How to Keep a Training Log

A training log is the cheapest tool in the gym: a two-dollar notebook or one spreadsheet on your phone. Without it you are running on memory, and memory reliably serves up your best session and your last one while losing everything in between. Here is what to write down, how to do it in three seconds between sets, and how to turn those numbers into a decision for next week.

What a log actually fixes

Three things. Progression: if you cannot see that you squatted 3 x 5 at 80 kg last week, you will load 80 kg again today, just to be safe. Volume: the shoulder that starts hurting out of nowhere usually traces back to your weekly pressing sets going from 10 to 22 over three weeks. Patterns: once you notice your bench falls apart in every week you slept under 6 hours, you stop blaming the program.

The minimum that works

You do not need an app with 40 fields. Per session, write:

• Date and which session it is in the week (for example, 18 March, session 2 of 4).
• Exercise, load, and every set separately — not an average.
• Rest times in minutes, at least for the main lifts.
• Bodyweight once a week, in the morning after the bathroom, before food.
• One line of notes: how it felt, where it broke down, what hurt.

That is 60 to 90 seconds per session. Anything heavier and you will quit logging inside two weeks.

How to write a set

The usual shorthand is weight x reps x sets, but the average lies. If you pressed 100 kg for 8, 7, and 5, writing 100 x 8 x 3 is a fiction that will look like a regression next week. Write each set:

Bench press: 100 x 8, 100 x 7, 100 x 5 — 3 min rest, last set to failure

On machines, log the pin number and the seat setting too (row, pin 7, seat 3). Otherwise you spend five minutes every week rediscovering your own setup.

RPE: how hard the set was

Next to the reps, note how many reps you had left. A 6-to-10 scale is enough: RPE 10 means nothing left, RPE 8 means two in reserve. Writing 100 x 5 @8 carries far more information than 100 x 5, because it tells you next week that 102.5 kg is available. You do not need decimal precision — separating easy, hard but clean, and barely is plenty.

The weekly and monthly review

Logging without reading it back is wasted effort. Spend 10 minutes once a week, usually Sunday, on three things:

1. Count sets per muscle group. For most people 10 to 20 hard sets per group per week is the working range. If you are at 26 for back and 6 for legs, only the log shows it.
2. Compare main lifts to last week. Look for +2.5 kg, or +1 rep, or the same weight at a lower RPE. Any one of those counts.
3. Reread the pain notes. The same word three weeks running (elbow, low back) is a signal, not a coincidence.

Once a month, zoom out: your four-week average bodyweight rather than single readings, which swing 1.5 kg on salt and water; sessions completed versus planned; and whether the main lifts have moved at all.

Common mistakes

• Only logging good days. The session where you got through half the plan is the most useful data you own.
• Too many fields. Heart rate, sleep, mood, hydration, pump rating — three weeks and the log is dead.
• Over-planning. Write one target load for next time and fill in the rest as it happens.
• Inconsistent measurements. Weighing yourself sometimes at 7 a.m. and sometimes at 9 p.m. produces a 1 to 2 kg swing that has nothing to do with fat.

Paper or phone

Paper is faster to write in and does not offer you social media between sets; a spreadsheet is better for summing sets and seeing a trend. A practical compromise: notebook during the session, then copy it once a week into a sheet with columns for date, exercise, load, reps, and RPE. The copying takes 5 minutes and forces the review on you. Either way, keep one log — three half-finished ones equal none.

When to see a doctor

A log is a training tool, not a diagnosis. Book an appointment if your notes show pain lasting more than two weeks that does not settle with rest, pain that wakes you at night, numbness or tingling in an arm or leg, a swollen joint, or unintentional weight loss over 5% in a month. Chest pain, unusual shortness of breath, or dizziness during effort is not a log entry at all — that is same-day medical care. If you take medication for blood pressure, your heart, or your thyroid, bring the log to your check-up; concrete loads and session counts are more useful to a doctor than "I train regularly".

The short version

• Record date, exercise, load, and every set on its own line — averaged sets are lost data.
• Add RPE or reps in reserve; that number decides next week's load.
• Ten minutes of review weekly: sets per muscle group (10–20), progress on main lifts, repeated pain notes.
• Weigh in once a week under identical conditions and read the four-week average, not daily jumps.
• Pain past two weeks, night pain, numbness, or unintended weight loss go to a doctor, not into the log.