Liftsmith is free for high school teams

Starting today, Liftsmith Pro is free for high school coaches and for the athletes on their teams. A coach confirms an email address from their school, makes a team, and sends the team's code. Every athlete aged 13 to 18 who joins gets Pro for as long as they're on the team, with nothing to buy and no card to enter.

We think the best time to learn how to train is before anyone is selling you shortcuts. A teenager who learns to warm up, add weight slowly and rest when they need it has a habit for life, and a coach is the person most likely to teach it.

How it works for coaches

1. Open Settings › Coaching and, under School teams, tap Confirm my school. Enter the school's name and the email address your school or district gave you.
2. Type in the six-digit code we email you. Addresses at a school domain we already know are confirmed straight away. Anything else is checked by a person, usually within two days.
3. Make a team (up to five), then Send invite. The link opens Liftsmith with the team's code filled in, or athletes can type the code.

Athletes who join show up under Your clients, so you get the same reports every coach gets: who hasn't trained this week, who's missing reps three workouts running, and whose lifts have stalled, each with one thing to do. You can send routines, leave a note and message each athlete. Read how to track your clients' workouts for the habits that make it work.

How it works for athletes

An athlete enters the team code, says how old they are, and sees exactly what joining shares before they agree. Their coach sees their workouts: exercises, sets, weights and reps, how long they trained and how hard it felt. Never their heart rate, body weight, body fat, measurements, health readings, injuries, notes or photos.

Each team also gets a team board for the week: teammates see each other's first name and how many workouts and sets they did in the last seven days. Not weights, not body numbers, and never on a public page. It's there to get the whole team in the gym, not to rank who's strongest.

Built for teenagers on purpose

• Nobody under 13. Setup won't finish for an age under 13, and teams only take ages 13 to 18.
• Body fat and body shape start off for anyone under 18. The body fat box, the 3D figure shaped like you and sharing body data with a coach all stay hidden until the athlete turns them on in Body › Health. Training works the same either way.
• No public profile under 18. In Friends, a teen's profile can't be made public, and they aren't suggested to strangers unless they choose to be.
• Pro ends when it should. It lasts a school year, then the coach confirms their address again. An athlete past high school age keeps their account and history, and moves to the free plan.

Why not a student discount?

Most teenagers don't have an email address we can check, so a self-serve "I'm in high school" button would be open to anyone. Going through coaches keeps it honest, and it puts a responsible adult next to every athlete who uses it. If you coach a club team instead of a school team, coaching in Liftsmith works the same way, and being someone's client is always free.

School teams are on Android, iPhone and the web app, in all six of the app's languages. The features page has the full list of what's free.

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