--- type: Article title: "Reps in Reserve: How to Log RIR" description: "Learn what RIR means, how to record uncertain effort, and why reserve reps do not count as completed reps. Includes examples and an effort-log CSV." resource: https://quietgains.app/journal/log-reps-in-reserve language: en tags: ["how to log RIR", "reps in reserve", "RIR vs RPE", "repetitions in reserve meaning"] timestamp: 2026-09-24 --- # How to log repetitions in reserve without false precision RIR adds context to a completed set. Keep it recognizable as an estimate, and keep the repetitions you actually did separate. ![A man pauses thoughtfully on a bench with his dumbbells resting on the floor.](https://quietgains.app/images/journal-reps-in-reserve/cover-v2.webp) AI-generated editorial illustration. Training · By [QuietGains](https://quietgains.app/about) · Published 24 September 2026 · Updated 24 September 2026 · 7 min Repetitions in reserve, or RIR, is your estimate of how many more repetitions you could have completed when a set ended. The estimate assumes the same load and execution, without an extra rest. Record it beside the completed weight and reps, and leave it unknown when you cannot make a useful estimate. RIR describes your judgement; it is not an instrument reading. For example, “60 kg × 8, about 2 RIR” records eight completed repetitions and a belief that roughly two more remained. It does not record ten repetitions. That separation is the foundation of a useful effort log: completed work stays factual, and estimated remaining capacity stays visibly estimated. ## What the RIR numbers mean | Entry | Meaning | | --- | --- | | 0 RIR | You judge that no further repetition was available under the same conditions. This does not itself prove that a failed repetition was attempted. | | 1 RIR | You estimate that one more repetition was available. | | 2 RIR | You estimate that two more repetitions were available. | | 3+ RIR | You report at least three repetitions remaining; the exact count is not specified. | | Blank or skipped | No effort estimate was recorded. It must not be interpreted as zero RIR. | Keep the conditions consistent. “I could do two more after putting the weight down” answers a different question. So does “two more with assistance” or “two shorter repetitions.” A note about the stopping point can be more informative than forcing those situations into the same numerical category. ## RIR and RPE are related, but the labels matter Zourdos and colleagues studied a resistance-training-specific RPE scale anchored to repetitions in reserve. At its upper end, RPE 10 corresponds to 0 RIR, RPE 9 to 1 RIR, and RPE 8 to 2 RIR. [1] That relationship belongs to this particular scale. It is not a conversion rule for every rating of effort. If an app asks for workout effort on a different scale, do not silently label that answer RIR. A rating for an entire session also has a different scope from an estimate after one set. Save the original field name and what it refers to, especially when copying records between apps or giving a log to a coach. ## Worked example: the same set, different effort notes These invented entries describe one matched set from four separate sessions. They are not participant results or a suggested progression. Each uses the same exercise, load convention and completed repetition count; only the effort report changes. | Logged result | What can be said | | --- | --- | | A: 60 kg × 8; 2 RIR | Eight reps completed; the person estimated about two more were available. | | B: 60 kg × 8; 3+ RIR | The same completed work; the person reported a larger reserve, without an exact count. | | C: 60 kg × 8; RIR skipped | The same completed work; there is no recorded reserve estimate. | | D: 60 kg × 8; 1 RIR | The same completed work; the person reported less reserve than in A. | Every entry contains 60 × 8 = 480 kg of volume load. B does not contain more completed volume than A, and C does not mean the set was maximal. The effort notes add a report about the experience, but four isolated rows cannot explain why the reports differ. [Download the illustrative effort-log CSV](https://quietgains.app/downloads/reps-in-reserve-example.csv). Its estimated_rir field preserves “3+” and a blank value rather than converting both into exact numbers. Copy the structure if you want to keep effort notes alongside a paper or spreadsheet record. ## Do not add reserve reps to completed reps Adding two estimated reserve repetitions to eight completed repetitions creates ten possible repetitions, not ten observed repetitions. If you enter ten into a basic one-rep-max equation, you have changed its input. The result needs to be identified as relying on an additional assumption about effort. For example, the Epley arithmetic for 60 kg × 8 is 60 × (1 + 8 ÷ 30) = 76 kg before display rounding. Substituting ten reps gives 80 kg. That extra 4 kg comes from the substituted input. Our [one-rep max calculator](https://quietgains.app/tools/one-rep-max-calculator) uses entered weight and completed reps; it does not measure RIR or validate the extra repetitions. ## How accurate is an RIR estimate? It depends on the person and the conditions, so a small change should not be treated as an exact physiological measurement. In a study of 141 participants, Steele and colleagues found that people generally underpredicted how many repetitions they could complete. Predictions were collected before the sets, making this a different task from reporting reserve as a set ends. [2] A later bench-press study by Ruiz-Alias and colleagues tested 26 recreationally trained participants with free weights and a Smith machine. Estimation error depended on some combinations of load, equipment and sex; the pattern was not identical across all tested loads. [3] That finding supports keeping the exercise and conditions visible, rather than applying one correction to every RIR entry. These studies do not make your next rating objectively correct or give a universal error bar for it. They also do not require you to continue a set to failure to earn permission to log effort. For an ordinary record, preserve the judgement you can make and the uncertainty you cannot remove. ## Record uncertainty without losing the useful part - Keep the time and scope clear: after this set, after the last working set, or about the entire session. - Use the scale’s actual choices. A “3+” category is a lower bound, not an exact three. - Skip the entry or mark it unknown when you cannot estimate it. Missing is different from zero. - Preserve a changed stopping reason in a note where your log allows one. Do not translate every reason for stopping into muscular failure. - Keep earlier working sets and warm-ups separate. One final-set answer is not a measurement of every set before it. Avoid averages that erase these distinctions. Averaging 1, 2 and 3+ as exactly 2 assumes the open-ended category equals three. Filling a skipped answer with zero adds a maximal-effort claim that the person never made. A list of the original ratings can be more honest than a precise-looking mean. ## How the effort check works in QuietGains After an eligible exercise is complete, QuietGains asks how many more reps you could have done. The quick choices are 0, 1, 2 and 3+, with a Skip option. The answer is associated with the final working set; it is not a separate observation for each earlier set. That keeps the interaction brief while giving the completed exercise a clearly scoped effort note. In the app: Add a quick effort note after the exercise, or skip it when you are unsure. QuietGains keeps that response alongside your completed workout instead of making you fill every set with a guessed rating. [Get QuietGains](https://quietgains.app/download) ## Does a higher RIR always mean I got stronger? No. At matched load and reps, it means you reported more reserve. That may be useful context, but it is not the same as completing a new rep record or measuring a higher maximum. Review the actual sets, exercise conditions and multiple observations before assigning a broader meaning to the trend. Use the [workout log template](https://quietgains.app/journal/workout-log-template) for the underlying record, the [warm-up and working-set guide](https://quietgains.app/journal/warmup-working-sets-workout-log) for set categories, and the [rep-record comparison](https://quietgains.app/journal/estimated-1rm-volume-rep-prs) for performance summaries. RIR is most useful when it adds context without replacing those facts. ## Sources 1. Zourdos MC, Klemp A, Dolan C, et al. Novel Resistance Training-Specific Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale Measuring Repetitions in Reserve. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 30(1):267–275, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000001049 2. Steele J, Endres A, Fisher J, Gentil P, Giessing J. Ability to predict repetitions to momentary failure is not perfectly accurate, though improves with resistance training experience. PeerJ 5:e4105, 2017. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4105 3. Ruiz-Alias SA, Baena-Raya A, Hernández-Martínez A, et al. Estimating Repetitions in Reserve During the Bench Press Exercise: Should We Consider Sex and the Exercise Equipment?. Sports Health 17(5):1007–1012, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1177/19417381241285891 ## Read next - [How to track double progression in a workout log](https://quietgains.app/journal/double-progression-workout-log) - [Estimated 1RM, volume or a rep PR: what changed?](https://quietgains.app/journal/estimated-1rm-volume-rep-prs) - [Free workout log template, with a filled example](https://quietgains.app/journal/workout-log-template) ## Keep your next session in the same log. QuietGains brings your previous sets into the next workout, so you can record what changed. Compare Free and Premium to find what fits. [Get QuietGains](https://quietgains.app/download). [Compare Free and Premium](https://quietgains.app/pricing).