Track Your Workout Progress

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Do it.  Simple as that.  Everyone should track their workouts.  How else are you going to know whether you’re improving or not?  I use fat little notebooks to record the following:

For Strength Training

  • date
  • exercises performed
  • set performed
  • reps performed
  • weight lifted
 For Cardio

  • exercise performed
  • distance traveled
  • beginning speed and average
  • intensity level
  • calories burned

This is all just the basics, but it provides me with enough data to analyze and reflect on during my next workout.  Every new workout I push towards performing better than previous.  Meaning, either lifting more weight, doing an extra rep or going for longer distances and so on. It also allows me to analyze areas of improvement.  Lastly, tracking progress provides motivation in a couple of ways.  First,  it encourages inner-competition because you will try to do better each time because nobody wants to fall behind. Secondly, it paints a good picture of how close you are towards achieving your goals.