What should you compare session to session?
Compare the same exercise with its last session: weight, reps and how hard it felt. This shows small changes, such as one extra rep, that you would otherwise forget.
What should you compare week to week?
Compare your weekly totals: sets, reps and load per muscle group. A 2026 preprint, which is not yet peer reviewed, found that weekly training volume was associated with muscle growth, while splitting that volume into more or fewer sessions made no detectable difference. An older study that matched volume found nearly identical squat gains with 3 and 6 sessions per week, about 16.8 and 16.7 kg. Both suggest that the weekly total is worth tracking more than how it is split.
Weekly totals also show sudden jumps. In a 2016 study of team-sport players, weekly load increases of 15% or more were linked to injury risk of 21% to 49%, while stable load, from 5% lower to 10% higher, was linked to risk below 10%. This was in team-sport athletes, not lifters, but it is a reason to avoid big sudden jumps in volume.
What should you compare over a block?
Look at a block of several weeks. Ask whether your main lifts went up, whether your volume was steady, and whether you stayed consistent. A block shows trends that a week hides.
How do you avoid fooling yourself?
- Compare the same lift in the same format.
- Look at several sessions, not one.
- Record how hard each set felt, not only the numbers.
What do you need to record?
Weight, reps and sets for every exercise, with the date. Roarer records every set, shows your last performance while you log, and gives you weekly activity and per-exercise charts, so you can compare session, week and block.