What is a PR in the gym?

Updated October 25, 2026

Short answer: PR stands for personal record, the best you have ever done on a lift. In the weight room it usually means the heaviest weight you have lifted for a given number of reps. Some lifters say PB, for personal best; it means the same. To “hit a PR” is to beat your old best.

Example: reading PRs from a bench press log

Here are a lifter’s best bench press sets:

Asked “what is your bench PR?”, this lifter says 225 lb, the heaviest weight on the list. Asked for a 5-rep PR, the answer is 185 lb. Each rep count has its own record.

Weight PR vs rep PR

A weight PR is the heaviest weight you have lifted on a lift, at any reps. Most of the time that is a single. A rep PR is the heaviest weight for a set number of reps, or the most reps with a set weight: 185 lb for 6 beats 185 lb for 5. Rep PRs come much more often than weight PRs, which makes them a good way to see progress between heavy days.

How to find your PR

Look back through your log for the lift and find the heaviest weight. That is your PR, and the reps next to it say which kind it is. If you have no log, your PR is the heaviest weight you are sure you lifted with full reps. Write down the conditions too, such as belt, paused or competition, because a paused bench and a touch-and-go bench are not the same lift.

Gym PRs and meet PRs

Lifters who compete often keep two sets of records. A gym PR is the best you have done in training, judged by you. A meet PR, sometimes called a competition PR, is the best you have done on the platform, where judges decide whether the lift counts, the commands have to be followed and the bar is loaded with competition collars. Keep them apart in your log so neither one hides the other.

PR vs 1RM

A 1-rep PR is a max you actually lifted. A rep PR also points to a one-rep max you have not tested yet: by the Epley formula, the 205 lb triple above comes to an estimated 225.5 lb, about the same as the 225 lb single. What a 1RM is and how it is estimated is covered in what is a 1RM.

How LoadPR records your PRs

In the LoadPR app each lift keeps a list of PR entries, newest first. An entry holds the weight in lb or kg, the reps from 1 to 20, the date and an optional note. The current PR of the lift is the heaviest weight you have logged, at any reps; when two entries weigh the same, the newer one counts. Entries can be in different units, and LoadPR compares them by their real weight, so a 100 kg single (220.46 lb) counts as heavier than a 220 lb single.

The free version tracks up to 5 exercises, each with every PR you log. See PR tracking for the details, including logging a PR with Siri.

Mistakes when counting a PR

• Leaving out the reps. “205” says little on its own. 205 for 3 and 205 for 1 are different records.
• Counting a rep that did not count. A half squat or a bench with a big bounce is not a PR.
• Comparing different lifts. A paused bench, a belted squat or a sumo deadlift each deserve their own records.
• Mixing kg and lb. 100 kg is 220.46 lb, so it beats 220 lb. Convert before you compare, or use the kg to lb converter.
• Chasing a PR every session. Records come from steady training, and most sessions are not record days.