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Recording your workouts in a daily log or diary motivates you to keep exercising,
helps avoid injury, enables you to prepare systematically for future goals or
upcoming events, and allows you to see what works best for you. A diary is also
a great source of pride—tangible proof of all your effort and dedication through
the days, weeks, and months.
You can use anything from a simple notebook to fancy computer software. Keep your
log handy and get into the habit of filling it out every day. There’s nothing more
frustrating than forgetting to record your workouts for a week and then trying
to remember what you did last Thursday.
Here are some key items to record:
- Distance and/or time of workout. It’s fun and informative to track the miles
as they pile up. But time spent exercising is important, too. You may not cover
as much distance during a hot, hilly or windy workout, but you may have worked
harder—and your log should reflect this.
- Eating. What you eat from day to day is important. And it helps if you’re
like most of us and need to monitor your weight or have weight reduction goals.
- Intensity. Record whether your workout was easy, medium or hard (based on
such factors as perceived exertion or heart rate zones). Over time, this data
can help explain why you felt so good for one event or why you started getting
sick.
- Environmental factors. These include temperature, weather and time of day.
With this info, you can tell how you fare in different conditions, and which are
best for you.
- Weight and pulse. Weigh yourself regularly (at roughly the same time of day
each time) to track progress. And take your resting heart rate before rising
every morning. (An increase of more than three or four beats could signal
overtraining.)
- How you feel. This entry is subjective, but important. Were you flying
or flat? Did you feel sore at first but start to come around by the end? Include
such factors as hours slept the previous night, amount of stress you’re under
at work or home, etc.
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