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Strength and conditioning software for UK coaches: what actually matters
A practical guide for UK S&C coaches choosing programming software: percentage-based training, periodised blocks, testing, readiness and managing athletes across a squad.
Abai Edmund3 min read
S&C coaches have a different problem from most PTs. You're not just handing someone a programme. You're running blocks, working off percentages, testing every few weeks, and doing it for a squad or a handful of athletes who all train at different levels.
A lot of coaching apps are built for online physique coaching first. They're fine for that. They get awkward when you want 4 weeks at 70, 75, 80% then a deload, worked out for each athlete's own max.
This is what I'd look for if I were choosing S&C software in the UK.
Percentage-based training that does the maths
If you programme off 1RMs, the software should take each athlete's max and work out the working weight for every set. You shouldn't be doing it in your head or in a separate sheet.
Check what happens when you retest. Do the loads update for the next block, or do you have to rewrite them?
In Repit you set loads as a percentage of each athlete's 1RM and it calculates the weight.
Blocks and progression
You want to write a week once and have it carry forward with the progression you choose. Linear load increases, double progression, percentages that step up each week. Then you want to see every generated week before an athlete touches it.
Repit does this with per-exercise progression rules. You build one week, pick the rule for each lift, and preview the whole block.
Testing
Testing is how you know the block worked. At minimum you want to record test results against the athlete and have them feed the next block's percentages.
Readiness
If an athlete slept 4 hours and feels wrecked, you want to know before the session. Look for a simple readiness check that the athlete fills in on their phone and that you can see next to their training.
Repit has readiness on the client record alongside training, nutrition and check-ins. It's a coaching tool. It isn't medical advice.
Squads and shared devices
If you coach a team, nobody wants 20 athletes on their phones in the weight room. Repit has a gym mode for logging a whole group from one shared device, and workout logging works offline, which matters in a lot of school and club gyms.
If you work inside a club or school with physios and nutritionists, tasks can go to the right person by discipline.
Price in pounds
Most of the big tools price in dollars, which makes your monthly cost move with the exchange rate. Repit is priced in pounds. Individual coach plans start free for 2 athletes and Starter is £29 a month for 3 to 15 (£14.50 with the founding code FOUNDING50). Organisations have separate plans: Squad at £149 a month and Team at £249 a month.
What I'd do
Write down one real block you ran this year: the percentages, the progression, the test at the end. Then try to build it in whatever you're considering. If it takes longer than doing it in a spreadsheet, it's the wrong tool.