Workout Calendar: Add Training to Google, Outlook

Put your workouts where your meetings already live. Pick your training days, times and sessions, then download one file that adds a recurring weekly plan, with session details and reminders, to Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar.

How to add the file to your calendar

Tip: create a separate calendar called “Training” first and import into it. You can then show, hide or delete the whole plan in one click without touching your other events.

Google Calendar

1. On a computer, open Google Calendar and click the gear icon, then Settings.
2. Choose Import & export, select the .ics file you downloaded and pick the calendar to add it to.
3. Click Import. The events also appear in the Google Calendar app on your phone.

Official help: Import events to Google Calendar.

Outlook

1. Outlook.com or Outlook on the web: open Calendar, choose Add calendar, then Upload from file.
2. Select the .ics file, pick a calendar and click Import.
3. Classic Outlook for Windows: double-click the file, or use File, Open & Export, Import/Export and choose the iCalendar (.ics) option.

Official help: Import or subscribe to a calendar in Outlook.com or Outlook on the web.

Apple Calendar

1. On a Mac, open Calendar and choose File, Import, or drag the .ics file onto the Calendar window.
2. Pick the calendar to add the events to and confirm.
3. On iPhone or iPad, open the downloaded file and tap Add All.

Official help: Import or export calendars on Mac.

How this training calendar works

Each session you add becomes one repeating weekly event. The event notes hold a short session plan: a warm-up and five moves for strength days (alternating plans A, B and C so you work your whole body across the week), an easy steady effort for Zone 2 days, and a classic 4 x 4-minute interval session for hard cardio days. Links in the notes take you to the exercise library for how-to cues, the workout timer for rest and intervals, and the workout generator if you want a different session.

Times are saved as local clock times, so a 6:30 workout stays at 6:30 when the clocks change for daylight saving. If you turn on deload weeks, every 4th week becomes lighter: the same moves with about half the sets, and easy cardio in place of intervals. Planned lighter weeks at the end of a training block are a common way to manage fatigue, according to an international expert consensus.

The summary checks your week against the World Health Organization guideline for adults: 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity (or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity) plus muscle-strengthening on 2 or more days a week. Brisk walks, Zone 2 and sport count as moderate; intervals count double as vigorous minutes.

Make the plan stick

• Protect the slot like a meeting. If a session gets bumped, do a 20-minute version the same day rather than skipping it.
• Missed one? Just do the next session. Do not try to double up.
• Start smaller than you think. Two strength sessions you never miss beat four you keep cancelling.

Read more: strength training after 35, how to start working out after 40, Zone 2 training explained and VO2 max after 35.

Sources

1. World Health Organization (2020): guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour
2. Helgerud et al. (2007), Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise: aerobic high-intensity intervals (4 x 4 min) improve VO2max more than moderate training
3. Bell et al. (2023), Sports Medicine – Open: integrating deloading into strength training, an international Delphi consensus
4. IETF RFC 5545: the iCalendar standard used for the calendar file

This planner gives general education, not medical advice. If you are new to exercise, have a heart condition, high blood pressure, an injury or take regular medication, check with your doctor before starting hard training. Stop and get urgent medical help if you have chest pain, fainting or severe breathlessness during exercise.

More free tools: Workout generator · 12-week strength program · Zone 2 heart rate calculator · All tools