Fitness Journals

Seeing how you improve every day, every week, every month, is by far the biggest motivator when it comes to losing or gaining weight and staying committed to your fitness goals. Not only is the knowledge and information that you record in your journals a powerful motivator but also a MUST to make sure you keep moving in the right direction as far as getting results.

So to start off, keep a workout journal that records every aspect of every workout you do. This includes the exercises chosen, their order, the amount of weight used and the number of reps in the last set. Why the last set? Because this will be the one when you are most tired and most likely not to get to the desired number of reps. It shows the number you have to try to better next time. Keep separate sections for your cardio and for your weight training.

Keep track of your eating habits with a food journal. Now I know we all have busy lives and it can be difficult writing down everything you eat all day long but try and keep an eating journal in your car or office and every time you see it write down everything you have eaten since your last entry. Remember, write everything down including all foods, drinks (water, coffee's, tea's, soft drinks etc). DON’T CHEAT! This blueprint of your success and shortcomings gives you powerful information that you can use to make your eating plan more effective.

Look in the mirror. Write down what you see or keep a mental image of it. Keep referring back to this every 4 weeks to see how the person in the mirror has changed. Don’t just go by the scales, they just show total weight, not how that weight is made up. Fat tests such as the calliper test are pretty useless.

If you start keeping a journal you are quickly going to find out how powerful this tool can be, not just for motivation but also to make sure you are on the right track. It still amazes me at times when I go to the gym and I see people using the same amount of weight on the same exercises they did 4 months ago and then they wonder why they don't achieve results.

With a journal you will be able to see if you are improving, if you are getting stronger, weaker, fitter, or leaner. It takes the guesswork out of losing weight and sculpting that perfect body you wanted and makes it an exact science, one you are in control of.

Remember though, that these journals will also show you if you're not making progress, but don't let that discourage you in any way. You should see this as a sign that you need to change something to get better results. So don't become de-motivated if you don't see the results you wanted, it is just a sign that what you are doing right now, might not be the right thing for you and that you might want to get a new workout program or that you need to increase your intensity a little or change your diet. Your journal holds you accountable for your actions. Just think of it in this way, what is the use of going to the gym and working out hard every day if you don't get any results? By keeping a journal you will be able to pick up on this very quickly and be able to change what you are doing incorrectly so that you don't spend 6 months doing that same wrong thing over and over again.

Now if you don't have a journal already, go and get one or simply create one yourself. It doesn't have to be posh or expensive. I use an excel spreadsheet that I can forward to you if you like. The sooner you start using these journals, the sooner you will see that new body you want.

Taken from Scott Sherwood's Facebook group Personal Training