How do you track your lifting progress?

Rae6503
Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
edited October 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
I keep track here in MFP but there are no plots or anything. I love plots. I can't figure out how to effectively plot in Excel especially since I change number of sets and reps as I am following the New Rules program...

But I do know I did 1 set of 10 squats today at 95lbs, followed by 2 sets of 10 at 85lbs. I started Oct. 3 with 2 sets of 15 with just the bar. I feel like that is a good improvement but I want a pretty chart!

I love pretty charts! Did I mention I love pretty charts?!

Replies

  • jakejacobsen
    jakejacobsen Posts: 584 Member
    bump
  • Ooh i would love to know this too!

    Btw great progress in a months time!
  • Goal_Seeker_1988
    Goal_Seeker_1988 Posts: 1,619 Member
    You post too much:laugh:

    Just sayin
  • Tmbrooks75
    Tmbrooks75 Posts: 182 Member
    You post too much:laugh:

    Just sayin

    what she said. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: J/K
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    I hate you people.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
    I hate you people.

    Stop that or we'll all take our shirts off.

    You should just plot the heaviest set and number of reps each week, IMO.

    Bench Press
    7 105
    8 105
    10 105
    6 115
    7 115

    Just a thought.
  • caveats
    caveats Posts: 493 Member
    I hate you people.

    Had to LOL b/c I saw your other post too. ;)

    My bf found this site/phone app called Jefit. (Jefit.com) He's been having good success with it tracking his reps/sets (and he's an engineer, so you know how anal THEY can get ;) ). The app is actually more intuitive than the website, but once you figure it out, I guess it's pretty useful.

    I refer to the app on my phone when I"m looking for more exercises for certain muscle groups, but that's about it. I don't really track my weight lifting progress yet.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    yeah... I am kind of an enginerd myself...
  • joejccva71
    joejccva71 Posts: 2,985 Member
    I currently use Jefit. It has an app for the Droid, iPhones, and the PC. It's great. =)
  • Lift_hard_eat_big
    Lift_hard_eat_big Posts: 2,278 Member
    You should just plot the heaviest set and number of reps each week, IMO.

    Bench Press
    7 105
    8 105
    10 105
    6 115
    7 115

    I only max out once a month and shoot for 3 reps. But I mainly log my monthly 80% max rep. My journal looks similar to that

    80% Max Bench Set
    215 x 5
    215 x 7
    215 x 9
    215 x 10
    225 x 6
    225 x 8
    225 x 9
    225 x 10
    Gonna jump to 235 on Monday hopefully
  • caveats
    caveats Posts: 493 Member
    yeah... I am kind of an enginerd myself...

    No worries, I only tease engineers because I love 'em so much. Bf + brother = both engineers of some type (one is mech, another is software). Sigh, some people really live up to their stereotypes. :laugh:
  • PedmomJill
    PedmomJill Posts: 505 Member
    Rachel-great biceps! I don't have an answer but wanted to give you a compliment. :) I just know I'm making progress when one weight gets too "easy" and I can up my weight and do the same sets.
  • Laces_0ut
    Laces_0ut Posts: 3,750 Member
    i keep a pen and paper log book for weightlifting. i dont like to bring my phone into the gym because ill probably break it.
  • trelm249
    trelm249 Posts: 777 Member
    I log each work out. Every 2 weeks I log the new heaviest weight I used for my last working set (6 to 8 reps) per lift for that bi-weekly period in a spread sheet.

    That I can graph and helps me see the long term progress.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    I ended up getting the jefit app. It's really fun. It calculates your 1 rep max from the number of reps and sets you do. Makes it way easier to track your progress. I've increased my squats by like 95%.
  • trelm249
    trelm249 Posts: 777 Member
    Wow! Way to go on the improvement in squats.
This discussion has been closed.