What do you record in your workout log?

[Deadz]

other than your workouts...

diet, sleep etc.

 

[vinylgroover]

It started out as a workout log......now it's become a black book full of girls numbers.

 

[Deadz]

gimme something serious here guys.

I know some of you keep track of you workouts, heck, some of you even workout.

Give me some ideas of the uncommon things you will write in your log.

 

[SofaGeorge]

Date... time workout starts... time it finishes... body weight at time of workout... exercise ...number of sets... amount of weight used... number of reps on each set (and a target number i.e., 6-8 reps TARGET... 7 actually performed)

Special annotations for PRs, injuries, or loss of strength. (If I did 12 reps at a weight one week... and the next week I can only do 6 reps with the same weight... that is my first warning sign of injury.)

I also vary routines every 4-8 weeks... and this lets me log the changes in exercises and the need to shake up the routine.

 

[greenday]

You could write down, what you ate, or what order you did the exercises in. What exercises you struggled with, which ones seemed easier that day. Personally, I don't write shit, I just remember it, if its important.

 

[Deadz]

sg - very helpful thanks

if anyone has anything else to add, please do so!

 

[WODIN]

I don't keep a log anymore.

 

[casavant]

I kept a workout journal very faithfully for the first couple years that I was lifting. I recorded start/finish time; exercises and how many sets and reps I did and if it was to failure or not. I also included new personal records and would make a note of injuries (although I hardly ever got injured back then- man, those were the days).

It helped me a whole lot back then. I could look at my last bench workout or whatever and see how many reps I did on my best set, and then try to beat that with more reps at the same weight or more weight with just as many reps. It was a great tool. I still have that workout journal. It's neat to flip back to the very beginning and see my max bench at 185 and my max barbell curl at 100.

 

[Deadz]

do you think it's a fair guess that once you are happy with your body/strength you stop giving the time for journals/logs and just do what you know works?

 

[casavant]

do you think it's a fair guess that once you are happy with your body/strength you stop giving the time for journals/logs and just do what you know works?

I'd say that's a fair guess, but it's different for everyone of course. Sofageorge has been lifting for a long time and knows his shit and he still keeps a journal, apparently.

 

[SofaGeorge]

It helped me a whole lot back then. I could look at my last bench workout or whatever and see how many reps I did on my best set, and then try to beat that with more reps at the same weight or more weight with just as many reps. It was a great tool. I still have that workout journal. It's neat to flip back to the very beginning and see my max bench at 185 and my max barbell curl at 100.

That's why I log everything. I like the "competing against myself" element of it. Years ago a guy I met was researching lifters who trained with and without logs. He said he had to play the hunch that the lifters who used logs actually made better gains. (He didn't have enough controls to back up the theory... or the money to run a study... Christ... or the time for that matter.) What he saw, though, as he explained it was that many lifters who trained without logs tended to unconsciously become complacent. A guy who didn't use a log would bench like this one week:

Incline barbell bench

Set 1 275lbs for 8 reps
Set 2 275lbs for 8 reps
Set 3 275lbs for 7 reps

(And he would tell the researcher that was all to "failure")

Then the next week he would bench:

Set 1 275lbs for 8 reps
Set 2 275lbs for 8 reps
Set 3 275lbs for 7 reps

(And again say that was all to "failure")

Six weeks later he would still be benching the same approximate rep range... maybe chipping the weight up a little.

The same researcher found that a guy who logged his workouts would bench like this:

Set 1 275lbs for 8 reps
Set 2 275lbs for 8 reps
Set 3 275lbs for 7 reps

(Telling the researcher that this was to "failure")

Then the next week he would record:

Set 1 275lbs for 9 reps
Set 2 275lbs for 8 reps
Set 3 275lbs for 8 reps

The difference is very small... only one rep on the first and last set... but the pattern the researcher saw was that logs tended to motivate some people to perpetually try to get that extra rep or two or to raise the poundage slightly.

Whether or not this translates into long term gains... who knows? I think it does and it has helped keep me motivated.

I have a 6 inch stack of my old workout logs in the garage. I even have my original workout log from eons ago. Like Casavant, it's wierd to look back and see 185 lbs as my max bench... or the notation when I first benched 135 for 8 reps, but it is also a cool reminder that we all start in the same place.

 

[casavant]

That's why I log everything. I like the "competing against myself" element of it...

Yeah. I hear ya. I think this is one reason why periodization schemes can work so well too. You have specific weight/rep goals that you have to meet before moving on to the next increase. Just like the guys you see who always do their heaviest set with 315. On things like bench or squat, there are lots of guys who can pull some reps with that but you rarely see anyone go higher, because it's so easy to be complacent and just throw three 45's on each side. Your body only does what you demand of it.

Once I get back into a regular lifting schedule, I may try to keep a journal again for awhile and see what kind of difference it makes.

 

[MrMuscle]

Date, workout start, workout finish, lenght of warm up, lengt of stretching, who o work out with, where i work out. Energy levels, power levels, intensity levels, last days food quality, water inntake, amount of sleep, and a little comment on the end if something is out of the ordinary.

 

[Bigsatan13]

Date
Bodypart
Exercise
#of sets
#of reps
notes to raise or lower sets\reps\weight


Things not in the book:
Time
Body Weight
Barometric Pressure
Ambient Temperature
Lunar Cycle

Bottom line, your workout log is the only way to chart your progress. Without it how can you monitor improvement. If you don't keep a log I would bet you haven't improved your workouts.

 

[SofaGeorge]

If you don't keep a log I would bet you haven't improved your workouts.

That hits the big mind trick of not logging. People who don't log "think" they make the same progress they would make if they were logging.

Reality seems to say otherwise, but because "belief" is more powerful than reality... I think most people who don't log will dismiss the idea.

Similarly, for years and years diet experts quoted studies that "proved" that obesse people could gain bodyfat eating only 500 calories a day. (Several studies had been done where obesse people recorded exactly what they ate... every crumb... and these studies showed them gaining weight on just 500 calories a day.) So how the hell could normal people be expected to lose weight by dieting when it was "proven" that people could gain weight eating only 500 calories. (That's about one bagel a day... a total starvation diet.)

One researcher finally said, "This doesn't sound right." He got a big grant... wired an entire house with video cameras. Then he got a parade of fat people to live in the house... some of whom had even been part of the original 500 calorie studies. He had all of them log exactly what they ate... just like they did in the earlier studies... but this time he added the control of watching what they ate and monitoring it as well... and their recording of it.

What he found was that the people who believed they were eating only 500 calories were actually eating 3,000, 4,000, and even 5,000 calories a day - but they were firmly convinced they were only eating 500 calories... and they would angrily show him their logs to prove it. Then he would show them the tapes. Sometimes they said, "Oh I forgot about that." or "Oh, I didn't count that. It was just a handful of raisins." or "Oh, I didn't know soda had calories."

By and large, what he showed was that these people FIRMLY believed they really were living on a starvation diet... and that they were still gaining fat eating only a bagel a day. What he also showed was that their belief was a self dellusion... but they were absolutely unaware of it.

I've often thought that people who don't log may be in the same boat. I think they firmly believe they are making max gains... but they are missing the big element that your mind can play powerful tricks on you.

 

[notoriousQQ]

My workout log usually consists of what I ate the previous 24-36 hours.

 

[Taps]

I often forget to eat...I could get by on 800 cals a day and feel just fine. That's waaaaay too low for dieting or bulking, so I keep track of what I eat during the day. Cals/protien/fat/carbs.

And, of course, I keep track of the usual workout stuff. Weight, reps, etc.

I've been doing tha for a couple of years now, and it's been invaluable. More than new training routienes, or supplements....the journal shows me EXACTLY what I have to do to lose/gain weight. I'd be lost without it.

Only that that's changed in the last year is that I now keep the journal in text format on my computer.

 

[Deadz]

find my post on the electronic log and let me know via PM if any of you can test it with me

 

[Tarheel]

I used to record the time the workout started and the time it ended, but my watch broke and no clock in my gym

I do write down the day of the week and the date.

Then the exercises, the reps, the sets, and the weights. Under that I'll add notes sometimes, about PRs, if something was heavy or light, why I skipped a certain exercises that I was "supposed" to do, etc.

I also have all my routines planned and printed out, so I can look at my routine that I was supposed to do, and what I actually did.