When planning a workout program, it behooves you to keep a daily printable exercise journal. A journal provides a visual record of your accomplishments and setbacks. It also holds you accountable to your fitness related behavior. If you write about your efforts, you're more likely to follow through with your goals.
A printable exercise journal is like a written commitment to your workout. By "putting something into writing," you are creating an assurance of your dedication to your fitness program. Even better, an exercise journal is concrete and shareable. This makes it easy to share workout notes with your friends. There's a good reason to do this, and it's called "ego." Nobody wants to show their friends an empty journal.
Exercise Journal vs. Weightlifting Chart
While weightlifting charts help you keep track of your weights, repetitions and specific exercises, a printable exercise diary adds a personal touch. In other words, instead of simply talking about the post workout "burn," you might discuss what you saw when you went for a walk or run. Subtleties such as how much sleep you had the night before, a fight with your boyfriend or anything that might influence your emotional state can be included.
Printable exercise logs can also serve as chronicles of your journey into learning new skills. It's your first day of ski or snowboard lessons. What did it feel like to ride the chairlift? You've just taken your very first Pilates class. Use your exercise journal to talk about how your body feels.
Notice the emphasis on the word "printable." A journal is a return to the old days, where people hand-wrote their work. This makes it far more personal. You can also take a printed journal with you on vacation, where many people are reluctant to bring their PCs.
Finding Printable Exercise Journals Online
Many free printable exercise logs can be found online. Some may require you to subscribe to various ad services. If you want to avoid the ads, you can pay a fee. You'll also have the option of sharing your exercise journal to the general public or keeping it private. Here are some popular, online printable exercise journals.
- Bodybuilding.com: Bodybuilding has an excellent printable exercise log. It features a "mood" section, where you can discuss how you felt on each day of your workout. Additionally, there's a comments section where you can discuss how the workout went, as well as a workout location, for people who exercise at different venues. This may give you an idea of which one is your best.
- Fitlink: Fitlink has one of the most extensive exercise journals in cyberspace. It consists of both a calendar and a journal, which takes the form of a blog. You can even choose amongst a variety of well-illustrated and innovative exercises. Fitlink also serves as a social network, where you can make friends with like-minded people.
Precautions
Most exercise journal sites will let you choose between a private and a public journal. While there are advantages to making it public, there can be some issues. The main one involves privacy. If you choose to make it public, make sure that you don't reveal too much private information. You can always decide to print it out and simply share it with your friends.
