If you’re exercising on a regular basis, it is highly advantageous to keep a training journal of your workout results. Without a log of what you’ve done, this can inhibit you from making optimal progress.
So why exactly is it important to keep a training journal? Let’s discuss some major advantages of logging exactly what you do; whether that be cardio or weights based training.
Information & Objectivity
Training in an objective manner is of great advantage. By logging down your results, you assign figures from which you can deduce your performance and progress.
Training in this way allows you to assess your progress from workout to workout. This is an invaluable tool in measuring the effectiveness of your current training approach. For if you rely solely on “how you feel”, you cannot quantitatively determine your progress.
A training journal also provides you with additional information that you would otherwise not have access to. If you’re seeking to lose weight for example, you may rely on your bodyweight from week to week. But how does your fitness and strength compare? Information is power, and this additional knowledge will only assist you in making more informed decisions about your training.
Goal Setting
If you are setting a goal in regards to your strength and/or fitness, how else do you know if you are progressing toward this goal without keeping a log? In a similar way that you should monitor your weight with a weight loss goal, you should also monitor your strength for a strength orientated goal and your fitness for a fitness orientated goal. This information is obviously imperative to monitor for a goal that directly relates to your training.
But what about if your goal is indirectly related to your training? For example, you wish to lose weight – should you keep an eye on your level of fitness? Further, should you monitor your strength results? Of course you should. The fitter you are, the more energy you can expend during a workout. Same story with your strength. This indirectly will assist in your weight loss efforts. By monitoring your progress in these respects, you are able to set targets for each individual workout to keep you on track and accountable. On a micro scale, you have the ability to determine repetition targets for each set, or distance targets for each cardio workout, thus enhancing the effectiveness of the entire training programme.
Motivation
For most of us, there can be nothing more boring than going into the gym and performing the same monotonous workout day in and day out. Even if you were to vary the machines up, without keeping a log, you cannot monitor your progress. So how then do you know if the training is working for you?
By knowing that you are seeing results in respect to your workout performances, this will provide you with direction and motivation. Sometimes a workout will be tough – though if you have targets to aspire to, you’ll remain far more motivated and enthusiastic. This not only enhances your enjoyment of each workout, it also significantly assists with the long-term sustainability of your exercise regime.
Further, physical results are often slow to develop. For example, if you’re seeking to build a substantial amount of muscle, this may take years to accomplish for the average male (and even longer for a female). Meanwhile, your strength results will improve on a weekly basis, being far more exciting and motivating. The same reigns true for weight loss; although weight loss may be realised in a physical respect within a matter of weeks, keeping a close eye on your workout results will provide you with that additional “push” and confidence of knowing that your training is effective in more than one dimension.
Plus, it can be greatly motivating reviewing your progress over the past fortnight, month or year from your training journal!
So give it a go. All you need a piece of paper and a pen to really enhance your training results!
Share on Facebook
