I'm curious what you all use as a training log? Right now I scribble what I do in a little notebook, but that doesn't seem like the best way to go about it. Borders had some interesting training logs, but I didn't want to pay 15+ for something like that.

I'm envisioning keeping my little scribble pad but then transfering it to an excell (or something) doc for a clearer way of viewing my progress.

Any ideas?

-Kendrah

I do the same as you. A little notebook works fine for me.

I do the same as you. A little notebook works fine for me.

It works fine, I know, but I want something more clear and consise. I just want it all on the same page so I don't have to flip through 50 pgs or even more then one book to see the trends in my losses and gains.

More for my own curiousity then a nessessity really...

-Kendrah

I write a post-it note everyday with last time's stats (which I keep in my journal on here) and write down the new lifts on the other side and then record them online when I'm done.

Depending on how you lay the data out at home you can easily see the trends (especially if you opt for an offline spreadsheet type layout). In addition, with this method you don't have to worry about misplacing, losing, or ruining your entire notebook of workouts. And, as well, you can make mulitiple computer back-up copies easily on various media.

i use pen at the workout then excel at home

If you're using a notebook, and you don't like flipping thru pages to find your category, maybe consider buying some of those loose leaf divider tabs, then put them all in a binder with some other loose leaf papers. Each tab could represent a different category, so that when you flip that tab over, you would see your notes for that particular category. For example, the tabs might say Legs, Arms, Back, Chest, etc. I suppose you could also have smaller tabs to make subcategories, for example, if you flip over the Arms tab, you might have several tabs such as Barbell Curl, Cable Curl, etc. I'm not sure how that would work, I guess you could make those sub category tabs a certain color, to help differentiate them from the main categories. Also having one exercise per sub category would give you room to make notes, etc. Also maybe the first few pages in your binder would show a list of all the exercises you plan to do, and every time you do an exercise you could put a small mark beside it, so later, at a glance, you can see which exercises you are doing and which you are avoiding. Well those are just some ideas I got after reading your post. I never actually tried any of them myself. They may sound a bit silly, but I'm just doing a bit of brainstorming here. For myself, I think if I can afford it later, I might get a laptop to record my exercises in as I do them.

i got an excell sheet at home, whenever i get home from the gym, i just write down my lifts

its kinda messy, but it reminds me what weights i lift :D

Even though I am new at this, maybe this will help. I set up a small 3 ring binder. I made up sheets for each of the exercises I do. On the sheet I list the date. lbs lifted, reps and sets. Each sheet will hold 21 workouts so I can see my progress easily. I separate the workout sessions with dividers. I also keep track of my food intake in the same notebook.

I have all my lifts on notecards with pictures on the front and any description needed to remind me about proper form or anything else I need to remind myself about. Then on the back of the notecards I just put down the date, the weight, and the max number of reps I was able to do in one of my three sets for that date. If I hit 12, I up it the next time.

I guess I should think about transferring it to excel one of these days. We'll see.

I use excel too. I print out a sheet with a list of exercises and some blank boxes. I add the exercise, weight and reps. I also record the time, how I felt and sometimes I wear my Heart rate monitor and record my average HR for the routine. I also rate my workout A=my best B=pretty good C=OK D=Not good and I don't even bother working out if I feel worse than a D. If I'm having any pain I'll not that too.

An entry might look like this.

Bench <155> 10... <205> 4... (225) 7, 6; 4.

What it says is for the bench I warmed up with 155 lbs for 10 reps and quit before failure. Then I did 4 reps with 205 and quit before failure. My work sets were with 225 (or whatever) and I did 7 reps the first set, 6 on the second and on the third I changed grip (or stance or whatever) and only managed 4 reps.

The page holds 6 workouts and helps me track progress. I also do a monthly summary of all of my workouts (weights, cycling, XC ski, run/walk etc and the times/distances associated with those.

It's kind of cool to look back after a few years and see progress. :tucool:

I print out an excel sheet with blank boxes too, input with a pen in the gym, then into the excel sheet at home. For the next workout, I print out the previous workout results along with the new (blank) cells, and that way I can make sure I hit my goal of improving every workout. Plus, I put in a couple of formulas to track the % increase per movement and total workout...it's motivating to see "+7%" when I get home and input the results.

I think I've probably doubled my progress by using the log, compared to my previous "technique" of selecting weight levels by instinct/memory only.