Strength Training Log Spreadsheet

About this template

This strength training log is for lifters who want to know, lift by lift, whether their training is still working. Log each set's weight and reps, and the workbook estimates your one-rep max, marks new records and tells you which lifts are moving.

Progressive overload only works while the numbers keep going up. The Overload Board compares your best estimated 1RM over the last four weeks with the four weeks before and labels each lift progressing, stalled or slipping.

Please read: This is a tracker tool only, not financial, tax, legal, medical or any other professional advice or advisory service. It records and calculates what you enter; you are solely responsible for checking all figures, rates, dates and results and for every decision you make. By purchasing, downloading or using it, you accept these terms (your statutory consumer rights are not affected).

The dashboard

Nothing on the dashboard is typed. Pick All lifts or one lift and the whole page follows.

• Best estimated 1RM: your best estimated one-rep max, and where the lift started
• The Overload Board: every lift's best, latest and change, and whether it is still climbing
• Best 1RM so far: week by week, for the lift picked or all lifts added up
• Latest records: your newest records with the top set that made them
• Lately against before: best 1RM in recent weeks beside the weeks before them
• Volume, week by week: sets times reps times weight, with the lift picked stacked on the rest
• Effort (RPE) week by week, and weight lifted by squat, hinge, push and pull

What sets it apart

• Is it still working: the board calls each lift progressing, stalled or slipping, and the window and thresholds are yours to set
• Estimated 1RM on every row: calculated with the Epley formula from the weight and reps you logged, so a set of five and a set of eight can be compared. It works as a built-in 1rm calculator
• Records as they happen: a set that beats every earlier estimate for that lift is marked PR the moment you type it, which makes this a pr tracker too
• Week by week: training volume per lift and in total, sessions, and the best estimated 1RM so far for your first four lifts, charted

Six connected tabs

Start Here, Setup, Training Log, Overload Board, Weekly Progress and Dashboard. The Training Log takes a row per lift for every session: sets, reps and weight, and the rest follows. The worked example covers twenty-six weeks of an upper/lower split with 103 sessions and nine lifts, including two deload weeks. Six lifts are progressing, the bench press has stalled and the overhead press is slipping after a shoulder niggle, so you can see each label in action. It suits anyone keeping a gym log for powerlifting, general strength or weightlifting.

Light and dark editions

Every download includes a light edition and a dark edition. Every tab is restyled, not just the dashboard, and both use the same formulas. Each comes filled with a worked example and blank, in Excel and in Google Sheets.

Works with

• Microsoft Excel 2016, 2019, 2021 and Microsoft 365, on Windows and Mac, and LibreOffice
• Google Sheets with a free Google account. The Google Sheets version is a real workbook you make your own copy of, not a PDF with a link in it.
• No dynamic arrays, no macros, no add-ins and no subscription

What you download

• Light edition: the Excel workbook filled with a worked example, and a blank one
• Dark edition: the same two files in the dark design
• The instruction guide, which has one-click links to the Google Sheets versions (light and dark, filled and blank)
• The terms of use as a PDF

Your files are ready to download as soon as payment clears. The template is for personal and business use on your own devices, so please do not share or resell the files. Questions before or after you buy? Use our contact page and we will help.

Frequently asked questions

Does it work in Excel and Google Sheets?

Yes. You download Excel workbooks for Excel 2016 or later on Windows and Mac, and the instruction guide has one-click links to make your own copy in Google Sheets with a free Google account.

How is the one-rep max estimated?

Each row uses the Epley formula on the weight and reps you logged, so sets with different rep counts can be compared.

How does it decide if a lift has stalled?

The Overload Board compares your best estimated 1RM over the last four weeks with the four weeks before. You can change the window and the thresholds for progressing, stalled and slipping.

Does it mark personal records?

Yes. Any set that beats every earlier estimate for that lift is marked PR as soon as you type it.

What is the difference between the light and dark editions?

Only the look. Both have the same tabs and formulas, and both are included in every download.