least 15 minutes in the 30 days before today, then on a day that would otherwise get a usual or a hard session the coach offers the easy form of your main sport instead, and the plan names the reason. The number of days appears only for a break of 30 days or more.
• Energy pacing. The mode pauses the plan and hides the Training card (see Energy pacing).

A race#

Choose the goal "A race" ("Závod") and the picker asks for two things. Both are needed to save: "Pick both the date and the length of the race to save."

• Race date. From tomorrow up to one year ahead. On race day itself the stored race still counts.
• How long the race will take, by the finishing time you expect, so it fits a run, a ride or a swim alike: "Under an hour" (a 5K, a 10K under an hour), "1 to 2.5 hours" (a half marathon) and "Over 2.5 hours" (a marathon and longer). A race saved before this question existed is read as the middle class.

The target follows the goal's level (see the table). A race under an hour uses the Health ladder.

The taper#

A taper is a few easier days before the race. Bosquet and colleagues (2007) found about two weeks best, with the volume cut by 41 to 60 % and the intensity and frequency kept. Wang and colleagues (2023) found tapers of up to 7, 8 to 14 and 15 to 21 days all effective. Our lengths are 7, 14 and 21 days for the three classes, and the half we cut (the middle of 41 to 60 %) is our own choice.

Because the plan is a plan of whole weeks, the taper starts on a Monday: the first Monday that is no more than 7, 14 or 21 days before the race. The real taper is therefore up to six days shorter than the nominal one. From that Monday the week's step is halved (we round to whole minutes) and the intensity is kept. The coach's suggestions in the taper are halved too, never under 15 minutes.

The path ends at the race: in the taper the halved step is the whole plan, before it no step lies past the race day. If the goal week would fall after the taper starts, the card warns: "The goal will not be reached safely before the race, consider a lower level." On the race day the card says "The race is today." After the race the plan follows "Fitness and endurance" with the same level, and the picker tells you: "The race on 19/12 is behind us, the plan now follows "Fitness and endurance". You can enter the next race."

Under 18 and over 65#

• Under 18 there is no choice of goal. The WHO guideline for your age is the plan: an average of 60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous activity, 420 minutes a week, vigorous minutes counted once, and strength training on 3 days. The card says "Under 18 the WHO guideline applies: an average of 60 minutes of activity a day." There is no race and no weight goal.
• From 65 the sheet "Training goal" adds: "From 65 the week also includes balance training: 3 days." This is a reminder of the WHO advice. We do not count balance days.

Setting your goal#

Open Settings, section "Goals" ("Cíle"), card "Training goal" ("Cíl tréninku"), or tap the chip with your goal ("Health, Medium") at the top of the Training card. Pick a goal and a level, add the race date and length when it is a race, and press "Save". The card then shows "Goal saved". The plan is not stored: it is counted again from your data every time, so a change shows at once and your past weeks are not touched.

"Weight loss" is not offered when your body mass index, from the height and weight in your profile, is under 18.5. A stored weight goal then reads as Health. Without a height or weight the goal is offered.

Frequently asked questions#

Why does my plan start so low?#

Because it starts from your habit, the median of your last four full weeks, and not from the target. Habit 120 and target 300 give a first step of 150. The plan is a pace towards the goal, and you can always do more: anything above the step is simply extra.

I trained more than the step, will it raise next week?#

Yes, a little. Next Monday your habit is counted again from the last four full weeks, and a bigger week lifts that median. One strong week moves a median of four only a bit, which is why the path takes more weeks than "a tenth a week" suggests.

I missed a week. Do I have to catch up?#

No. Nothing is made up later. A week under its step slows the next step, because your habit is lower, and that is all.

Why is the card empty or does it say "Waiting for minutes from the watch"?#

The plan counts the day's moderate and vigorous minutes from your device, and it needs at least two reported full weeks to find your habit. A newly connected device, or one that sends no intensity minutes, has none yet. Until then the card shows the minutes of this week so far, and the message "We are collecting your activity minutes. The week's plan starts after two full weeks with data."

My workout was 45 minutes but the week counted only 20. Why?#

The plan counts moderate and vigorous minutes of the day, and a vigorous minute counts twice. A calm session at a low pulse is mostly light minutes, which do not count. The week by day shows both numbers: the counted minutes above the bar and the sessions as dots.

Can I change the percentage or the numbers of the steps?#

No, the 10 % and the 30-minute floor are not settings. You choose the goal and the level, and the race date and length.

I have a heart condition or take medicine. Does the plan apply?#

The plan is general guidance built on the WHO guideline, not medical advice. If you have a heart condition, a long-term illness or take medicine that changes your pulse, agree on your training with your doctor first. See a doctor too if exercise brings chest pain, dizziness or unusual breathlessness.