Tracking progress
How to compare workouts when weight and reps both change
A practical way to compare lifting sessions using load, reps, and volume load—without mistaking one bigger total for a better workout.
Compare load and reps side by side for the same exercise. Volume load is useful arithmetic, but it cannot tell you by itself which session was better or how much muscle you gained.
Choose the question before the metric
Last week you lifted a lighter weight for more reps. This week you lifted a heavier weight for fewer reps. Which workout was better? The log alone cannot answer that broad question, but it can answer narrower ones precisely.
If you want to know whether you used more weight, compare loads. If you want to know whether you completed more reps at the same weight, compare those sets. If both changed, keep both visible. Combining every detail into one score can hide the very change you want to understand.
Calculate volume load carefully
Volume load is weight multiplied by reps, summed across the sets you are comparing. For three identical sets, you can multiply weight × reps × sets. When reps or weights vary, calculate each set separately and add the results.
In this example, session B uses more weight per rep, while session A has a higher volume load. Both statements are true. Neither calculation establishes which session was more effective for your goals.
Session A: 60 kg × 10 reps × 3 sets = 1,800 kg Session B: 65 kg × 8 reps × 3 sets = 1,560 kg A: 30 total reps, more volume load B: 24 total reps, more weight per rep
Know what the total leaves out
Volume load does not capture range of motion, effort, tempo, or technique. It also does not make unlike exercises equivalent. A kilogram recorded on one machine is not a standardized measure of difficulty across every machine.
Use the total as a description of comparable logged work. Avoid treating a whole-session total as a universal performance score, especially when the exercise selection changed. Adding an exercise can increase the total even if your performance on the original lifts stayed the same.
For dumbbells, stick to one convention. If you record weight per hand, label it and calculate consistently. Switching between per-hand and combined weight can create a large apparent change that is only a bookkeeping difference.
Use a three-step comparison
First, match the exercise and variation. Second, compare the weight and reps for the working sets. Third, read any notes that explain changed conditions. This takes a little more attention than checking the biggest total, but it tells you much more.
Write the conclusion in plain language: ‘Same load, two more reps across three sets’ or ‘Heavier load, fewer reps, different bench angle.’ If the comparison is messy, leave it messy rather than claiming a personal best that the record cannot support.
Rudy’s exercise history gives you a place to review your recorded sets. Use that history to compare like with like, and keep your training goals separate from the arithmetic.