I built a pretty huge spreadsheet for my nutrition/diet etc. and now am trying to put one together for my training.
Other than Excercise type, sets, reps and weight what else should I be trying to keep track of?
Thanks for putting up with these noobie questions…
Yours should also probably keep track of the date, your rest time in between sets and how you were feeling that particular day, ex. strong or weak
I personally like to have my current goals listed in my log book and the date when I plan to achieve them. I feel it gives me something tangible that I am working towards and every time I write in my book my current goal is right there to remind me why I’m in the gym.
Also, when working with heavy lifts, if I fail to lift something, I make a note of how and where in the lift I failed.
I don’t know how serious you are about your diet, but a food log can be equally as important. Maybe you had a bad day in the gym; you look at your food log and realize that the only thing you have eaten all day is 10 ding-dongs.
Basically just write down everything you think is pertinent to your workouts. If you’re having a bad day or the gym is playing horrible music; write it down. If you just had the best day of your life; write it down.
There’s also no set template for a good log book. I use a small $0.99 notebook. I personally don’t want a graph or chart. This way I can just write whatever I want for that day with no space limitations.
In the end, just do what you feel comfortable with.
Todd
Thanks guys, I have a starting point now, as far as my diet goes, I have the next 12 weeks planned out and have been following this for the last month, so you could say I am serious about it. To date I have dropped 10 lbs of fat so things are going good for me.
Its a huge spreadsheet…