PR Meaning Workout: Achieve Your Goals at The Gym

If you’ve been weightlifting for a while now, you’ve probably heard the term PR being tossed around, be it in the gym, on YouTube videos, or even here on the Flex Blog.

Understanding the meaning of PR in your workout is crucial if you want to develop a long-lasting relationship with the gym.

In this article, we’ll understand the benefits of tracking PRs, how to track them, and how you can work towards beating them.

What Does PR Mean in Fitness?

Personal records are an incredible way to document your fitness journey. The joy of setting a new PR and the challenge of now having to surpass it can work wonders to keep you motivated and focused on your weightlifting gains while still having fun in your workout sessions.

Why You Should Track Your PRs

Let’s be honest, building a body you’re proud of takes time, and not every single second at the gym is a sea of roses and big muscles. Fitness can get hard, fitness can hurt and it can also become stale if you can’t see any progress in your body for a while.

Even though the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle vastly outweigh the downsides, it’s easy to lose track of your goals once every week feels the same. And that’s where PRs come in.

Don’t be mistaken, even though you can’t always see it reflected in your body, you are getting stronger, and PRs serve as landmarks on your strength journey.

There’s something magical about lifting for the first time a weight you previously couldn’t. The joy of achieving progress and the new challenge of surpassing yourself can be excellent motivators to keep pushing forward.

How To Track Your PRs

To start tracking a personal record, you first need a measurable metric. It has to be something you can replicate the conditions each time you attempt it.

For example, how a pump looks is a terrible PR metric. Not all pumps look alike, and your feelings about them can vary based on different factors.

On the other hand, something like the maximum weight you can lift on the reverse curls on a single rep is easily measurable.

Different Types of PRs

The cool thing is that as long as you follow the “it has to be measurable” rule, almost anything can be a PR.  Here are some examples of things you can have PR on:

• Push-up reps.
• Deadlift weight.
• Distance running on a treadmill at a specific pace.
• How many myo-reps you can do on the bench press.

It’s up to you to set up your goals based on your long-term fitness objectives.

Finally, an excellent way to keep track of all your PRs is by downloading a fitness companion app. Services like the Flex app can help you get a better grip on your progress with easy-to-use functions such as auto-progress, plate calculator, bodyweight tracker, and much more.

5 Tips For Beating Your PRs

Now that you understand the meaning of a PR in your workout routine, let’s take a look at how you can improve towards beating them and setting new ones.

1. Challenge Yourself With Progressive Overload

Your workout exercises should always have a challenging amount of weight set to them. You must always try to do better at every single training session: that’s progressive overload.

Now, this doesn’t mean you should always increase your weights every time you enter the gym. Everyone progresses differently, and you should only increase the weight, or the number of reps of an exercise when it is no longer a challenge.

If you increase your weight and consequently cannot perform the exercise with proper form, you should stick with the previous amount of weight.

Lifting so heavy you can’t do it with proper form is a sure way to get injured and minimize the effects of the exercise.

2. Maintain a Well-Balanced Diet

It is no secret that adopting a healthy diet is crucial for muscle gain. The attention you put on what you eat is almost as important as the effort you put in your training sessions.

Your body needs the macronutrients necessary for a well-balanced diet to give you the energy you need to workout and build the muscles required for setting new PRs.

If you are serious about building muscle, you should also be serious about what you are eating. For example, if you want to take protein powder, you should learn how many scoops of protein powder you should take each time.

Furthermore, it’s better to be aware of mixing protein and creatine.

If you want to learn more about dieting, you should definitely check out Dirty Bulk Vs. Clean Bulk.

3. Get the Proper Amount of Rest

When it comes to muscle building and gaining strength, resting is fundamental. Getting the proper amount of sleep every single day will make sure your body properly uses the proteins you are consuming to repair your muscles and make them bigger and stronger.

So don’t be afraid to take a nap after you workout, it will not kill your gains and your body needs the time to adapt to your new strength needs.

4. Prevent Injuries

We know, you want to hit your PRs as fast as possible but be careful not to overlook your health while doing so. Weightlifting, although not as dangerous as other sports such as mountain biking and skiing,  can still cause injuries, especially if the weightlifter is trying to progress too fast.

Among the good practices you can adopt to prevent injuries, there are:

• Warming-up
• Knowing proper form
• Including mobility exercises in your routine

Always make sure you’re doing everything you can to prevent injuries. Going too eager for your PR can make you severely injured and prevent you from reaching it for way more time than it would take if you had just taken it slow.

5. Don’t Give Up

You have to be resilient to beat your PR. Meaning your workouts will be tough and some days you’re going to get sick or be too tired to go to the gym and that’s normal.

Fitness is as much of a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge. Staying consistent is the key to reaching any new PR.

The great bodybuilders that look like Greek gods have done more sets in their lives than you’ve done reps. Keep your mind focused and enjoy the process with the certainty that your PR will come if you keep at it.

The Takeaway

PRs encapsulate everything great about weightlifting: doing everything you can to be the best version of yourself. They are a fantastic way to keep you motivated and attending the gym even when you feel like you’re not making any visual progress.

The sense of achieving a new PR is indescribably good and the work you put in to reach it can teach great lessons that translate into other aspects of your life. They also are really fun to brag about to your friends!

No matter what are your long-term goals at the gym, PRs make it easier and more fun to reach them. Choose a PR that makes sense for you and get there faster and safer with the Flex APP!

We’ve made it simple to work on customized fitness plans or to introduce a little friendly competition to your fitness community by sharing exercises with your friends. Get started for free through the Flex fitness app.