Welcome back to the Data Tracking For Weightlifting Series, where I’m breaking down the in’s and outs tracking data, what to track, and why. If you’re just now finding this article, I’d recommend starting on part one! In this article we’ll be talking about one of the most important metrics we track: tonnage.

Building on our last article covering tracking reps, tonnage is an even better way to measure the total amount of work that your lifter does. To calculate tonnage, multiply the reps completed by the weight for each rep. Some examples:

• 10 reps of 100kg Snatch equals 1000kg of tonnage

• 5x5 Back Squat at 137kg is 3425kg of tonnage

• 1x5 at 105kg, 1x4 110kg, 1x3 at 115kg, and 1x2 at 120kg, then 3x1 at 125kg Power Clean is 1925kg of tonnage

You can see how this can quickly get challenging to keep up with, especially if you are tracking tonnage from each of the main lifts. We currently track Snatch, Clean, Jerk, Squat, Pull, and Press tonnage. This allows us to better understand exactly how much work a lifter needs to make progress. If you do not track tonnage, then you do not know whether your program has an optimal amount of work, too much work, or even too little work. With this data you may find that your athletes not only can tolerate, but NEED more work to achieve their goals.

Personally, I find that it helps me to create a program and do the math as I’m writing it, which also allows me to see if I’ve made any mistakes/drastic changes from the previous week/month/cycle.

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