Reasons to Start Keeping a Fitness Journal

It is likely that you log a lot of things during your day, whether it’s your daily tasks, things you are trying to make progress on at work, or even business meetings. When it comes to fitness, it is important that you log your progress as well. When planning out a new routine or diet, it’s important that you are keeping logs of what you are doing daily so you can look back and see what has changed as well as what can be improved.

 

Logging nutrition

Keeping a nutrition log will allow you to see progress and make changes as they are needed. Your diet is very important when it comes to fitness. Results can be a little hard to see and it can be saddening when we feel like we aren’t making any progress. With a log, you can see these changes and numbers in real time.

 

Logging for Athletes

Keeping a log can make you more efficient since you will be able to physically see the numbers of weight loss, a size increase of muscles, and even numbers like running miles. Logging anything will allow you to see how successful or unsuccessful your routines are so that you can tweak it accordingly. Writing down your future, past, and present numbers and measurements can help you so much in intentionally planning your workouts and diet. The best fitness journals will also include many other important things besides just your sets and reps. Here are some ideas to write down:

 

Your exercise plan and routine

You should write down all the workout plans and exercises you want to do. Include every detail like reps, sets, tempos, rest breaks, weights, and any specific equipment settings. If you wear a fitness tracker, utilize its ability to automatically get numbers and biometric info in order to better track your fitness. Collect your average, peak, and recovery heart rate when working out. This will provide you with even more context while giving you a baseline for yourself. You can include details like body fat percentage and weight  Recording these things will allow you to reflect later on. This will remind you of any goals you might have previously set for yourself to motivate you to keep working hard on them.

 

Record Recovery and How You Fare

It is also important to remember to add recovery methods and to log how you feel after performances as well. Include how you felt physically as well as mentally about your workouts. Include details on how you prepare and recover from these sessions. Staying aware of how your body feels physically can allow you to notice improvements on rest times or whether you are healing faster or not after a certain amount of time. Tracking your moods is a great way to keep track of your mental health too. Exercise releases endorphins and helps us feel happier, so being aware of mood shifts and changes can be beneficial to you. We help with fitness for men over 40, get in touch & look at our other posts for more tips.