Should warm-up sets count toward volume and personal records?

The short answer

• Personal records: no. A warm-up is light on purpose. It says nothing about what you can lift.
• Estimated one-rep max: no. The formulas assume a set taken close to failure. A warm-up stops far short of that.
• Working-set count: no. Weekly set targets count hard sets. A warm-up is not a hard set.
• Total volume (weight × reps): your choice. Include them or leave them out, then keep doing the same thing, so this month compares with last month.

Why warm-ups do not belong in your records

A warm-up set is meant to be easy. You do five reps at 60 kg before a working set at 100 kg to groove the movement and get warm, and you stop long before the set gets hard.

That causes two problems if an app treats it like any other set. First, rep records. Many apps track your best reps at each weight. A light warm-up of ten reps at a weight you rarely use can show up as a "record" that means nothing.

Second, the numbers you compare against. If an app shows "last time" from your first set, or averages your sets, a warm-up drags that number down. Next session you aim at a target that was never your real working weight, and your progression stalls on paper while you are getting stronger.

Why warm-ups do not count as working sets

When a programme or a coach says "10 to 20 sets per muscle per week," they mean hard sets: sets taken close to failure, where the last reps are a real effort. Those are the sets that drive growth and strength.

Count your warm-ups and a week of 12 hard sets for chest can look like 20. You would think you are doing plenty when you are not, and you might cut back when you should add.

Volume is a convention, so pick one

Total volume usually means weight × reps, added up across sets. Here there is no single right answer. Some lifters include warm-ups because the work was real. Others leave them out so the number tracks only the sets that matter. Some apps even make it a setting.

The one mistake is switching. Warm-ups can be a large share of the weight you move on a heavy day. If you count them some weeks and not others, your volume chart jumps for reasons that have nothing to do with your training.

If you are unsure, leave warm-ups out of any number you use to decide what to lift next, and do not worry about the volume total. What matters there is whether it rises over a few months.

How to log warm-ups in any app

1. 1Check whether your app has a warm-up set type. Most serious gym apps let you tag a set as a warm-up. If yours does, use it every time.
2. 2If it does not, leave warm-ups out of the log, or write them in a note. Do not log them as normal sets.
3. 3Decide your volume rule once. Warm-ups in or out, then stick to it.
4. 4Look at what your app does with tagged warm-ups. Some leave them out of records but keep them in volume. Some let you choose. Know which yours does before you read its charts.

How to log warm-ups in SayLift

SayLift is our app. In version 4.3, released 18 September 2026, any set can be marked as a warm-up.

1. 1Log the workout by hand. Tap "Start session by hand". Your planned exercises open with the sets already filled in, and a PREVIOUS column shows last session's numbers beside each set.
2. 2Tap the set number of the warm-up set to open its menu.
3. 3Choose Warm-up. The set now shows W instead of a number.
4. 4Tick the set when you do it. Only ticked sets are saved.

What SayLift does with a warm-up set

• Left out of your personal records, so a light set can never show up as a record.
• Left out of your estimated one-rep max.
• Left out of the coach's progression, so the weight it picks for your next session comes from your working sets only.
• Left out of the PREVIOUS column, so the numbers beside each set next time are your real working sets.
• Still counted in volume. SayLift adds warm-ups to your volume total. If you would rather keep them out of volume too, do not log them.

Drop sets, sets to failure and supersets

The same set-number menu marks two other set types. Drop set (D): log each drop as its own set with its real weight, then mark the drops D. To failure (F): mark sets you took all the way, so you can see them later.

Supersets are different. SayLift does not group them. Two exercises done back to back stay two separate exercises, and the pairing can only go in a note. Our guide on logging supersets and drop sets covers how to record them so your history stays readable.

SayLift costs $49.99 a year, $7.99 a month or $3.99 a week after a 3-day free trial. There is no free tier.