Evernote Workout Template: Build One in Ten Minutes

Quick answer: Evernote has no built in workout template, so you make one. Write a note holding your exercise names and nothing else, save it with "Save as template", then create a fresh note from it before every session, titled date first. Tag each note by session type and save a search per exercise.

Search "Evernote workout template" and you get planner bundles for sale, most of them PDFs that were never designed for a phone screen.

You do not need one. The template that survives six months of training is about eight lines long, and Evernote will let you save it and reuse it in a couple of taps.

Why do people track workouts in Evernote?

Usually because Evernote is already open. The gym log is one more note in the same place as the shopping list and the meeting scribbles, which means there is no second app to remember and no account to create.

The rest of the appeal is honest enough:

• It syncs. Plan the session on a laptop, fill it in on a phone.
• It searches everything. Typed text, attachments and the contents of images, all from one box.
• It never argues with you. No dropdown refuses "half rep, shoulder felt off, dropped 5kg".
• Templates are a real feature, not a workaround. Evernote's own guidance says you can save a note as a template and reuse it, and there is a free templates gallery if you want to start from someone else's layout.

That last point is why Evernote is a better home for this than most notes apps. Apple Notes makes you duplicate a note by hand. Evernote gives you a proper "new note from template" flow.

What should an Evernote workout template contain?

Four things, and nothing else:

• The date, first in the note title, so sorting and searching both work
• The session name, so you know which day you are looking at
• One line per exercise, carrying the weight and reps of every set
• A single notes line for anything that changed

Here is the whole template. Paste this into a new note:

YYYY-MM-DD Push

Bench press
Overhead press
Incline DB press
Cable fly
Triceps pushdown

Notes:

And here is that same note after a session:

2026-08-07 Push

Bench press 80x8, 80x8, 80x7
Overhead press 45x10, 45x9, 45x8
Incline DB press 26x12, 26x11, 26x10
Cable fly 15x15, 15x14
Triceps pushdown 30x15, 30x13, 30x12

Notes: bench felt heavy, slept badly

No checkboxes, no table, no formatting. Text you can type with one thumb while your other hand is holding a bar.

Why write every set out?

80x8, 80x8, 80x7 tells you exactly what to beat next week. Bench 3x8 hides the set that fell apart, which is the only set that tells you whether to add weight. Writing each set costs about two extra seconds and it is the difference between a log and a diary. Our guide to workout shorthand explained covers the rest of the notation, including RIR and RPE tags.

Why the date goes first

Evernote sorts by created and updated dates, but titles are what you read in a list of two hundred notes. A 2026-08 prefix means you can type that string into the search box and pull the whole month back.

How do you use Evernote's actual features for this?

Four features do the work. Here is what each one is for.

Templates. Build the empty note above, then use "Save as template" from the note's options menu. After that, creating a new note offers your saved templates, so a new session is two taps rather than a copy and rename.

Notebooks. One notebook called Training is enough. Resist a notebook per split. Notebooks are for separating unrelated areas of your life, not for organising within one of them.

Tags. Tag each session note with its type: push, pull, legs. Three or four tags cover an entire program, and tags are what let you pull up every leg day in one click without touching the note titles.

Saved searches. This is the feature most people never turn on, and it is the good one for training. Run a search such as notebook:Training "bench press", then save it. Evernote lets you name a saved search and pin it to your shortcuts, so every bench session you have ever logged sits behind one item in the sidebar.

The search syntax is worth ten minutes of your time. Evernote documents operators including notebook:, tag:, -tag:, created: and any: in its own advanced search guide, and created:day-7 plus a tag is a decent substitute for a weekly review screen.

What are Evernote's free plan limits?

This is the part that catches lifters out, so check it before you commit a year of training to it.

According to Evernote's plan comparison page, the Free plan allows 50 notes, 1 notebook, 20 tags, 1 synced device and 1GB of storage. Starter raises that to 1,000 notes, 20 notebooks, 100 tags and 3 devices.

Read those numbers against a training log. One note per session at four sessions a week means you reach 50 notes in about three months. One synced device means the note you write on your phone is not opening on your laptop.

Those caps arrived in December 2023 under Bending Spoons, and as Engadget reported at the time, existing free users already over the limit can still view, edit, delete and export their notes, but cannot create new ones beyond the cap.

Two workarounds keep a free account viable. Log a whole month into one rolling note, dated section by section, which trades searchability for headroom. Or export regularly and keep the archive outside Evernote. Neither is elegant. If you want a note per session and a phone plus a laptop, Evernote is a paid tool.

How does Evernote compare to the other ways of tracking?

Evernote captures workouts well and analyses them not at all.

Search is the row Evernote wins outright. Nothing else in this table finds the word "bench" inside a photograph of a program taped to a gym wall.

Data visualization is the row that eventually moves people. A perfect note still cannot tell you whether your squat is trending up, because text does not plot. Our comparison of the best notes app for workout tracking puts Evernote next to the alternatives, and the Apple Notes workout template and OneNote workout tracker template use the same structure if you switch.

A ten minute setup plan

1. Make a notebook called Training. One notebook, no sub structure, no naming scheme to remember.
2. Write the empty template note and save it as a template. One per training day if you run a split, so TEMPLATE Push, TEMPLATE Pull, TEMPLATE Legs.
3. Create tags for your session types now, while you remember, and apply one to every note from here on.
4. Save one search per main lift. notebook:Training squat pinned to your shortcuts, and the same for bench, deadlift and press.
5. Start a new note from the template before every session. Never edit last week's note. That single habit is what keeps six months of history alive.

Keeping the text, adding the charts

Nothing above is wrong. Typing a line of text is faster than filling in a structured app, and a plain log you actually keep beats a polished one you abandon in February.

The limit arrives around month six. You have hundreds of accurate lines you cannot plot, cannot rank and cannot filter by exercise without reading every note.

Gym Note Plus is built for people who already log exactly like this:

• Type sets the way you type them in Evernote, with no dropdowns and no forms
• Weights and reps are read into per exercise charts automatically
• Session notes stay attached to the workout instead of scrolling away
• Personal records are flagged as you hit them
• Existing notes import, so your Evernote history comes with you

To see what your notes would look like as tracked data, paste one session into the free notes to workout translator. It takes ten seconds and needs no account. The one rep max calculator will tell you what a heavy single set is actually worth.

The best workout template is the one you can fill in with one thumb between sets. Structure it enough to search, then stop.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Evernote have a workout template?

Evernote ships no fitness or workout template of its own, though its free template gallery covers planners and journals you could adapt. Building your own takes about ten minutes: write a note holding your exercise names with no numbers, then use Evernote's "Save as template" option so every session starts from a clean copy.

Is the Evernote free plan enough for a gym log?

Evernote's plan comparison page lists the Free plan at 50 notes, 1 notebook, 20 tags, 1 synced device and 1GB of storage. Four sessions a week fills 50 notes in roughly three months, and one device means no phone plus laptop workflow. Free suits a trial, not a long term training archive.

How do you make a template in Evernote?

Create the note you want to reuse, open the note's options menu, and choose "Save as template". Evernote then offers your saved templates when you create a new note, so each session begins from the same empty layout. Pinned templates appear as suggestions, which removes the copy and rename step other notes apps force on you.

How do you find an old workout in Evernote?

Use the search box with Evernote's operators. A query such as notebook:Training "bench press" returns every bench session, and created:day-30 narrows it to the last month. Save the query as a saved search and pin it to your shortcuts so the same lift is one click away instead of one typed query.

Should an Evernote workout log use tables or plain text?

Plain text lines win for logging done at the gym, because they are faster to type one handed, easier to copy between notes and readable on a narrow phone screen. Evernote tables suit planning a program at a desk. Most people fill their log in between sets, so plain lines are the safer default.

Final Takeaways

• Evernote has no workout template, and does not need one. Eight lines of exercise names covers it.
• Use the real template feature. "Save as template" removes the copy and rename step that kills notes app logs.
• Tags plus saved searches are the payoff. One pinned search per main lift beats any folder structure.
• Check the free plan limits first. 50 notes, 1 notebook and 1 device according to Evernote's comparison page, which a serious training log outgrows in a season.
• Evernote finds your notes, it will not plot them. The numbers stay text until something reads them.