Best Way to Track Workouts for Strength Training

The Best Way to Track Workouts for Strength Training

The best way to track workouts for strength training is to calculate and progressively increase your total volume. Volume is the total work you perform, calculated as Sets × Reps × Weight. This single number is the most accurate measure of your effort and the primary driver of muscle growth and strength gain. Focusing on volume works for anyone whose goal is to get consistently stronger over time, moving beyond the frustrating plateaus that plague most gym-goers.

Most people focus only on the weight on the bar. This is a one-dimensional view of progress that leads to stalls because it ignores the other powerful variables you can manipulate. By tracking total volume, you get a complete, three-dimensional picture of your training. It forces you to make objective, data-driven decisions about your next session instead of just guessing what feels right. This guide will explain why this single number is more important than how much weight is on the bar, and how to combine it with intensity metrics for unstoppable progress.

Why Tracking Weight Alone Will Stall Your Progress

Your muscles grow in response to stress. This principle is called progressive overload. To get bigger and stronger, you must consistently challenge your body with more work than it's used to. However, most people mistakenly think 'more work' only means adding more weight. This is a critical error that limits progress because total volume, not just load, is the true measure of work.

Consider this common scenario. Your goal is to increase your bench press. In Week 1, you lift 100kg for 3 sets of 8 reps. Your total volume is 3 × 8 × 100kg = 2400kg. In Week 2, you add a little weight and lift 102.5kg, but you only manage 3 sets of 7 reps. Your volume is 3 × 7 × 102.5kg = 2152.5kg. Even though the weight on the bar was heavier, you actually did less total work. Your body received a weaker signal to grow.

The counterintuitive insight is this: increasing reps first is often a more effective way to increase volume. If in Week 2 you kept the weight at 100kg but pushed for 3 sets of 9 reps, your volume would be 3 × 9 × 100kg = 2700kg. That is a significant 12.5% jump in total work, which sends a much stronger signal to your muscles to adapt. Focusing only on weight can hide the fact that your total work is decreasing, leading you to believe you're progressing when you're actually regressing.

Beyond Volume: Tracking Intensity with RPE and RIR

While volume tells you *how much* work you did, it doesn't tell you *how hard* that work felt. This is the missing piece of the puzzle for long-term, injury-free progress. To truly understand your training, you must also track intensity. The two best tools for this are Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) and Reps in Reserve (RIR).

What are RPE and RIR?

Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is a subjective scale from 1 to 10 that measures the intensity of a set. RPE 10 is a maximum-effort set where you could not have done another rep, while RPE 7 is a moderate set where you felt you had 3 reps left. Reps in Reserve (RIR) is a more concrete way of thinking about the same thing: it's the literal number of reps you had 'left in the tank' at the end of a set.

Here’s how they relate:

• RPE 10: 0 RIR (Maximal effort, could not do more)
• RPE 9: 1 RIR (Could have done one more rep)
• RPE 8: 2 RIR (Could have done two more reps)
• RPE 7: 3 RIR (Could have done three more reps)

Why This Matters: Auto-Regulation

Tracking RPE/RIR allows for auto-regulation. Your strength isn't the same every day. Factors like sleep, nutrition, and stress dramatically affect performance. On a day you feel great, 100kg for 8 reps might feel like an RPE 7. On a day you're tired and stressed, that same set might feel like an RPE 9.

If your program just says '3 sets of 8 at 100kg', you might push through on a bad day, risking injury or excessive fatigue. But if your program says '3 sets of 8 at RPE 8', you would adjust the weight down to match the prescribed effort level. This ensures you're always providing the right stimulus without over- or under-training. It makes your program responsive to your body's real-time state.

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A 3-Step Guide to Tracking Your Workout Volume and Intensity

Tracking these metrics doesn't require complex tools. A simple notebook and pen are all you need to turn random workouts into a structured plan. The goal is to have a clear, objective target to beat every time you enter the gym.

Step 1. Prepare Your Logbook

Before your workout, write down the date and the exercises you plan to do. Focus on your main compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench press, and overhead press. For each exercise, create columns for Set Number, Weight, Reps, and RPE/RIR. This setup gives you all the data you need.

Step 2. Record Everything During Your Workout

For each working set, log the data immediately after you complete it. Be honest and precise. If you aimed for 10 reps but only completed 9 with good form, write down 9. After the set, take a moment to assess how it felt and assign an RPE rating. Your log for one exercise should look like this:

Squat

• Set 1: 100kg × 8 reps @ RPE 7
• Set 2: 100kg × 8 reps @ RPE 8
• Set 3: 100kg × 8 reps @ RPE 8

Step 3. Calculate Total Volume After Each Exercise

After you finish all sets for an exercise, do the math. Multiply the weight by the reps for each set, then add them all together. For the squat example above, the calculation is (100 × 8) + (100 × 8) + (100 × 8) = 2400kg. Write this total volume next to the exercise. Your goal for your next squat session is to lift a total volume greater than 2400kg, ideally at a similar or lower average RPE.

Doing this math for every exercise can be slow, especially when you are tired. This is where a workout app can be a useful shortcut. For example, in the Mofilo app, you just log your sets, reps, and weight, and it instantly calculates your total volume and charts your progress. It handles the math so you can focus on lifting.

What Progress Looks Like in the First 12 Weeks

When you start tracking volume and intensity, expect progress to feel more consistent and predictable. Your goal is a small increase in total volume for your main lifts each week, typically around 2-5%. This might come from adding one rep to a few sets, adding an extra set, or a small increase in weight.

Progress is never perfectly linear. Some weeks you will feel strong and easily beat your previous volume. Other weeks, you might just match it. That is normal. The key is the trend over months. If your volume for a specific lift stalls for 2-3 consecutive weeks while your RPE for those sessions is climbing, it is a clear, data-driven signal that you need to take a deload week to recover.

A deload is a planned period of reduced training stress, typically lasting a week. You might reduce your total volume by 40-50% and keep your RPE below 7. This allows your body to recover and dissipate accumulated fatigue, setting you up for future progress. Remember that this data is a tool, not a judgment. It removes emotion and guesswork, providing the objective information you need to make smart decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I track every single exercise?

Focus on tracking volume and RPE for your primary compound exercises (squats, deadlifts, presses, rows). These are the lifts that drive the most overall strength. For smaller accessory or isolation exercises, simply ensuring you complete your target sets and reps close to failure is often enough.

What if I fail a rep?

Log exactly what you completed. If you aimed for 8 reps but only managed 7, you record 7. This set would be an RPE 10. This accurate data is crucial for calculating your true volume and intensity, helping you make better decisions for your next workout.

Is a workout app better than a notebook?

A notebook is perfectly effective. Its main limitation is the manual calculation and analysis. The advantage of an app is speed and automation. It can calculate volume for you, display progress graphs, and store your history without you needing to flip through pages, making it easier to spot long-term trends.

How do I track volume for bodyweight exercises?

You can apply the same principles. To progressively overload, you can increase reps, increase sets, or make the exercise harder. This can be done by adding weight (e.g., a weighted vest for pull-ups) or moving to a more difficult variation (e.g., progressing from push-ups to decline push-ups).

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