What Should You Record in a Strength-Training Log?

The four fields that earn their place

1. Exercise or variation: write enough to distinguish a barbell squat from a goblet squat, or a flat dumbbell press from an incline press.
2. Load: record the weight used and whether it is total load or per dumbbell.
3. Completed repetitions: record each working set separately. ‘3 × 8 planned’ is not the same as ‘8, 8, 6 completed’.
4. One decision note: use a short note such as ‘repeat’, ‘add 2 kg’, ‘reduce range’ or ‘check technique’. Add an effort score only if you use it consistently.

Warm-up sets can be included when they help you reproduce the set-up, but they should not hide the working sets. Rest time, tempo and range of motion deserve a field when the programme deliberately controls them. Otherwise, keep them as occasional notes.

Why load and repetitions are the foundation

A review of resistance-training monitoring methods explains why a single number is incomplete. The training dose can involve the exercise, load, volume, rest periods and repetition velocity. Measures such as volume load and perceived effort can be useful, but the authors found no consensus on one best way to combine them.

The practical answer is not to measure everything. Start with the variables that let you reconstruct the work: exercise, load and repetitions. They show whether the planned work happened and make a later progression decision auditable.

The 2026 American College of Sports Medicine position stand synthesised 137 systematic reviews involving more than 30,000 adults. It supports progressive resistance training and shows that some prescription variables affect strength, muscle growth and power. It did not test training diaries as an intervention. The coaching inference is narrower: if progression depends on changing training variables, a record of the work helps you see what was changed.

Use effort ratings with care

A set-effort score can add context when the same load and repetitions feel different. A systematic review and meta-analysis included 118 resistance-exercise studies in its qualitative review and 75 in the meta-analysis. Ratings of perceived exertion had a large overall relationship with measures of exercise intensity and exertion, but variation between studies was also very high.

Repetitions in reserve, or RIR, is another option: estimate how many good repetitions you could have completed when the set stopped. In a small reliability study, 15 novice-trained young men produced repeatable 1-RIR load choices for the deadlift and bench press. That does not make RIR exact for every exercise or person. Another study found that trained lifters were less accurate at estimating RIR with lighter loads than with heavier loads.

Use the same scale and the same meaning from session to session. Treat the number as context, not a laboratory measurement.

A one-minute log example

These hypothetical rows use a six-to-eight repetition target for the squat and press, and an eight-to-ten target for the row. They illustrate decisions, not loads prescribed for you:

• Goblet squat: 24 kg — 8, 8, 8 — about 2 RIR — add the smallest available load next time.
• Dumbbell press: 18 kg each — 8, 7, 6 — about 1–2 RIR — repeat.
• Cable row: 45 kg — 10, 10, 10 — technique became rushed — repeat with a controlled finish.

The value is not the numbers themselves. It is the decision attached to them. The first exercise reached the top of its range across all sets. The second did not. The third needs a quality check before more load.

Use three progression decisions

1. Progress: the target work was completed with the intended technique and effort. Make the smallest planned increase.
2. Repeat: the work was useful but the progression rule was not met. Keep the key variables stable and collect another comparable session.
3. Adjust: pain, a repeated technique problem, missed repetitions or a change in the person’s situation means the plan needs review. The adjustment might be load, range, exercise, volume or schedule—not always more effort.

Do not turn one unusually good or poor session into a trend. Compare repeated exposures under reasonably similar conditions. A note such as ‘four hours’ sleep’ can explain an outlier, but sleep, soreness and stress scores are only useful when they change a decision.

The two-week worksheet

For the next two weeks, use one row per exercise and four columns: exercise, load, repetitions by set and next decision. Add one optional effort or technique note. At the end of the fortnight, ask:

• Which exercises have comparable records from at least two sessions?
• Where did the same problem appear more than once?
• Which exercise is ready for the smallest planned progression?
• Which note did not affect any decision and can be removed?

The programme review checklist explains how progression fits the wider plan. The guides to rest between sets and set effort help when those variables are the part that needs review.

If you want help turning your current record into a clear plan, see one-to-one personal training at Tempo or request a free consultation. Bring the last two weeks of completed work; an imperfect record is more useful than a perfect plan that was not performed.