In Part 1 of our My Plan Series, we dove into how My Plan uses fitness science and user-first design to help our members reach their personal fitness goals faster.
However, My Plan isn’t the only way to hit those goals. Embedded in the Tempo experience is a growing library of comprehensive programs also aimed at hitting specific fitness goals.
So, what exactly is the difference between enrolling in a program or strictly using your My Plan weekly schedule?
Will My Workouts Differ Between a Program and My Plan?
First, we should be clear that even if you are in a program, you will be using My Plan. My Plan will populate your custom weekly workout schedule based on the sequence of workouts days in your program.
For instance, if you’re in the very popular The Shape Shift program from Tempo’s Head Coach Melissa, you’ll have five active training days per week (assuming that your My Plan preferences are also set to working out five days per week as your target) as prescribed by the program.
So, what exactly is the difference then? Well, it’s really that prescription mentioned above. Each program is populated with classes that were designed by our coaches to help you achieve a very specific goal.
For The Shape Shift, it’s to achieve body recomposition (changing your body’s ratio of fat and muscle mass); with Coach Colby’s Boxing Camp, it’s to build endurance; or with Coach Cole’s Strength Foundations, you’ll learn the basics of how to strength train.
In many member journeys, your weekly fitness regimen will only be based on sweating it out in the next class in the program’s sequence. You can of course add more to your plate (or in this case, your barbell) by tacking on more workouts or live classes to your schedule.
When it comes to programs, they’re meant to be comprehensive and they’re meant to empower you to reach a very specific goal with your entire weeks’-long journey pre-planned. Think of it like a fitness itinerary that someone else has done all of the planning for you.
What’s it Like Working Out with My Plan
Relying on My Plan will actually feel similar to being enrolled in a program. You’ll also get daily class recommendations (called our “Daily Focus”) and the flexibility to add more to your day.
However, My Plan gives you broader ownership over what your goals are and allows you to redefine what your fitness means to you (and what you want to prioritize).
As a beginner, you may really benefit from taking a program like Coach Cole’s Strength Foundations because your goal may be to get a better feel for a pair of dumbbells in your hands. For other self-identified beginners who may have some strength training experience, using My Plan may be the better option. Letting Tempo know that your goal is to shed excess weight (and not necessarily learn the basics of strength training), My Plan will create an unending stream of weekly workout plans to get you to your goal.
So while your day-to-day experience with being in a program versus not being in one won’t feel a lot different, those experiences will suit different members based on their personal fitness style, philosophy, and goal.
Which Option is Best For Me?
There really isn’t a perfect way to know who is best fit for programs and who isn’t; fitness isn’t a cookie-cutter journey and is always changing.
We recommend testing the waters and investigating what our programs offer. If you’re looking to learn the basics, want a structured method of comparing performance across the same workouts, and are interested in getting to know a coach well, a program may be the right fit.
If you’re wanting a choose-your-own-adventure experience that still doesn’t require any guesswork and gives you the flexibility to chase a broader fitness goal, try sticking to My Plan.
Or, try both. Many in our community — which we’ll dive into later in the series — find a lot of value in My Plan and how it can constantly surface new challenging classes or recommend mobility/recovery classes they would have otherwise ignored. Others have found that the structure of programs and the collective experience of taking a program alongside other community members incredibly motivating.
In the next part of this series, we’ll be introducing you to the Tempo team members who pioneered the creation of My Plan.
