Archive for the 'fitness journal' Category

06th Dec 2010

Using a Fitness Journal

Keeping a fitness journal is a great way to make fitness goals and track your progress toward achieving them. You can sign up for an electronic fitness journal online or you can make your own. Whether you use the assistance of a computer or a regular notebook, here are some great ways to get the most out of a fitness journal.

Write Down your Goals

What fitness goals are you trying to achieve? Do you want to lose weight? Gain muscle? Run a Marathon? Try to be specific. Instead of just saying “to get healthy” say that you want to exercise daily. Being specific will help you feel more accomplished and have something to work toward when you have concrete goals.

Use stepping-stone goals. Start with small goals and work up to the bigger goals. For example, have goals to each 1 extra piece of fruit per day, drink 64 ounces of water per day, and walk 1 mile per day. These goals will begin to stack on each other and work towards more difficult goals.

Write down your goals and update them regularly. Updates will allow you to see your progress right in front of you. Also, when you see how you are progressing, you can modify your goals as necessary and add new ones.

Track your Numbers Progress

A lot of fitness goals will show progress by tracking numbers. If your goal is to do 30 push-ups at once, you should track each day or each workout session how many push-ups you can do. The same goes for repetitions of any exercises, cardio distance and time, and pounds for weight loss. If you are doing an online fitness journal, you can even graph your progress. Set up a spreadsheet where you enter in your progress. Then, build a graph for your results. This is great motivation.

Track your Physical and Emotional Progress

In addition to the numbers, you should track your physical and emotional progress. Physically, write down how you look and feel. Can you see more definition in your arms? Can you run 5 miles a lot faster? Can you see that you look thinner after losing 20 pounds?

Emotional progress is important as well. How does the progress you’ve made make you feel? Do you have more energy and feel happier? Do you feel like you are living a more successful life? Fitness affects you more than just physically. Understanding how everything comes together and tracking it in your fitness journal, whether you’re using a notebook and pen or an online program, will help you to be more successful overall.

Posted by Posted by faraway27 under Filed under fitness journal Comments Comments Off