Why have a workout book?
Our body is an art that we can model as we wish. Weight training is one of the best ways to sculpt your physique. However, this activity requires a lot of effort and good organization. So, what is a workout book, is it really useful? How do I use it?
What is a training booklet?
It can be a literal notebook. You put in the details of each workout session. It serves as a benchmark so you can record your performance and track your progress. It also helps you remember the last exercises you did, which will help you progress and reach your goals. Finally, it can contain comments, to have an idea on the positive and negative sides of your training. It can be in paper form but nowadays it is much more practical to have a digital record. Another simple solution is to write down this information in our smartphone that we always have at hand.
Is a training log useful?
This notebook allows you to follow your progress. Indeed, to have satisfactory results, it is necessary to be well organized. You will have to define how to divide your gym sessions, which muscles you are going to work, what day, etc.
It contains all the important details of each session. It also serves as a sports memory aid: which dumbbells you used last time, which equipment, or how many reps you did. Therefore, having a training logbook is essential for any motivated athlete.
Let's take an example: You have followed a 3-month weight training program and you decide to renew it for 12 weeks. If you have noted your performance somewhere, the goal of the renewal will be to do better than the previous time. You can add a little extra weight because chances are that by the end of the first one you will have gained strength.
What to put in your notebook?
You are probably asking yourself "what should I put in my notebook? "Here are some important fields that should be included in your notebook:
- The date and time It is essential in my notebook. Indeed, they allow to maintain the regularity of the activities. They also allow you to rebalance your sessions, in case you have missed one.
- The name of the exercise With the muscle group worked. But don't forget that the most important thing is to do the exercise. So you can just put a simple name on it, what matters is to understand.
- Sets and repetitions Sets are the number of repetitions, spaced by rest time. Repetitions are the number of times you do the exercise continuously. You can use the notation "number of sets and number of reps" in your log. Tempos as well: All about tempos in bodybuilding
- The load: This is the weight used during the session
- Recovery time or rest time.
It is very important to recover between exercises. However, you must be careful that the time does not exceed.
This will compromise your training. Limit rest time and stick to it.
- The difficulty of the exercise This is also a parameter that you should not forget. You can use a rating system, from 1 to 5 or 10 for example.
- Your comments.
To improve, you need to take into account the feelings you have during and after exercise.
You can put your measurements for example. The commentary also allows you to detail the different weights and techniques you used.
Finally, a workout book is a practical tool to help you get organized. It is mainly a memory aid and contains your training program.
Need a complete program to build muscle?
It is necessary to bring it with you to the workout sessions. However, it is possible to use a digital notebook that can be uploaded with your workout plan. In this case, you will simply need to add the info through your smartphone to mark them all during the training session.
Other articles to read :
When and why adopt the cheat meal in bodybuilding?
Food supplements for bodybuilding
How to choose a good bodybuilding coach?
5 Comments
Curious about this way of doing things, I had never heard that you had to write everything down in a notebook to progress
I'm not sure what to do about it.
That's why you never progressed loic!
Very good idea that I will put into practice during my next training sessions
In theory I find it practical, it's true that you don't necessarily remember previous performances.
That said, notebook or not, we do the training we can according to the form of the day.
There is a question that I ask myself, if someone can answer: when we start a program again, there is every chance that we will be less efficient to execute a movement that we have not done for some time. So, notebook or not, we can only do the best. What do you think about it?
Exactly, the training log allows us to have a reference and a trace of our performances but as you say it depends strongly on the form of the day, and when we start again a program it is inevitable to revise our performances downwards at least at the beginning. The quality of execution of the exercises is just as important as the performance, or even more so, hence the interest in also noting your feelings and sensations in the program.