What to write down at every gym session

If you could only write down four things, these would be the ones. First the exercise, with a precise name you always reuse: barbell bench press and dumbbell bench press are not the same movement, and mixing them ruins any comparison. If you switch machines or grips, note that too, because 60 kg on your gym’s leg press is not the same as 60 kg on another gym’s.

Then the load, the reps and the number of sets. The most reliable approach is to log each set separately rather than a summary: 60 x 8, 60 x 8, 60 x 7 tells you far more than 3 x 8 at 60 kg, because you can see the last set fell short. That missing rep is exactly what tells you what to aim for next session.

Agree on a load convention with yourself and never change it. For a barbell, write the total weight (bar included) rather than the plates on each side. For dumbbells, write the weight of a single dumbbell. It sounds trivial, but it is the number one source of confusion when you reread an old log.

Two sets of 8 at 80 kg can hide two very different realities: one where you could have done 3 more, another where the 8th rep barely went up. RPE (rating of perceived exertion, scored from 1 to 10) or reps in reserve (RIR) capture that difference. An RPE of 8 roughly means 2 reps left in the tank, and RPE 10 means failure. You don’t need half-point precision: writing 7, 8, 9 or 10 on the last set is plenty.

Rest time matters too. If you did 8 reps after a 3-minute break last week and 8 reps after 90 seconds today, you have progressed even though the numbers are identical. You don’t need to time it to the second: noting your usual range (2 min) and flagging when you stray from it is enough.

Finally, exercise order. An incline press done first is a different story from the same exercise done after a heavy flat bench. If your session order changes, your loads will drop without you having regressed. Keeping track of the order stops you from misreading those drops.

This information is not needed to progress, but it often explains a bad session. A 5-hour night, an exhausting workday or a skipped meal can easily cost you one or two reps. A quick note such as slept 5 h, tired keeps you from thinking you have stalled when you were simply drained that day.

Pain deserves its own line. Not normal soreness, but a localised discomfort that keeps coming back: a shoulder that pinches on the bench, a knee that grinds on squats. Writing down when it appears and on which exercise helps you spot a pattern, and it is valuable information if you see a health professional.

Bodyweight, lastly, is best tracked once a week, on an empty stomach and under the same conditions, rather than every session. It is mostly useful for bodyweight exercises and for understanding how your loads evolve: gaining 3 kg in two months often makes pull-ups harder and squats easier.

Warm-up sets don’t need to go into your progress calculations. If you mix them with your working sets, your volume and averages become wrong. The simplest approach: either don’t log them at all, or group them on one line labelled warm-up (for example empty bar x 10, 40 x 5, 60 x 3) that you leave out of the count.

Failed sets, on the other hand, should always be logged, exactly as they happened. If you aimed for 5 reps at 100 kg and the 4th didn’t go up, write 100 x 3, failed the 4th. Don’t delete it, don’t round it up. A failed set is data, not a personal failure: it tells you the load is too heavy for now or that your recovery wasn’t there.

The same goes for partial or assisted reps. If your partner helped you on the last two, write 8 including 2 assisted. Otherwise, next week, you will try to beat a number you never actually did on your own.

For unweighted push-ups, pull-ups or dips, simply write the reps with a BW (bodyweight) tag. If you add a dip belt, log only the added load: pull-ups +10 kg x 6. If you use an assistance band, write down its colour or resistance, because moving from a heavy band to a light one is real progress.

With bodyweight variations, progress often comes from difficulty rather than load: knee push-ups, then standard push-ups, then feet elevated. Always use the same name for the same variation, or you won’t be able to compare from one week to the next.

A drop set (you keep going without rest while lowering the weight) is logged as one split set: 30 x 10 → 22 x 8 → 15 x 8. What matters is labelling it as such, so you don’t confuse it with three separate sets. The same principle applies to a superset: write both exercises side by side with a tag, so you later understand why your loads were a bit lower there.

Badly logged entry: Chest: BP 3 x 8, 60. You can’t tell whether it was a barbell or dumbbells, whether 60 kg is the total or per side, whether all three sets really reached 8, or whether it was easy or a grind. In a month, this line will teach you almost nothing.

Well-logged entry: Barbell bench press, 1st exercise, 2 min rest: 60 x 8 (RPE 7), 60 x 8 (RPE 8), 60 x 7 (RPE 9). Warm-up not counted. Left shoulder fine. In a single line, you know what to do next time: stay at 60 kg and aim for 8 reps on all three sets before adding weight.

The difference between the two is barely ten extra seconds of writing. That is the whole point of a good log: it doesn’t need to be long, it needs to be readable by you three months from now, without having to remember the context.

Log during the session, right after each set, while you rest. Waiting until the end to write everything from memory guarantees rounded numbers and a forgotten failed rep. With a paper notebook, prepare your page before you arrive: the exercise names and the numbers from last session, so you immediately know what to beat.

Use consistent abbreviations (BP for bench press, BW for bodyweight, WU for warm-up) and keep them exactly the same. A log that only you understand is not a problem; a log you no longer understand yourself after two months is.

If you prefer your phone, GymProgress records the weight in kg, the reps and an optional RPE from 7 to 10 for each set, with a rest timer between sets, then calculates your records and weekly volume. The app has no free-text notes field: for sleep, pain or context remarks, keep a short note alongside it, on paper or in your phone.