If you are gearing up to start a new fitness and workout routine, hoping to lose weight or are changing your training you can benefit immensely from a workout log. Keeping track of not only your daily and weekly workouts but logging in the specific amounts of time you exercises and the weights you lift is an excellent way to watch yourself improve and keep you moving in the right direction. A fitness or workout log can also be used as a tool if you find yourself at a plateau and you can then go back and reference what you have been doing and then make any necessary adjustments.

Much like a food diary, a fitness diary or training log will keep you accountable for getting those workouts in and also a place to write down your goals for the future. You can also include in your training log any important stats like your weight should you be trying to hit a certain target weight, how much sleep you were able to get the night before, or your pulse rate in the morning. While everyone may prefer to write different things or with varying amounts of detail for their own workout log it is important to at least list down what you did that day in terms of exercise, for how long, and the weigh load if you hit the gym. You can also write in how you felt that day, if you were sore or tired from the last workout or just feeling a bit off. That way if you do feel sore, sluggish, or even an injury creeping up you can look back at your training log and usually find a reason for it.

Finally a training and exercise log is a handy way to boost motivation and keep you sticking to your fitness goals. You can include weekly or monthly goals at the bottom of your own log and work towards them. Seeing your goals written down makes them seem more concrete. If you are planning on following along with the running program this New Year you should begin your own training log. This will be important to track your total weekly mileage, your pace, and any of the other exercises you are doing besides running. These numbers can then be used as benchmarks for future workouts and in deciding how many miles to increase or run the next week. Then when you do lace up and run a race or event that you are shooting for you can look back at your workouts and times and get a clearer idea of what kind of time you should be able to run and be on your way to hopefully a personal best time!