GymStreak research

Research

Original studies built from what GymStreak lifters actually log, set by set. Every figure is an aggregate of at least 100 people, the summary tables are free to download, and the methods are published alongside the results.

Studies

  1. Published · Data to

    How lifters actually train

    What 27.5 million logged sets show about rep ranges, sets per exercise, weekly volume per muscle, workout length and frequency, the most popular exercises and typical strength.

    Read the report

  2. Published · Data to

    Strength standards from GymStreak lifters

    Estimated one-rep max percentiles (25th to 90th) for the bench press, squat, deadlift and overhead press, by sex, bodyweight band and age band, with a lookup.

    Read the tables

Highlights

From How lifters actually train: 27.5M logged sets from 149,299 lifters, December 2019 to September 2026.

  • “3 sets of 10” really is the default

    The median weighted set is 10 reps, and 62.4% of sets are exactly 8, 10 or 12 reps. 51.9% of exercise entries are exactly 3 sets and 36.7% are exactly 4.

  • Heavy sets are rare, except on the big barbell lifts

    Only 2.9% of weighted sets are 1–5 reps. On the bench press it is 14.3%, the squat 13.4% and the deadlift 15.5%.

  • Chest gets trained most; hamstrings and calves least

    Chest is trained in 79% of active training weeks, with a median of 11 sets when it is trained. Hamstrings appear in 53% of weeks (median 5 sets) and calves in 43% (median 4).

  • Few weeks reach 10–20 sets per muscle

    Chest lands in the 10–20 weekly sets range in 32% of active weeks. For lats it is 10% and for hamstrings 9%.

  • The typical workout is under an hour

    The median app-timed workout lasts 51 minutes with 19 working sets. The middle half run 37–69 minutes.

  • Most lifters train about twice a week, and Monday is gym day

    Lifters with 4+ logged weeks average a median of 2.1 workouts per logged week, and 30.1% of logged weeks have a single workout. 18.3% of workouts happen on a Monday and 8.5% on a Sunday.

How GymStreak research works

  • Studies use workout logs from the GymStreak app, pseudonymised before analysis. Names, emails and free-text notes are never used.
  • Every published number describes a group of at least 100 lifters; smaller groups are removed. Workouts logged by under-18s are excluded.
  • GymStreak users are a self-selected group of people who chose to use a gym app, so results describe them, not the whole population.
  • Summary tables are licensed CC BY 4.0. See our privacy policy for how training data is used.