The workout builder is a three-panel editor where you name a workout, add exercises (optionally grouped into sections), configure the sets for each exercise, and click Save workout to add it to your Workouts library.
Open the workout builder
- In the left sidebar, under Training, click Workouts.
- On the Workouts library page, click New workout (top right) to open a blank builder, or click any existing workout row to open it for editing.
The three panels
The workout builder has three zones:
- Left panel — exercise and section picker, with two tabs: Exercises and Sections.
- Center canvas — the workout you are building, including the name field, stats bar, and exercise/section cards.
- Right panel — the Arrangement outline, where every section and exercise is listed for drag-and-drop reordering.
At the top of the center canvas, type a name into the Name your workout field. Use the tag icon next to the name to open the Tag manager. Below the name is a stats bar showing Exercises, Sections, and Minutes counters, each with its own quick-add button.
Add exercises and sections
To add an exercise, open the Exercises tab on the left panel, search or browse the library, and click the + next to any exercise. The exercise is appended to the bottom of the workout, and a toast confirms Added exercise "…" to bottom of workout.
To group exercises, click the + on the Sections counter (or open the Sections tab on the left panel) to open the Add section modal. The modal has two tabs:
- New section — set a section name, pick a Section type (Workout, Warm up, Cool down, Recovery), and choose a Section format:
- Regular — for traditional strength workouts where exercises are performed one by one.
- Interval — adds a built-in timer for HIIT, Tabata, or circuit workouts. Exercises in an Interval section use a Time column instead of Reps.
- From library — search and reuse a section you previously saved.
Click Create section to add it. Exercises that aren't inside a section appear as standalone cards in the canvas and as top-level items in the Arrangement panel.
Configure sets on an exercise
Each exercise card has fields for Set, Reps (or Time in Interval sections), Weight, Rest, an Each side checkbox, and Tempo. Click Add Set to add another set row, or + Add note at the bottom of the card to attach a note.
The Set dropdown on each set row offers four set types, shown as colored letter badges:
- R — Regular
- W — Warm Up
- D — Dropset
- F — Failure
Exercise and section menus
Each exercise card has a three-dot (⋯) menu with: View, Change Exercise, Duplicate, Add Alternates, Move into Section, Move Down, and Remove.
Each section header has a three-dot (⋯) menu with: Edit Section, Duplicate, Save to Library, Move Down, and Remove.
To create a superset, click the chain-link button between two adjacent exercises inside a section.
Save your workout
Click Save workout (top right) to save. The status indicator next to it reads Changes not saved when there are unsaved edits, and Updated X ago when everything is saved. The builder does not auto-save.
If you try to leave with unsaved changes, an Unsaved changes modal appears with Cancel and Leave page options. Clicking Leave page discards your edits.
Generate a workout with AI
As an alternative to building from scratch, click Generate Workout (next to New workout) on the Workouts library page. Describe the workout in natural language, and the AI generates one for you to review in the builder before saving.
Things to watch out for
- The builder does not auto-save. If you close the tab or click the × without saving, changes are lost — the Changes not saved indicator is the only warning.
- Adding an exercise from the left panel always drops it at the bottom of the workout, not into the section currently visible on screen. Use Move into Section from the exercise ⋯ menu, or drag it in the Arrangement panel.
- The Sections counter in the stats bar only counts named sections. Standalone exercises outside any section don't increment it.
- Switching a section's format from Regular to Interval (or back) after exercises are configured is done via Edit Section in the section ⋯ menu, and may split exercises with multiple sets into separate exercises.
- The Minutes field is manually editable — it does not auto-calculate from set durations or rest times.
- A workout built inside a Program phase is not in the standalone Workouts library until you explicitly use Save to Library from the section ⋯ menu.
- The Quick View (eye icon) on the Workouts library is a coach-facing summary, not a client preview.
- System exercises (Fitsly's default library) cannot be edited directly. Use Copy to Custom from the exercise's View screen to create an editable copy.