Replacement for Reps/Secs?

[Ghost]

It doesn't feel like reps and seconds can tell the whole story when I jot down my workout.
It could be an easy 5 reps, or it could be a really hard 5 reps. 
What methods do you all use, apart from reps and seconds?

[I-Jo]

smells like spam.. .reported

[Georges]

I'm pretty lax about it and just throw a note in whatever log I'm using if something is particularly easy/hard or went well/badly.  I'm am a bad data gather-er.  But I remember that Waldo, arguably the best data gather-er I've ever seen outside of a laboratory, uses a system where he logs reps or time, but also some sort of Rate of Perceived Exertion scale and a measure of how he felt his technique was.  Just two extra bits of data, coded in (he has a key for reading it all in his thread).

[Waldo]

^^^Yes^^^

(Though there are plenty of people who collect more data than me)

I use an easy shorthand for perceived exertion and form. I also only use a limited breakdown, keeping to the KISS principles. This information gets tacked on to each rep count and some time counts (I find most static exercises very tough to judge for this so don't bother, it wouldn't affect my static workouts anyway, static workouts are different).

For RPE (rating of perceived exertion), I use:

z = RPE 10 = Psyched/motivated failure or the razors edge of failure. I need to mentally prepare myself for z output and ramp up to it. z reps are very slow and grindy (and usually involved loud grounts) and have a drastic effect on the quality of the remainder of your workout. z reps are almost never with perfect form.

y = RPE 9 = Near failure or failure when lacking extra motivation (working in a calm state), or a rep left in the tank when motivated. Y reps are slow and grindy and have a notable effect on future sets. There is usually some form break with y reps.

x = RPE 8 = Rep speed slows down and it starts getting hard, but there was at least one rep left in the tank. X reps usually will only have a small impact on future sets until you start stacking up the sets. X reps can be usually be done without any form break.

e = RPE 7 and below = No loss of rep speed. No difficulty maintaining form. Will not impact future sets unless you stack A LOT of sets; when using for ramping up, will have a positive effect on future sets.

For RPT (rating of perceived technique) I use:

++ = As perfect of form as I know how to do

+ = Minor form flaws here and there, but nothing major. Standard good form.

- = Lots of minor flaws and/or some major flaws. Acceptable for working, but needs improvement.

-- = Major problems. Unacceptable.

With form, as I learn about it and get better at exercises, what was once ++ can become a +. Usually I have to define certain form items as ++/+/-. If my form shifts mid-set, I will usually note how many reps were done at the higher form separately on the side.

For example, say I'm doing handstand pushups. For me feeling my hair touch the mat below me with elbows in is + form (++ is skin touch, but if I misjudge depth and lose tension, I can mess up my set, so I don't like to do that for normal working sets). 3 sets, sets 1-2 I do 1 hard rep, set 3 I go to failure, but don't especially motivate myself for the set (which usually means giving up early in a rep as opposed to having muscles cut out mid-rep, its hard to push yourself to that true failure level without motivation).

Instead of noting it as:

HSPU - 8, 7, 8 reps

I note it as:

HSPU - 8x+, 7x+, 8y+ reps

Which tells a good bit more information about the set. The shorthand I use makes it very easy to note in workout logs

[Burizado]

Awesome!  Thanks for this info Waldo!

 

Looking back at my progress the only way I can tell how hard my reps were in SL5x5 is if I had less than a 5 in a slot.  Now I can look and see that when I do 5 reps, how tough were they, and how good was my perceived form.

[Ghost]

Sweet, I knew it was RP something or other.
THanks Waldo!

P.S This isn't spam >_>

[I-Jo]

lol not your comment- the one that was immediately below it- and it's now gone.  no worries

[Burizado]

  I thought the same thing.  "Well that is not like I-Jo."

[weirdquark]

That's excellent shorthand-- I usually talk about form and difficulty when I'm logging workouts here but I didn't log it in my spreadsheets, and those are easier to go through than posts here if I'm trying to remember what I was doing.