When I first started working out last year I started with P90X. Well every video Tony Horton was always saying "now don't forget to write down what you're doing." I was like pff, I'm putting a tally on a white board, screw that. I didn't have any of the worksheets that I might've gotten had I *coughpaidcough* for the physical dvd sets, so I figured as long as I was tracking myself somehow it was okay.
But once I was getting into Turbofire and decided to create my own schedule, being more specific seemed impossible and impractical not to do.
1. Write down the title of the fitness videos. When doing them for the first time, I usually make a comment about how it was. If I write something like "hard!! had to rest for 2 days from soreness!!" it's fun to look back on when I'm doing the once difficult sequence weekly with no rest day after.
2. A rest day once a week is perfectly fine, recommended most definitely. Some people don't have time to work out six days a week, so I guess I'm lucky. But if I have to take another day, I'll write down why. I have a pin on my Pinterest that gives examples of when not to workout. Believe it or not, if you have a mild cold (without serious symptoms like a high fever) exercise might actually help.
3. If I do a workout without a video, I'll absolutely write down the details. The weight used, the exercises and the reps. On my elliptical, I write down how long I was on and the resistance, and I've just started writing down the distance (I knew before that 1 mile took about 33 minutes, so I just related times to that).
4. Before I even start my workout I make sure the page is open to the right week and I have a pen nearby. As soon as I'm done I write it down. With detailed workouts, I put down my weights in between each exercise and jot down my reps real quick. It only takes a second or two.
This can be a hard habit to get into, but once you do it really is fantastic. It's a great way to see obvious progress. I also keep my occasionally taken measurements in here. My notebook has no lines, being that its meant to be a sketchbook, and I used to practice writing Japanese in it, so it's a little messy in the beginning. But now I can't imagine not doing it.
Today I'm starting Week 14 of my personal schedule. You can see from my pictures even in the last few weeks I've been ambitious, stacking more workouts and upping the resistance on my elliptical. Week 13 was pretty rough, in a good way. I worked hard and I felt it for days. I was really happy to take my rest day yesterday. I actually went for seven days and took a rest day on the eighth, so that's probably why I felt a little overworked. Whoops. I've just been literally addicted to it. I feel sort of antsy and restless until I get to my workout, and hours later when I'm bored I might do a short workout on my own.
I've also stayed conscious of what I'm eating. Sometimes I treat myself, but I've been a lot better at not doing that as often as I used to. I've been told keeping a food journal is a good idea as well, but I think for me personally that might be crossing the line into crazy. I've got great fitness habits and I'm making healthy decisions with food I know I didn't used to. I don't think I could be that person who counts calories and obsesses over every little thing I put in my mouth. It's just too much. I drink lots of water, I eat more veggies, I make good choices. That's plenty good enough for me.
I hope this was in some way interesting or helpful to anyone wondering whether or not they should do this! Having a fitness journal is a wonderful thing. :)
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