Training journal

 Why keep a training journal?

Keeping a training journal, log or diary can be essential to maintaining high levels of fitness and achieving your goals. 

Exercise journals aren't just for professional weightlifters or powerlifters but everyone can benefit from tracking their progress and documenting their current routines and methods.

Our bodies and fitness levels are derived from many different interacting elements - training type and exercises, duration of workouts, frequency of workouts, diet... the list goes on. As these elements change, so do our bodies and it's difficult to remember what you did, when you did it and the effects this had. A training log goes a long way to helping you build this mental picture and allowing you to track your progress.  

Tracking progress is key, keeping a training diary is motivational - reminding you where you came from and what you've done to get where you are today. 

The benefits of a training journal:

• Record personal bests
• Discover what works for you... and what doesn't
• See progress clearly
• Review your workouts
• Use your training past to inform your training future

 What should I record?

We believe fitness should be a way of life, but not the purpose in life. We're not recommending you go log crazy, keeping records that would make an accountant jealous but keeping a general training log that you scribble in from time to time can do wonders not only for your sense of achievement but also turn into a valuable resource from which you can make informed judgements about your fitness routines and lifestyle.

Try recording some of the following:

• Exercises, weight used, reps and sets
• Personal bests
• Measurements: weight, waist etc
• Diet notes

 Training Journal Summary

If you're determined to succeed and continuously develop then you'll want to know what you're doing, where you've been and where you want to end up. Keeping a training log is an invaluable resource to helping you achieve this. 

In our experience, the few times we didn't keep a training journal our workouts became stagnant, our progress halted and the enthusiasm and drive just wasn't quite the same. Walking into your workout armed with the knowledge of your personal best, or even just the reps from your last workout gives you a great psychological boost and a target to aim for. It pushes you to better yourself, and those last few fought our reps make all the difference. 

Download Training Log Templates

You can download our example training logs below to get you started:

  Weight training log sheet

  Cardio training log sheet