How to properly track weights on bodyweight exercises?

Question

I'm tracking my weights for every exercise I'm doing in my workout routine, so that I can see when I'm improving and increasing the weights or even when I had to decrease the weight indicating maybe I need more rest.

I always wondered a little when tracking the weights for bodyweight exercises. Obviously the weight for a Pull-Up or One-Legged Standing Calf Raise would be my own weight (about 75kg) + the additional weight (if using any). That is because I have to move my whole body in order to do these exercises.

But what about for example a crunch, where more than half of my body just lays on a bench and I only move my upper body a little? How would that be tracked?

Answer 1

It's the same as tracking any other bodyweight exercise. With something like a crunch or a hanging leg raise you track it as being 0 (or bodyweight) unless you add weight. Say you can do 4x12 crunches easily and you want to increase weight by holding a 10lb plate then you simply track your reps as being 10lbs. The key is that the movement doesn't change because obviously a crunch from a decline bench has a higher range of motion than a crunch laying on the ground. That is why you would record the former crunch as a decline crunch so that you know how much motion.