What should I do at the gym if I don't have a plan?

Do one leg exercise, one push, one pull and one hinge movement, 3 sets each, then finish with something for your core. That's a complete workout in about 45 minutes, and it needs no program.

The no-plan template

Pick one from each group:

• Legs: squat, leg press, goblet squat or lunges
• Push: bench press, dumbbell press, push-ups or overhead press
• Pull: lat pulldown, seated row, dumbbell row or assisted pull-ups
• Hinge: Romanian deadlift, hip thrust or back extensions
• Core: plank, dead bug or cable crunch

Do 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps for each. Rest about 2 minutes between sets. Pick a weight where the last couple of reps are hard.

An example session

1. Leg press, 3 x 10
2. Dumbbell bench press, 3 x 10
3. Seated cable row, 3 x 10
4. Romanian deadlift, 3 x 10
5. Plank, 2 x 30 seconds

Next time you come, pick different exercises from the same groups. That variety keeps it from getting stale while the pattern stays balanced.

Make it count

The only rule is to write down what you did. Next visit, try to beat it by one rep or a little more weight. That's the thing that turns a random workout into progress. Progressive overload explains why it works.

League of Fitness won't log your sets, but lifting sessions sync from Apple Health and count toward a daily 1v1 match, and your streak shows how many days in a row you've turned up.

A few things to avoid

• Spending your whole session on arms and abs. They're fine as extras, but the big movements do most of the work.
• Doing a different exercise every set just for variety, with no record.
• Skipping legs. They're the biggest muscles in your body, and skipping them leaves a big gap.

When you want more structure

Once you've been going a few weeks, switching to a real program is a good idea. A simple full body routine works well, or you can look at full body vs split if you want to train more days.

Even a mediocre plan you follow beats a perfect plan you never start, so just go and do the template.