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A fitness journal is a place to write down your health and wellness progress, keep track of your daily workouts and recovery, and record your goals and dreams! With so many things done on our phones, taking pen to paper can be so therapeutic.
A fitness journal can make a HUGE difference in your fitness routine. Keeping track of your workouts and the improvements you’ve made can be such a benefit for you and your goals. I have kept a fitness journal for over 7 years and benefit so much from adding this one simple thing to my indoor cycling and strength workout routine, and I want to share with you what has helped me so much!
Before we get into all the benefits of a fitness journal, let’s remember this thought-provoking quote:
“A Goal Without A Plan Is Just A Wish” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
This quote will really get you thinking, we each have a reason why we workout, why we push ourselves to the limits, and why we make fitness a priority. That reason is your goal and to achieve that goal, you need to have a plan and part of a good plan is being prepared before, during and after your workouts.
Keeps you accountable for daily workouts and goals.
Helps you track the progress you’ve made.
No more plateaus- with a journal, you are able to look back and see where you need to make a change.
Seeing is believing! When you can see the progress you’ve made, it shows you that your hard work is paying off.
Remember what you’ve done- writing out the details of a workout will help you remember what you did, so you can change up weight, intensity, duration, or reps. When we change, our body will change too!
With all of those amazing benefits, you’re probably wondering how you can start a fitness journal! So here we go…
How to keep a fitness journal
Things you will need:
A notebook and pen- This is probably a, DUH though! I like to use a motivational notebook like this one, and these pens, add lots of pizazz and help to keep things organized by color, if that’s your thing!
A little bit of time- Keeping a fitness journal can take 2 minutes or it can take 20 minutes depending on how creative and detailed you want to get with it!
A framework for how you want to keep your journal- you can find a free fitness journal template HERE, if you need some guidance!
Things to include:
Current weight and measurements- Check-ins- bi-weekly monthly, bi-monthly, etc. This will depend on what you see fit for yourself
GOALS!!!! This is so helpful! When you regularly see your goal, you are more likely to stay focused on it.
Date- Simple, but easy to forget! 😀
Cardio type, duration, intensity
Strength exercises, repetitions, weight, rest periods
Stretching- types of stretches, duration
Stats from your watch or heart rate monitor such as, average heart rate, max heart rate, calories, burned, and whatever else your watch offers
How you felt before, during and after your workout- this can be a guide if you need to increase your intensity or maybe you need to include more recovery
Rest days- these are just as important as the workouts themselves
Your week at a glance. I keep a weekly overview of things I tend to do each day of the week
A food log! Do this only if you find it helpful to you
A list of what you’re grateful for. I recently started doing this, but I LOVE ADDING IT! I try to pick a few, NEW things every day. It’s amazing the little things you will start to notice.
And of course, anything else that will help you along your journey
These are just some of the things you can include in your journal.
Busting out your creativity can make journaling super fun and rewarding. Again, if you need some help getting started, find that here and find a variety of FREE workouts here.
That’s a wrap
We’ve talked all about the what, how, why, and the many benefits to journaling, so now is the time! If you haven’t started a fitness journal yet, there is no better time than NOW.
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