- Workouts are broken down into sets of exercises.
- Each set is associated with exactly one exercise.
- Each set is performed at one specific weight.
- Each set consists of one or more reps (repetitions) of an exercise at that weight.*
* Not all exercises are based on lifting weight for certain reps. Some are time-based, but they are still grouped into sets.
For example, Alice performs a 225lbs deadlift for 5 reps. The repeats this 3 times. Thus, Alice has performed 3 sets of 5 reps at 225lbs, or 3x5@225. After those 3 sets, Alice decides to test her max, so she performs a single set at 275bs, or 1x1@275. In total, Alice performed 4 sets, 3 of them at 225lbs for 5 reps and 1 of them at 275 for a single rep.
How did Alice do on her workouts? In weight training there are two metrics that matter most: volume and intensity.
There are two metrics that Muscle Book uses to measure workout performance: intensity and volume. There is a third metric available to you: duration, but this is less relevant for measuring performance (a long workout isn't necessarily a good workout).
Typically you aim to have high volume or high intensity, not both. You could shoot for both high intensity and volume but that's usually counterproductive, one of those metrics will may suffer as a result. You can achieve high volume with low intensity by lifting many reps and/or sets at a lower weight. Conversely, you can achieve high intensity with low volume by lifting fewer sets of fewer reps at a higher weight.
Intensity is how heavy the lift was compared to past performance. If Alice's best deadlift in the past was 270lbs, then her first three sets had an intensity of 83% (225/270x100). Her final set's intensity was 101.8%. From that point on, when calculating intensity, 101.8% will be used. For example, if Alice lifts 3x5@225 tomorrow, her intensity will be 81%, not 83%. By the way, intensity is not retroactive. When looking back at today, that 3x3@225 is still 83% because intensity is based on the max weight up to that workout.
For exercises that are primarily measured in duration (ie. planks): the intensity is calculated as the percent of the max time up to that workout. For example, if your best record for planks is 1 min, and you perform a plank for 1 min and 20 seconds, then your intensity will be 130%.
Volume is just the total weight moved, calculated by multiplying the reps and weight and summing that for all sets. Alice's workout had a volume of 3,650lbs (3x5x225 + 1x1x275 = 3,375 + 275 = 3,650).
For exercises that are primarily measured in duration (ie. planks): volume is calculated as the total time during that workout. For example: If you held a 1 minute plank for 3 sets, the duration will be 3 minutes.
Any exercise can also have a duration recorded with it, even if it's not the primary measurement. While the duration overall isn't a great metric for tracking your performance, it can be helpful to understand other aspects of your workout, such as how much time are you resting between sets. If you notice your other metrics aren't doing well, it might be worth looking at whether or not your are resting enough.
The calendar graph provides a long-term view of workout consistency and progress by emphasizing progressive overload. Streaks of high activity and periods of inactivity become clearly visible at a glance. Progress comes in months and years, not days and weeks. It's easy to become inconsistent with your lifting schedule, this graph shows you the long-term results of your dedication. It's hard to ignore the fact that you skipped the gym for three weeks in a row when it shows up as a giant empty spot on your calendar graph.
The calendar graph tracks the intensity, volume and/or duration metrics on a per-day basis. The magnitude of each square is relative to the data that precedes it, filling a square to maximum darkness requires greater effort as time goes on. In other words: if a 200 lbs deadlift results in a max dark red square today, the same weight will result in a lighter square from that point on. The same is true for volume as well. The calendar graph will use the relative volume to determine how dark the square should be. So if you lifted 10,000lbs today, tomorrow you will have to lift something greater than 10,000lbs to get the precious dark square again. Max darkness can be achieved by beating your best weight or beating your best volume. You don't need to hit PRs on every workout, but if you go a long time without a dark red square in at least on of these metrics then you might not be working out hard enough. Because intensity of different ex
You might be thinking... you can just game the system by adding 1lbs to every workout. But this is actually the point, and exactly what Muscle Book tries to encourage with the way it displays the data. Adding 1lbs is barely noticeable, so you'll likely be able to lift it no problem, but you are still increasing your weight, and eventually that 1 pound will add up over time. You will also quickly realize that this will only work for so long, and you'll have to start trying more advanced routines where you back off and increase again.