How to Work Out Percentages in Excel (Formulas + Free Training Sheet)

To work out a percentage in Excel, multiply the value by the decimal: =A2*0.85 returns 85% of the number in A2. For the percentage difference between two numbers, use =(B2-A2)/A2 and format the result as a percentage. Those two formulas cover almost everything.

Below is each variation — a percentage of a number, the percentage difference between two, and a percentage increase — followed by the one place a strength coach reaches for them every week: programming off percentage of 1RM.

Working out a percentage of a number

This is the everyday case: you have a number and you want a percentage of it. Write the percentage as a decimal and multiply.

• =A2*0.85 → 85% of the value in A2
• =A2*0.70 → 70% of the value in A2
• =A2*0.5 → half of A2

There's no need to format anything as a percentage here — you've already turned the percentage into a number by multiplying. If A2 holds 300, then =A2*0.85 returns 255. That's the entire trick behind how to work out a percentage in Excel, and it's the one you'll use most.

The percentage difference between two numbers

When you want to know how much one number changed relative to another — this week versus last, or a retest versus an old number — use the difference formula:

• =(B2-A2)/A2

A2 is the original value, B2 is the new one. Then format the cell as a percentage (Ctrl+Shift+5, or the % button on the Home tab). A positive result is an increase; a negative result is a decrease. Working out a percentage difference in Excel is always this same shape — the only thing that changes is which two cells you point it at.

Working out a percentage increase (or decrease)

A percentage increase is just the difference formula read one direction:

• =(B2-A2)/A2 formatted as a percentage

If A2 is 200 and B2 is 230, the formula returns 15% — the increase from A2 to B2. Drop B2 below A2 and you get a negative number, which is your percentage decrease. If you'd rather add a percentage straight onto a value — say bump a load by 5% — multiply by 1 plus the decimal: =A2*1.05.

What percentage one number is of another

The last variation: you have a part and a whole and you want the ratio.

• =A2/B2 formatted as a percentage

If A2 is 12 sessions completed and B2 is 16 planned, =A2/B2 formatted as a percentage returns 75%. Same idea as the others — divide, then let the % format do the display.

Where this matters in training: percentage of 1RM

For coaches, working out percentages in Excel isn't an accounting task — it's how a program gets written. Strength work is prescribed as a percentage of 1RM (one-rep max), so the athlete's max is the one number every working set points back to.

Put the max in a single cell — say B1 — and write each set as a percentage of it, locking the cell with $ so you can drag the formula down a whole session:

• =$B$1*0.90 → a heavy double or triple
• =$B$1*0.80 → your main working sets
• =$B$1*0.70 → volume work
• =$B$1*0.50 → speed and technique work

Now change the max in B1 once — after a retest, or for the next athlete — and every load on the sheet re-weights instantly. That's the difference between a spreadsheet that calculates and a PDF you'd rewrite every block. The same =(B2-A2)/A2 difference formula then tells you the percentage a lifter added between tests.

A training sheet you re-type by hand every week isn't a program — it's a chore. The percentage does the work.

Get the free auto-calculating sheet

You don't have to wire the formulas up yourself. The free personal training program template takes an athlete's max and returns every working set already calculated off percentage of 1RM — and it opens in Excel or Google Sheets. If you'd rather see the whole program come together around it, start with the free Excel workout plan template. Both are free to download, no trial and no card.