Make Google Sheets Your Weight Training Tracker - Stayfitcentral

Management guru Peter Drucker famously said “what’s measured gets improved.” While he was referring to managers tracking sales and other business related stuff, it also applies to our workouts. If you don’t know what you’ve done, and how you’re doing, making progress and achieving your goals will be harder, if not impossible, to accomplish.

The best way I’ve found for tracking weight training workouts is with Google Sheets™. After reading this article you’ll know how you too can keep track of every set, rep, and pound you lift. I’ll also show you how to use this information to make sure you accomplish your workout goals.

“A fitness log is a basic but effective tool that can help you stay focused, mark your progress, and keep you motivated as you pursue your fitness goals.”
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**Keep Track Of Every Rep And Set With Your Own Workout Tracker**

Table of Contents

Using Google Sheets™ As Your Weight Training Tracker

Step One – Determine What Needs To Be Tracked

The first thing we need to do is figure out what aspects of your workout need to be recorded in your spreadsheet. You can add just about anything from the weight you lifted to the time, your pre-workout supplements. You can even add things like your heart rate and body temperature if you really want to nerd out.

Below is a list of what I find to be more important when it comes to tracking your strength workouts. I created a sample sheet including each of these items that’s shown in a screenshot.

The date to use when you want to look-up what exercises you did, weight you lifted, etc. before.
Your workout goals. Type in down the 2-3 most important things you want to accomplish. Make sure your goals are specific to your workout and can easily be measured afterward. Two examples are: rest 30 seconds less between sets than last time and add 5 pounds to my overhead presses this workout.
Warm-up exercises. Here you’ll enter what you did for my warm-up including the exercises, sets, repetitions, and amount of time for things like stretching and jumping rope.
Which muscles/body parts you’re training. In a column next to each exercise I’ll be doing at this workout I enter which body part that exercise trains. This way I can go back and look at not just what exercises I’ve been doing but which body parts I’m training to see if I need to train them more, or less based on the results I’m getting.
What exercises you’ll do. Here you’ll enter each exercise you’re going to do in the order it’ll be done.
The weight, sets, reps, and rest between sets. Make a column for each of these for every exercise you’re going to do this workout.
Post-workout comments. Add a section to your tracker to write in a few comments about your workout. You may want to record things like whether or not you achieved your workout goals or how you felt during and after your workout. I also like to add what to focus on or do differently the next time I do this workout.

If you like you can copy and paste your workout data onto another Google Sheet and make graphs and charts to get an even better picture of progress you’re making.

Example Weight Training Tracker Made With Google Sheets™

Here’s a screenshot of what your workout log can be organized and look like using the information I recommend above. You’ll see that it’s organized, easy to use, and makes getting a clear picture of what you did during your workout.

Step Two – How To Track Your Weight Training Progress

Now that you know what to track, it’s time to learn how to use the information you’re tracking.

Here’s what I do.

Every few weeks or at least once a month, I go back and look at each workout and compare them to see how my progress is coming along.

I’ll check out whether or not my strength is increasing or if I’m doing more or less reps for each exercise. If I’m getting a lot stronger I’ll make a note to increase the weights I’m using a little more. I’ll also review how long I’m resting between sets to get an idea of my overall conditioning and to see if adjusting it can help me reach my goals.

Other things you may want to look at are which muscle groups and exercises you’re doing the most. You may see that you’re doing too much, or perhaps not enough. Think of it as a science experiment where you’re the subject. The results you’re recording into your spreadsheet are what you use to keep getting better.

Another great thing do to, which Google Sheets™ makes really easy is to share your workout tracker with people that can review it and give you informative and helpful feedback. This can be a personal trainer, coach, or anyone else that knows how to analyze and create the types of workouts you’re doing.

All you need to do is click the blue ‘Share’ button in the upper right hand corner of your spreadsheet.

Here’s A Weight Training Tracker That’s Already Made For You

I’ve created a tracker using Google Sheets™ that does everything I listed above and a lot more. Using it saves you the hours it often takes to make and copy a spreadsheet.

Instead of copying and pasting old workouts into a new sheet to which you have to spend time reformatting and deleting information our tracker makes a new template for you with one click.

The Stayfitcentral Workout Tracker also saves every workout for you into a database that’s saved in your Google™ account. This means your information is kept private and easily accessible from any computer, tablet, or phone.

Click here to learn more about our weight training tracker.

You’re Now Ready To Track Your Workout With Google Sheets™

You now have everything you need to track your weight lifting workout easily and accurately with a spreadsheet. Remember to use the information you enter to stay on top of what is and isn’t going as planned with your training. Doing so is an investment that takes a few minutes each workout that’ll keep you on track toward achieving your goals and building the body you want faster.

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Curt Pedersen

I’ve been fascinated with human performance and striving to help myself and others perform our best since I was a skinny and weak 90 lb high school freshman. This led to studying exercise science and biochemistry in college and graduate school and working with countless men and women to get leaner, stronger, and fitter. I’ve also published more than 1,000 articles on physical fitness and performance for dozens of publications including: Stayfitcentral, Business Insider, Lifehack, and Breaking Muscle.