Whether your goal is to lose weight, improve your fitness levels, or beat some PB’s, tracking your progress is essential to ensuring you make consistent improvements!
Here’s 6 reasons you should start a fitness journal today!
It keeps you accountable
Planning your workouts and your meals ahead of time in your fitness journal will help keep you accountable meaning you’re more likely to stick to you schedule.
Helps you reach your fitness goals
It can be beneficial to write down your goals as you can’t hit what you don’t aim at.
Keeps you consistent
Consistency is key is the key to success when it comes to your fitness journey. A fitness journal can help you stay consistent with your workouts and eating habits, as you’ll be able to plan these in advance, or take note of trends such as how many times a week you workout, or how many cheat meals you had that week.
Easily make changes to your regimen
Keeping a fitness journal will help you keep track of what works for you and what doesn’t which allows you to troubleshoot and make changes where necessary, which takes the guesswork out of your approach.
Maintain a healthy lifestyle
Recording your sleep patterns, energy levels , mood and mental, emotional and general health in your fitness journal will allow you to keep track and adjust other habits that may be hindering your fitness progress, while also enabling you to address every aspect of your life in a holistic manner.
Increase motivation
Keeping track and reviewing your past workouts will motivate you to stick to your programme and help you recognise how far you’ve come, therefore pushing you to reach your goals!
What should I put in my fitness journal?
Workouts
List your type of workout (HIIT, functional, yoga, pilates, running, weight training.. etc), the duration, how many sets and reps, your pace, the time of day and lastly, how you felt during and after the workout (tired, stronger, faster, slower, energised, etc). You can also include exact measurements such as weight, distance, heart rate and perceived effort.
Meals
Make a list of your meals, the ingredients, macro count, calorie count, and how you felt after each meal. You can also include your daily vitamins and minerals as well as the amount of water you drink each day.
Sleep patterns
Keep track of how many hours you’re sleeping each night and rate your sleep out of ten. You can also jot down how you feel upon waking eg. tired, refreshed, happy, sad.. etc.
Energy levels and mood
Make sure you keep track of your energy levels out of ten each day and make a note of why you feel like this each day eg. good sleep, close to menstrual cycle, lack of food, etc..
Measurements
Make sure you weigh and measure yourself weekly if weight loss is your goal!
General observations
Make sure you leave space for any other observations you make. The more information you have the better you’ll understand your habits which in turn will allow you o make adjustments where needed.
Author: Logan Leigh Rix
Logan blends her passion and profession by working as a digital and social media marketer and content creator in the fitness, health and wellness industry. She’s also a personal trainer, former Face of Fitness finalist and Fitness Magazine featured athlete.
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