Become a Personal Trainer
Writing One Session's Programme Card Takes A Few Decisions In A Set Order, And The Level 3 Course Has You Practise Them Before Your First Client
From the FASTER syllabus: this article is taught in full in Level 2 and Level 3 Personal Training, the CIMSPA-recognised route from scratch →
In short: The Level 3 personal training course (criterion T/617/8569 6.4) treats a session's programme card as four decisions made in order: exercise choice, exercise order, system choice and progressions, regressions and alternatives. The card is built from the client's interview, their skill level and the goal of the session. It stays simple enough for the client to repeat alone, and being present in person lets the trainer build more complicated work.
The short version
Picture the day after you pass: a person turns up, and you have an hour to fill. Writing that hour down looks like a talent that other trainers were born with. It is a short list of decisions, and one of the things you learn on our CIMSPA-recognised personal training course is the order to make them in.
Key Takeaways
- A programme card is the workout for one day, written down.
- The course gives four decisions: exercise choice, order, system, and progressions or alternatives.
- The card stays simple enough for the client to repeat alone. You are there in person to build more.
What the card actually is
The course calls this acute programme design. It means the programme card, the workout the client completes that day. Building it uses the client's interview, their skill level and what the session is for. That is all it needs as inputs, and you gather every one of them in the consultation.
The four decisions
The course text lists them plainly:
- Exercise choice. What goes in.
- Exercise order. What goes where.
- System choice. How the sets are organised. It can differ from the usual FITT pattern for one particular exercise.
- Progressions, regressions and alternatives. What to move to when something is too easy, too hard or not available.
Four things, and each one can be answered in a sentence. Working through them in the same order every time is what makes the card quick to write.
Why the card is allowed to be simple
The course says the programme is purposefully generic and simple enough for the client to replicate the session independently. A client who can repeat it at home has a plan that works without you in the room. Meanwhile, personal training gives you the benefit of being present every session, so you can add more complicated exercises as you see how the client moves.
That is good news for a first-timer. Play the early cards down: a clear card beats a clever one, and the clever part arrives with experience.
Where the practice happens
FASTER teaches this in a way that is visual and interactive. You can learn by listening, reading, writing your answers or dictating them. You work the four decisions on practice sessions before any paying client sits in front of you.
What to do next
Have a look at the Level 2 and Level 3 personal training course. Today's PT Manager post shows a tool that lands on a specific variable when you are stuck for the progression decision. PT Manager opens the moment you sign up with FASTER to learn on. Adding real clients unlocks once you are qualified and on the Register.
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Set-up
- Import clients Bring a whole client list across in one go.
- My quotes Daily lines your clients see — yours, not stock.
- Programme templates The programme shapes you reuse — a session or twelve weeks. Pick one for a client, get your own copy.
- Exercise library Every exercise with FASTER coaching detail.
- Money Products, payments and who owes what.
- Send from your own email Connect your own email service so invites arrive from you, on your domain.
- My brand & client view What your clients see when they walk in — views, header, accent, logo.
- Your enrolment pack What every new client gets the moment you enrol them — your forms, ours, or a mix.
- Products and services What you sell — blocks, packages, memberships and one-offs, with their prices.
- Insurance Your policy on record — provider and expiry. Client features unlock while it is valid.
- My menu Switch any tool on or off — for your menu, your home and your whole account.
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Business day to day
- Clients Your client list — invite, open a client, manage their space.
- Clubs Group your clients — a board they share, a programme or a monthly price if you want one.
- Challenges A dated push everyone logs against — for everyone you train, or for one club.
- Calendar Sessions, classes, capacity and bookings.
- Reminders The dates your business can't let lapse — insurance and first aid, nagged ahead of time.
- Nudges Who needs a nudge today — opportunities, one tap each.
- Who needs chasing Every conversation about money, in the order to work through them.
- What needs doing Your own list, in your own words — the jobs you keep meaning to get to.
- Till Sell at the desk — cash, card or on their phone — and download the sales sheet.
- What you are making What is coming in every month, what was paid in the last 30 days, and what sells.
Templates and systems
- Forms & interviews PAR-Q, consent, consultations and your own forms.
- Coaching room The coaching tools shelf — wheels, journeys and resources in one place.
- Radar wheels Build a life or performance wheel a client fills in — see change over time.
- Nutrition by FASTER Nutrition sheets and habits without meal-plan pretence.
- Pathways Automated coaching journeys you assign to clients.
- Programmes Start a programme — a session, a month, 12 weeks or a season — and find the ones you have built.
- Games & drills planner Build game-based sessions and drills.
- Sport screens Pick a sport — the shots to film, the analyser, and a ready-made radar of the qualities that matter.
- Movement screen → radar Read joint angles off the analyser — they auto-score and fill a radar wheel.
- Assessment builder Build and run client assessments and re-tests.
- Tag analytics Every tag across your clips, grouped and exportable.
Client
- AI prompts Your reusable prompt library for coaching copy.
- Before & after Side-by-side progress comparisons.
Trainer tools
- Exercise generator Fresh exercise ideas from constraints you set.
- FASTER dice & wheel Spin-and-roll session variety for groups and games.
- Movement demonstrator A 3D model of the FASTER movement patterns — body or skeleton view, prime movers lit up, live joint angles.
- Client video analysis Your media library — client folders and your own. Pick a clip to analyse.
- Movement by FASTER (HMAC) Human movement analysis charts — see how a client moves.
- Live analysis Mount your phone and coach live — skeleton, reps, angles and depth in real time.
- Tell a group One thing, to the right people — and you see exactly who it reaches first.
Media centre
- Video builder Reels, stories and client report videos, in your own branding.
- Image builder Branded posts and cards for your socials, at the right size.
- Shot list builder Every shot with its size, angle, lens, location, people, kit and sound; sorted into shooting order, ticked off on the day, printed or sent as a sheet.
- Storyboard builder Plan a video shot by shot: what the camera sees, what is said, the move and the cut.
- Script writer Write what you will say, with the word count and how long it takes to say.
- Teleprompter Read your script off the screen at your speed, and film yourself behind it.
- Video and image organiser Everything you have made and every source you can pull from.
- Ad builder Make your own ads, coached as you go, in your branding. As many as you like, no fee, no cap.
Frequently asked
What is a programme card?
The workout for one day, written down. In the Level 3 course it is the output of acute programme design, built to suit one client's interview, skill level and the goal of that session.
What decisions go into one session?
Exercise choice, exercise order, system choice, and progressions, regressions and alternatives.
Does the Level 3 course expect an expert on day one?
No. It teaches the decisions as a short list you work through in order, and you practise them before you take a client.
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