FortiorStrength
Personal records in lifting: what counts as a PR
A personal record, or PR, is a best you have not reached before. In lifting it can be a heavier weight, more reps, or a higher estimated max. Fortior flags the ones it can check against your own history, and it is careful about what it calls a record.
Kinds of personal record in lifting
- Weight PR. The heaviest load you have lifted for an exercise.
- Rep PR. More reps than before at the same load, which is the usual record for bodyweight exercises.
- Estimated one-rep-max PR. A set that points to a higher estimated max, even when it was done at an ordinary weight and rep count.
A first attempt at an exercise is a baseline, not a record. There is nothing earlier to beat.
What Fortior marks as a highlight
When you finish a workout, Fortior compares it with your earlier finished workouts. Anything new appears in a Highlights card, and every kind except the first-time note carries a PR badge.
| Highlight | What it means |
|---|---|
| First time logging this exercise | You have no earlier completed sets for it. This is a baseline and has no PR badge. |
| New best est. 1RM | A set's estimated max beat your best earlier estimate on comparable sets by more than 0.25 kg. |
| Heaviest lift | A set was heavier than any earlier comparable set. |
| Most reps | For bodyweight exercises: more reps than before at the same added weight, the same assistance, or at plain bodyweight. |
| Fastest distance | For distance exercises and cardio activities: a quicker time over the same distance. |
| Highest recorded score | A higher Muscular Load Score, or Cardio Load Score for cardio, than any earlier one. |
What "comparable" means
Fortior only compares like with like, so a record in one setup does not claim a record in another:
- The same exercise variation. A chin-up and a pull-up have separate histories.
- The same side (left or right), range-of-motion setting, and band or chain load.
- For rep records on weighted or assisted bodyweight work, the same added weight or assistance.
- Only completed working sets. Warm-ups do not count, and neither do sets marked Failed or Stopped for pain.
If you have never done an exercise in a given setup, there is nothing comparable, so it is not called a record.
Estimated max records and the margin
An estimated max moves when you rate a set differently, so Fortior requires a small margin before it calls something a record. A re-logged identical set never counts.
- On a workout's Highlights card: the new estimate must beat the previous best by more than 0.25 kg.
- In weekly and monthly counts: a lift's best estimate in the period must beat its earlier all-time best by more than 0.25 kg or 0.5%, whichever is larger. Each lift counts at most once per period, and a lift first seen in the period is a baseline, not a record.
- Rep range: estimated records come from sets whose reps plus reps in reserve is between 1 and 11. A set of 15 cannot set one.
- Blank effort: a blank reps in reserve counts as 2, so an honest rating matters. See RPE and reps in reserve.
Where your records show up
- Highlights card. Open a completed workout to see what you set that day.
- Strength page. Each exercise shows its best estimated max and its trend.
- Weekly view. The Last 7 days card on Overview shows a 1RM PRs count, and the weekly review shows Est. PRs.
- Strava. If you publish a workout to Strava, new estimated 1RM records can appear in a Highlights section of its description. A first recorded workout is never listed as a record.
Reading a PR with care
- A PR from an estimate is still an estimate. It points to progress, but it is not a tested max.
- Many coaches advise against letting technique slip to chase a record. A rep that does not meet your usual standard is not a clean rep PR.
- No PR in a given week does not mean you are not progressing. Consistent training, steady effort and recovery matter between records.
- For push-ups, pull-ups and dips, relative strength can show progress that a weight record cannot.
In the app: open a completed workout from your history in Train to see its Highlights card. For one exercise, open Progress, choose Strength and select it. Basic strength trends are free; deeper strength analytics are part of Fortior Premium.
Personal records here are based on your own logs, and estimated records are estimates, not tested maxes. Fortior is not medical advice.