How to keep a workout log for strength training

Write down three things for every set: the weight, the reps you actually got and how hard it was on the RPE scale. Mark your warm-ups so they don't mix with the working sets, and end the session with a one-line note. Before your next workout, open the last one and use it to decide whether the bar goes up.

Below is a strength training log template you can paste anywhere, one barbell session filled in, and how to read it.

Why bother writing it down

You remember your last top weight. You probably don't remember whether set three two weeks ago was 7 reps or 6, or whether it was a grind. That's what decides the next weight.

The American College of Sports Medicine's 2026 position stand on resistance training says you get benefits without progression, but continued long-term progress likely means raising the stimulus somehow. It names regular strength testing and effort scales like RPE as ways to raise the weight as you get stronger. To raise anything, you need to know where you started.

Tracking also helps you stick with it. A 2009 meta-regression by Michie and colleagues covered 122 evaluations of diet and exercise programs, and the ones pairing self-monitoring with goal setting or feedback worked better. It isn't a barbell study, but the loop is the same: write it down, compare, adjust.

Programs need the numbers too. GZCLP changes stages by total reps (what to do when you miss reps), and nSuns moves your working max by the reps on the 1+ set.

What to log for each set

• Weight. The total on the bar, bar included. For weighted pull-ups and dips, log the belt weight and put your bodyweight in the session header (here's why).
• Reps. What you actually did. If you got 6 out of 8, write 6.
• RPE. Reps left in the tank: RPE 10 means none, 9 means one, 8 means two. That's the scale Zourdos and colleagues published in 2016. If you can't judge it yet, write "easy", "OK" or "hard". The RPE chart shows how RPE lines up with weight.
• Warm-up or working. Mark warm-ups with a "W". Log them, but don't judge your progress by them.
• Rest. One number per lift is enough, like "3 min". Flag it when rest ran way long, say ten minutes waiting for the rack.
• Note. One line that'll matter next time: "knees caving on rep 4", "left elbow sore", "slept 5 hours".

You can skip heart rate, calories, tempo (unless your program calls for it), tonnage and mood check-ins. None of them tells you whether to add weight.

Workout log template

Copy this into a notebook, Google Sheets, Excel or your notes app. One row is one set.

Header: date, program and week, bodyweight, hours of sleep.

Wrap-up: one line on what went well and what to change next time.

The short answer

Log weight, reps and RPE for every working set, mark warm-ups, and read the last session before you train. That's how you know when to add weight and when a lift has stalled.

Example: one barbell session

Header: Nov 12. Plan: squat 3x5, bench press 3x6–8. Bodyweight 180 lb, slept 7 hours.

Wrap-up: Squat moved well, 230 next time. Bench got 21 of 24 reps, so it stays at 155.

How to read your log before the next session

Pull up the last session with the same lifts and ask three questions.

1. Did you hit the plan with reps to spare? Squat got all 15 reps, and even the last set was RPE 8.5, so one or two reps were left. The ACSM's 2009 guidelines say to add 2–10% once you can do the current weight for one or two reps more than the target. On 225 lb that's roughly 5–20 lb. With 2.5 lb plates the smallest jump is 5 lb, so squat goes to 230.
2. Are total reps going up? Bench runs on double progression: first the reps climb within 6–8, then the weight goes up. Today was 8, 7 and 6, or 21 reps. Last time at 155 it was 8, 6 and 6, or 20. One more rep at the same weight is progress. At 8, 8 and 8, add 5 lb and start back at 6 or 7 reps.
3. Did you set a rep PR? That's more reps at a weight you've done before, or more weight for the same reps. To compare different sets, use the Epley formula for estimated 1RM: weight × (1 + reps / 30). 225 for 5 gives 262.5 lb, and 230 for 5 about 268. The 1RM calculator does the math. On 5/3/1 or nSuns, watch the plus set (working max vs 1RM explains why).

When a lift stalls

One bad day means nothing. A lift has stalled when the same weight shows up three sessions in a row, the reps don't move and RPE sits at 9 or higher. Check your notes first: sleep, food, rest, technique. If those look fine, change one thing: drop the weight 10% and build back up, switch rep ranges or take a deload week. If simple jumps keep stalling, it may be time for a different program.

Paper, spreadsheet or app

A notebook beats no log at all. If you pick an app, check that it works offline, keeps warm-ups apart, takes RPE and saves your data to a file. Also find out what happens to your history if you stop paying.

Common mistakes

• Logging the plan instead of what happened. The plan said 3x8 and you got 8, 7 and 6. Write that, or your next weight gets built on strength you don't have yet.
• Filling it in that night. By evening, RPE is a guess. Log it while you rest.
• Mixing warm-ups into working sets. Total reps get inflated and real progress gets lost.
• Swapping a lift without a note. Incline bench isn't flat bench, so don't compare them on one line.
• Never reading it. A log earns its keep when you open the last session before you train.

How Strenos keeps your log

Strenos logs the session as you train. Each set gets weight, reps and an RPE, or an effort rating where RPE doesn't fit, like warm-ups. Warm-ups and drop sets are marked as such, and warm-ups stay out of your tonnage by default. Supersets run as rounds, and you can add a note.

When you finish, Strenos picks out the sets that beat your records and offers to save them. A set of up to 5 reps becomes a rep max for that rep count, and a longer one counts as most reps at that weight. On 5/3/1 and nSuns your working max moves with the plus set you log. Skip logging it and the max doesn't go up. If a lift sits at the same weight for three weeks or more at high effort, its dossier flags the stall.

You start on iPhone and run the workout from Apple Watch: check off sets, rate RPE or effort, skip or add rest and see your heart rate (more on that). Workouts go to Apple Health with heart rate and calories.

Your data lives on your phone and in your own iCloud, with no account to create. Strenos works offline and can save a backup file to Files. Logging strength workouts is free, with no cap on how many. The free plan shows your last 10 workouts and this month's charts. Older history stays saved and opens with Plus. Nothing gets deleted.