How to start strength training at home
Three beginner programs for gym, dumbbells, or bodyweight. Seven daily mobility routines for the parts that hurt. All under Programs.
YesCoach v0.1.17 adds ten preset programs. Three are beginner training splits. Seven are daily mobility routines for common pain and posture issues.
To find them: open the Plan tab and tap the Programs icon at the top. Training presets are at the top. Scroll down for the Pain & Mobility shelf.
Which beginner program should I pick?
Pick by what equipment you have. Each is a 3-day week, built on the minimum-effective-dose literature (Androulakis-Korakakis et al., 2020): beginners gain strength from 1-3 working sets per exercise, once per week per muscle group. Low volume is the starting line, not a compromise.
- First 4 Weeks. Gentle 3-day full-body gym starter. Builds the habit before the load.
- Dumbbells Only. 3-day split around one pair of dumbbells plus bodyweight. Goblet squat, dumbbell RDL, and split squat cover the hinge and squat patterns at loads a home lifter can reach.
- No Equipment. 3-day bodyweight program. A chair, a table, a step. Bodyweight squat, push-up, plank, walking lunge, split squat.
Tap a program to see the sessions. Tap Start to schedule it on your Plan.
My back / hip / shoulder hurts. What do I do?
Open Programs, scroll to Pain & Mobility, tap the routine that matches. Each protocol is one session you run daily. Stretches sit at the minimum-effective dose (about 2 sets of 30 seconds per muscle group; total accumulated stretch time is the strongest predictor of ROM gain). Where the pattern needs it, brief activation of underused muscles is included.
| Protocol | Targets | Moves |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Back Relief | Hip flexors, hamstrings, thoracic | 8 |
| Hip Mobility | Flexors, adductors, glutes, rotators | 7 |
| Desk & Posture | Hip flexors, chest, deep neck, scap retractors | 8 |
| Pelvic Tilt Reset | Hip flexor release, glute bridges, anti-extension core | 7 |
| Shoulder Health | Cuff, scap, thoracic | 7 |
| Knee Health | Quads, hamstrings, calves, hip stability | 7 |
| Ankle Mobility | Calf, soleus, dorsiflexion | 6 |
Why training and mobility sit on separate shelves
A training program is measured in sets per week. A protocol is measured in sessions per day. Showing a daily routine as "3 sets/week" understates its cadence by about 7x. Protocols now render with a moves-and-cadence readout instead.
Two shelves in the picker also keep two different questions from competing. "What should I lift?" goes on the training shelf. "My back hurts" goes on Pain & Mobility.