A Training Plan Designed Specifically for You

Are you comfortable strength training independently but need a program built around your actual situation — your goals, your history, your body? Custom Program Design is for you.

Programs are built by a Doctor of Physical Therapy, starting with a thorough evaluation. The goal: a plan you can run on your own, with confidence that it was designed for you specifically.

Who Custom Program Design Is For

This service tends to work well for people who:

Have experience training independently and are comfortable in a gym setting
Have specific goals, an injury history, or athletic demands that a general program doesn’t account for
Are ready to follow a structured plan without week-to-week coaching
Want programming designed by a physical therapist with real strength training experience — not pulled from a template

We’ve found that custom program design works best for people who already have experience strength training on their own.

If you’re newer to strength training, still dealing with an active injury, or simply not sure where to start, you’d likely do better with a personalized path with coaching built-in, such as Foundations or Personal Training. We can figure out which approach makes the most sense at your evaluation.

How Custom Program Design Works

1. Start With a Physical Therapy Evaluation

All program design clients begin with a 75-minute initial evaluation. We’ll review your goals, training history, and injury background, then perform a full-body movement assessment.

This is also where we confirm that custom program design is the right fit — or identify a better starting point if it’s not.

2. We Determine the Right Next Step Together

Based on your evaluation, we’ll typically recommend one of three paths: custom program design, a focused physical therapy first, or a coached option like Foundations or Personal Training. Our reasoning will always be clear.

Whatever we recommend, the goal is the same — help you move forward in a way that’s actually going to work.

3. We Build Your Program

If you’re a good fit, we’ll design a comprehensive 2–4 month training plan based on your movement assessment, goals, injury history, equipment access, and weekly schedule.

Your program is delivered via PDF and our EVOLVE app, with instructional video for every exercise and built-in workout tracking.

4. We Walk Through Your Program Together

Once your program is ready, you’ll meet with your physical therapist to go through it together — covering key exercises, technique, and how to put the plan into practice effectively.

And because good coaching is a relationship, we’ll ask for your feedback and refine the plan as needed. If you want more support beyond this point, we can schedule additional sessions.

5. Train, Progress, Repeat

The program is designed to carry you through 2–4 months of training. When you’re ready for a refresh, we check back in on your goals, how you’ve been feeling, and how your body has responded — then build your next program from there. Most people find that staying on a regular design cycle is what keeps progress moving.

Ready to start training with an approach that’s specific to you? Book an initial evaluation and we’ll get started.

Frequently Asked Questions

Have hesitations? Let’s talk about them.

Do I need to have an injury to use this service?

No — and most program design clients don’t have active injuries.

You might be returning to training after time off, working toward a specific athletic goal, or just wanting something more intentional than a general program. The starting point is a physical therapy evaluation, but it’s that’s worth noting that our physical therapists are also experts in strength and conditioning, not just injury rehab.

The evaluation gives us a detailed picture of how you move and what you’re working with. This makes for a much better program regardless of whether anything hurts.

I'm currently a PT patient at EVOLVE. Can my PT design a program for me?

Yes — and this is one of the most common ways people come to this service. Custom program design can be a natural extension of PT care, either as you’re wrapping up or, in some cases, running alongside treatment depending on where you are in recovery. Your physical therapist will let you know when the timing makes sense.

Why do you recommend this primarily for people with strength training experience?

Training on your own involves more than following a program. It requires knowing how to perform exercises with solid technique, select appropriate weights, modify when something feels off, and stay consistent over months without external accountability. Those skills take time to develop.

When someone is still building these, the program is only part of what they need. A coached environment like Foundations or Personal Training is going to get them further faster. Custom program design works best when those fundamentals are already in place.

This might sound cliché, but if you work with us, we truly want you to make progress. After writing hundreds of custom programs over the years, we’ve found that they are excellent for some people, but that many people do much better with coaching. We don’t want to write you a program that overwhelms you or ends up collecting dust.

What does the programming actually look like? Will I be doing the same workouts every week?

Mostly yes, and that’s intentional. A standard strength training cycle typically consists of 1–2 weeks of workouts repeated over several months, with progressive adjustments to load and intensity over time. Repeating movements is what allows you to actually get stronger at them. The expectation of a new workout every session comes largely from CrossFit and similar class formats — that approach has its place, but it’s not how progressive strength programming works. If variety is the priority, our group classes are a better fit.
On the support side: we’re available for quick questions along the way, but significant adjustments or technique work are best handled in a follow-up session rather than over email. We build that in from the start so you have what you need to run the program well.

What's the process for getting a new program as a returning client?

Returning clients schedule a Program Redesign Session, which is a 60-minute in-person appointment. We’ll reassess key movements, review how your last program went, discuss any changes to your goals or situation, and try out new exercises before they make it into your plan. From there, we build and deliver the new program. Total cost is $250, which includes the session and program design.

If you’d prefer to skip the in-person session and just get an updated program, that’s available for $125. Please complete this form if you’re requesting a program without a session. We only recommend choosing this option if you are comfortable learning new movements on your own, and don’t have any active injuries.

How do I know when I'm ready for a new program?

A few things tend to signal it’s time: you have a new goal, a change in your schedule or activities, or a new injury or limitation to work around. Sometimes it’s a shift in season — training for ski season looks different than training through summer. And sometimes the signal is subtler: you’re not as motivated, you’re skipping sessions more, or things that used to feel challenging have stopped feeling that way. That last one usually means the program has run its course, not that something is wrong. A refresh typically fixes it.

Can I train at EVOLVE's facility?

Yes. We offer an Open Gym Membership with unlimited facility access from 5 AM–10 PM, seven days a week. Membership is $85/month with no initiation or cancellation fees.

Do these services require an EVOLVE gym membership?

While we would love for you to train at our facility, custom program design services do not require an EVOLVE gym membership. If you have a home gym or go to a different facility, we can design your program around the equipment you have access to.

How is this different than personal training?

Custom program design is for people who are ready to train independently. We design the plan and you run it on your own, with follow-up sessions early on to get things dialed in. Personal training is ongoing: a coach is with you each session, adjusting in real time. If you’re not sure which fits your situation better, the initial evaluation is a good place to figure that out.

What is cost?

Initial Evaluation: $160 — the starting point for all new program design clients
Program Design Fee: $125 — covers program creation, app upload, and ongoing access to your plan (charged in addition to your evaluation)
Follow-Up Sessions: $130 each — at least one required for new clients
Program Redesign Session (returning clients): $250 — includes a 60-minute in-person appointment and new program
Program Redesign Without a Session: $125

HSA and FSA cards are accepted.

These services do not include a monthly gym membership. We would love for you to train at our facility, and an open gym membership is $85 per month.

If you’re currently in physical therapy at EVOLVE, the program design fee ($125) is typically the only additional cost — we’ve already done the evaluation work. Depending on what your PT sessions have covered, we may need one additional visit to go through movements outside the scope of your current treatment (for example, upper body work during a knee rehab). Your physical therapist will let you know if that applies to your situation.

What if I need a personalized plan, but am new to strength training?

If custom program design doesn’t feel like the right starting point, there are other paths worth considering:

Gym and Fitness:

Foundations — Small-group coached training (max 5 per session) with programming tailored to you. A strong option for people interested in a custom program but who want more coaching support first.
Personal Training — One-on-one coaching with full attention and individualized programming every session.
EVOLVE Strong Classes — Our flagship group strength and conditioning program for active adults — built around the activities Flagstaff people actually do. Trail running, mountain biking, skiing, climbing, aerial arts, backpacking, skiing, hiking — the programming reflects all of it.
Open Gym Membership — Train on your own with access to daily EVOLVE Strong programming via our app.

Clinical Services:

Physical Therapy — If pain or injury is what’s in the way, PT is the right starting point. We’ll get you moving well, and when the time is right, we can build into a training plan from there.
Dietitian Counseling — Work with a Registered Dietitian on how you’re fueling your training and life.
Acupuncture — Evidence-based acupuncture for pain and injury, with the ability to collaborate directly with our PT team.

Not sure if we are the right fit, or have other questions?

We’d love to help. Click the button below to shoot us a note, and then we’ll set up a time to chat about your goals and the perfect plan for you.