Keeping a workout Journal: What to log to stay on top of your fitness
Whatever your fitness goals are, if you’re not already keeping a workout journal, it may be time to consider starting to. We’ve all heard that block scheduling, tracking, keeping notes have helped us navigate through our busy lives and ever-changing schedules.
Why should our fitness be any different? Not only will keeping a fitness journal hold you accountable and help you stay in check on a daily basis, but it will also be a great source to refer back to in order to get an idea of the progress you are making, and look over current goals or starting new ones.
Let’s go over what would be essential to include and some of the best ways to utilize your fitness journal.
A brief description and notes on your current goals.
Are you continuing the same goal in a new program or phase? Are you changing up your goal to something new? Be clear with what you are working towards. Write down your plan of action along with comments, concerns, short-term and long-term progress you would like to see, motivational quotes, and anything that is going to give you a positive start.
Measurements, Macros, Current PRs.
Putting on muscle, losing body fat, or increasing performance or a specific skill may one of your goals. It may be helpful to designate a couple of pages to record body measurements, your macros, and current PRs. As you check-in or something changes, record new stats as needed.
Daily Check-ins that mention mood, sleep duration/quality, energy, and how you feel pre and post-training sessions.
Training is something we fit into our lives. Not the other way around. It is always exciting to record and take note of the training days where we feel stronger, positive, energetic, and moving forward in the direction we want.
On the contrary, there will also be days that we are more stressed, have gotten less sleep, and feel drained. This is normal and everyone goes through this sometimes. Even though it may be difficult to spend time recording this in your journal, it is just as, if not more important to include.
We want to think about the big picture and if there is a time to reevaluate or make changes in the program, then we will have a better idea of what we had control over and what we may not have had control over.
Current Program, Daily Workout, Sets, Reps, Target HR, Time, Tempos, and any other important details associated with the exercises for that day.
If you are following an outlined program, print it out or write it out in your journal. Each day that you train, log the workout that you are scheduled to do within your program. Make sure to keep a track of how many sets, reps, and other important details, or notes that are related to your program.
There could be an occasion that you don’t finish your whole training session that day, which means you may not get to an exercise or complete all the sets you normally would. Make note of this. Write down everything you did that day.
Discomfort, Injuries, Sickness.
This is one that hopefully doesn’t come up as often, however, it is important to address it. Some exercise variations may not feel great for everyone. If there is one that is in your program that seems to be causing discomfort or pain, note it and speak to your trainer or coach (if you have one), or choose a different variation.
Unfortunately, injuries are something that many of us still struggle with, regardless of how careful we are with training, and how diligent we may be with warming up mobility, and stretching. If you have an existing injury, report how you are feeling each training day to keep tabs on it.
What feels good? What may be aggravating it? Getting sick can also be out of our control. There may be a few days, or even weeks that training needs to be heavily modified or even skipped. Logging that is very important as you may have to go lighter or do less intensity until you get better.
Recovery, Self Care, Active Rest
We must not forget how important recovery is to our training. In order to train hard, we need to recover harder. Exercise is still stressful to our bodies, and it never hurts to be reminded of that. It is wise to include what you are doing for recovery and self-care. Include massage, mobility work, stretching, and even activities that you may be doing for an active rest day.
Remember, keeping a workout journal will help you to achieve good organization in your ever-changing schedule. Learn more about this by following us on our social media pages or contact us via email.