Training Volume Calculator
Tonnage is the total weight moved in a session. It is a crude measure on its own and a useful one to compare against yourself week to week.
Your results
Tonnage counts weight moved, not effort. Ten easy sets and ten hard sets can produce the same figure and very different results, so compare it only against your own previous sessions on the same exercises.
What tonnage is good for
- Comparing the same session over time. If week eight's tonnage is higher than week one's on identical exercises, you progressed.
- Spotting an accidental jump. A sudden 40% rise in tonnage explains a week of unusual soreness.
- Planning a deload. Cutting to roughly half your usual tonnage is a reasonable definition of one.
What it is not good for
Tonnage treats all weight as equivalent, which it is not. Ten reps at 50% of your max moves the same tonnage as five reps at 100% and produces a completely different stimulus. It also inflates for lifts that use more weight — a deadlift session will always out-tonne a shoulder session regardless of how hard either was.
For tracking whether training is working, hard sets per muscle per week is the more useful number, and your working weights on specific lifts more useful still — see the weekly volume calculator.
Common questions
What is training volume?
Loosely, how much work you did. It is measured either as tonnage (sets × reps × weight) or as the number of hard sets per muscle per week. The second correlates better with growth.
Should I try to increase tonnage every session?
No. Progress on specific lifts matters more, and tonnage naturally fluctuates with rep ranges.
Do warm-up sets count?
Not usually. Count working sets taken reasonably close to failure.
Is higher tonnage always better?
No. Beyond a point it just means more fatigue for the same adaptation.
Related calculators
Track the numbers, not just calculate them
MyFitsy stores your weight, measurements and every session, so the figures above become a trend instead of a one-off.
