The Fundamentals Series: The Training Journal

Fact: Keeping A Training Journal Leads To More Efficient Gains

In this article:

1. The importance of the training journal.

2. Key metrics to track.

3. My journaling method of choice.

4. Readers share their favorite ways to track.

Why Journaling Matters

Did you know that recording your training information eliminates guessing games, allows you to correctly execute advanced-level programming, and leads to more efficient progress?

Keeping a training journal is a fundamental training principle.

If I had it my way, maintaining a training journal would be mandatory for everyone. Skipping the journal would not be an option. Journaling matters, period.

So I can better explain why keeping a training journal matters, I’d like you to read the following words from a past interview of mine:

Q: Why is it important to record, in detail, each training session?

A: Journaling is something that I consider mandatory for maximizing the effect of any training program.

The hard truth is that if a trainee isn’t journaling their work, they simply aren’t maximizing their gains.

When someone makes their way through a high-level training program, it is going to be impossible for them to remember their weights used, reps completed, and sets completed for each exercise of each training session. Not to mention any written notes they may have.

Nobody can be expected to remember those details without journaling. Professional programming delivers progress through workout-to-workout improvements, using multiple training principles (periodization, rotating rep schemes, etc) and it will be impossible for the trainee to make those improvements if they don’t remember exactly how they performed during past training sessions.

Day-to-day improvements, estimated 1RMs, exercise performance details, and personal notes are all pieces of information that should be recorded.

The more a trainee can journal, the more smoothly and successfully they’ll progress through his or her programming.

Track These Important Metrics

Q: What specifically do you want a trainee to record and monitor during their program?

A: The trainee should monitor the following information for every exercise performed:

• The amount of weight used for each set, including warm-up and working sets. Being a little less diligent on warm-up recording is OK, but stay on top of working set journaling.

• The number of reps completed for each set, including warm-up and working sets. Again, if you leave out some warm-up set details in your journaling, it’s OK. The most important information to record is your working set data.

• Specific exercise notes are excellent. If a certain exercise is extremely hard or too easy, that type of detail would be important to note and take into account during a future bout with that same exercise.

• Any personal thoughts of the training session as a whole. These are fun to look back on, plus they add a personal touch to each entry.

Also, cardio notes should also be taken, as it’s important to make progress in this aspect too.

• A trainee should note specific settings (speed, resistance, etc) if they’re using a machine such as a treadmill, elliptical, rower, etc.

• Distances completed, pacing, and time spent should also be recorded when it comes to cardio journal entries.

If a trainee journals those pieces of information for each weight and cardio training session, they will never have to worry about trying to remember what they did in the past to make progress in the future.

Nobody likes guessing games in the gym. Before I started journaling, I hated the feeling of not remembering what I did during an earlier workout and having to hope I was making progress compared to last time. Muscles don’t grow on hope.

I’m not into hoping things happen, I’m into knowing I’m making them happen! This is exactly what keeping a training journal allows me to do.

The Classic Pen & Paper Journal

Q: How would you advise trainees to monitor and record their training data?

A: My ideal method of journaling is with plain old pen and paper. Call me old-fashioned, I’m fine with it. I believe that carrying a notebook to the gym is something that everyone, at every gym, should be doing.

Journaling is a necessity and the notebook is a great way to do it! It's simple and cheap, it won’t run out of charge like a phone could, you can’t break it if a weight falls on it, writing in it is quick, easy, and immersive, it won’t distract you like your phone will, and the list truly goes on…

Plus, that feeling of cracking open your seasoned training journal and flipping through your personally-written recordings of past hard work is impossible to duplicate on a phone.

It’s just not the same and you’ll have to trust me on that until you try it and find out for yourself.

And I must add one more thing, which I never thought about until I had kids. This is worth thinking about though. Imagine down the road when you leave this earth and your kids, or anyone who loves you, are looking through your things.

Would it be more meaningful for them to find your old handwritten training journal that they can touch, feel, hold, and flip through, or your old phone that won't even turn on?

On that note, I rest my case for the notebook. Jay, Jaceus, Colleen, and many others I asked feel the same way. To be honest, when I asked people how they journaled, I was surprised, and very happy, to see how many still use the classic pen and paper.

The Value of Digital Journaling

While I preach the positives of a hand-written journal, I realize the value in a digital journal as well. Whether this is done through a program like Excel or through an app, this is a great way to compile, analyze, and store training data over many years.

I actually believe the ultimate way to handle training data is to journal it by hand in the gym and then enter it into digital format later on.

You’ll get the immersion and satisfaction of pen and paper journaling, plus the organization and storage advantages of digital.

Nick, Cory, Gina, and many others use everything from Excel and Google Docs to their personal favorite apps.

Skipping the Journal

I’ll state right off the bat, I don’t recommend skipping out on tracking your training. There are so many important upsides to tracking and it’s a simple thing to do. There are physical and emotional benefits to the habit and practice of journaling, which is why I view it as a foundational training principle.

However, I’m not the type to cherry-pick input and only include the opinions and comments that agree with my own.

There are certainly people who have different viewpoints on journaling and I believe it’s important for me to share them and make sure they’re heard. Neil and Kevin, along with one other person, gave me their journaling input and I’m glad they spoke up and did.

Closing This Entry

As with every training day journal entry, this article must now come to an end. I’m going to close with two resources for you to make the most of your gym time.

1. Here’s a link to my personal choice for a training journal. This is a quality leather-bound journal and it has a luxurious, yet vintage feel, that I love.

2. If you’re looking for muscle, here’s a program tailored to your goal. This is the program I use, and have been using for the past 10+ years.

Thanks for reading my article and if you aren’t currently journaling, your next training day is a great time to start.

Joke time! Apparently I have “boundary issues.” At least that’s what my neighbor wrote in his journal.