2016

How Tracking Your Workouts Will Transform Your Results

How Tracking Your Workouts Will Transform Your Results
[tweet_dis]At least 4 out of 5 people in the gym, don’t bother to track their workouts.[/tweet_dis]

I should know, I used to be one of those people. I didn’t bother to track my workouts for the first 5 years that I worked out. As soon as I corrected this mistake, I progressed more in the next 6 months than I had for the earlier 5 years.

Looking back, it’s such an obvious mistake that I kick myself every time I think about it. I always knew that tracking my workouts was something I should do and yet I did nothing about it.

It was only when my confidence was at rock bottom after years of ineffective workouts that I made a real commitment to do things properly that this changed. As Peter Drucker famously quoted

[tweet_box design="box_10"]"What gets measured gets improved" - Peter Drucker #Fitspiration[/tweet_box]


Most people in the gym are desperate to improve their body so it’s time to think again about not tracking your workouts.

Why Nobody Tracks Their Workouts


There are 3 main reasons why most people don’t track their workouts:

1. It’s Not Cool to Track Your Workouts


mr fitnessLet’s be honest, keeping a log of your workouts isn’t sexy or cool. Who wants to be the dork walking around the gym with a little notebook and pencil or programming everything into their smartphone?

But the gym is not a place to try to be cool or sexy, regardless of what your ego might say. There’s something about the weights floor that seems to throw common sense right out of the window. All of a sudden it becomes about who can lift the most and to hell with anything else.

Don’t get caught up in what everyone else is doing, you’re smarter than that. Chances are, the majority of the guys in your gym don’t really know what they’re doing. So they’re terrible examples of people to follow and exactly how bad habits can creep into your workouts.

I learned the hard way that copying what other guys do in the gym is not the best way to go about transforming your body. Don’t worry about what anybody else thinks and do what you need to do to give yourself the best chance of hitting your goals.

2. Your Workout Never Changes


The main reason people don’t feel the need to track their workouts is because they do the same workout every week. They do the same exercises, in the same order, for the same number of sets and reps.

After a while, it’s not that difficult to remember a few numbers because they’re never changing. The problem is, if those numbers are no longer increasing, you’re no longer progressing.

In fact, as your body learns to adapt to your workout, you actually begin to lose strength as your muscles adapt to doing the same workout again and again.

weights and kettlebellsIt’s comfortable to do the same workout over and over, but if you want to be successful you have to break out of that comfort zone.

3. No Workout Structure


An alarming number of people in the gym don’t follow any sort of workout. They just walk around picking up whatever piece of equipment they fancy and just get on with it. Unfortunately, by just getting on with it they’re actually holding themselves back.

By having no workout structure, there’s a very good chance that you’re actually wasting a lot more time. When you have no structure, you don’t have the ability to compare workouts like for like. This makes it almost impossible to know what progress, if any, is being made.

If this is how you workout you need to stop, seriously think about what your goals are and find a workout routine that will help you achieve that.

Once you’ve done that, follow the routine for 3 months and track your progress over that period. You’ll be amazed at how much progress you will make once you’re consistent with your workout.

Why Tracking Your Workouts Will Transform Everything


[caption id="attachment_22013" align="alignright" width="305"]WorkoutJournalWhat do you use to track your workouts?[/caption]

If you’re serious about hitting your goals and getting the body you REALLY want, then you have to track your workouts.

This is non-negotiable.

In order to continue getting stronger and more muscular you need to progressively overload your muscles. To do this you need to force your muscles to lift more weight than they’re currently adapted to do.

The only way you can be sure that you’re doing this, is to know exactly what you’ve lifted before. Without this you’re relying on memory or pure guesswork. It’s only a matter of time before you overestimate what weight you should be using and a nasty injury occurs.

When you walk into a gym knowing exactly what you need to do, you walk in motivated and focused. This is exactly how you need to feel every time you walk into the gym. Gone are the days of wondering what to do when you arrive or deciding what to do based on guesswork or a whim.

The other great benefit about tracking your workout is knowing when you’ve lifted more than you have before. It feels awesome to know that you’ve finally managed to nail that last set of squats or that the weight your lifting is continuing to increase.

If you didn’t track your workouts, you’d miss out on those small wins that make a huge difference in the long run. Whilst those small wins might mean nothing to everyone else, those are the things that keep you going month after month, year after year.

How to Track Your Workouts


There are two main ways to track your workout. Either you do it the old-fashioned way with a notebook or use one of the many apps available for your phone. Both methods have their benefits and drawbacks, the right choice for you is the one that you’re able to do consistently.

Whatever method you choose, the main things you need to record are:

  • The date

  • The exercise performed

  • The weight lifted

  • Number of reps successfully lifted per set

  • Number of sets successfully lifted


At the end of each set, quickly mark down how many reps you successfully lifted. And by successfully lifted, I mean with good form and without the help of a spotter.

notebook

Don’t wait until you’ve finished your last set to mark down your reps. You may not remember how many reps you managed in your second set after you’ve completed the sixth. It’s crucial that your records are correct if you want to make sure that you continue to progress.

At the end of the workout I would use this system to record my workout:


Exercise: Sets x Reps - Weight

So if I had performed 5 sets of 6 reps of the overhead press at 60kg then it would be recorded as:

Overhead Press: 5x6 - 60kg

This is an easy to remember system that gives you all the essential information at a glance. The problem I’ve found with many apps is they’re so cluttered with extra features that they can be difficult to navigate around.

The only exception to this that I’ve found is the StrongLifts 5x5 app which is extremely simple and easy to navigate. If you’re following this workout programme, I highly recommend you download the app.

How to Track Your Diet


If you’re sold on tracking your workouts, what else should you be tracking? Well I would argue that if tracking your workouts is important, tracking your diet is essential. Nothing will have a greater impact on your appearance than your diet.

I don’t recommend trying to track your diet using a notebook, it’s too time-consuming and quite frankly there’s a better alternative. If you don’t already have the Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker app by MyFitnessPal, go and download it now.

[tweet_box design="box_10"]"Dieting is the only game where you win when you lose!" - Karl Lagerfeld[/tweet_box]


Gone are the days where you have to manually input all the information. All you need to do is scan the bar codes of products you consume and it will pull up all the nutritional information from its database. It can be a real eye opener to discover how many calories you’re consuming each day, often it is a lot more than we think.

The app is also extremely helpful in making sure you’re getting the right balance of macronutrients over the course of the day. A typical western diet tends to contain too many carbohydrates (particularly sugars) and not enough protein and healthy fats. The app can organize the data into simple charts so you can quickly see how balanced your diet is, or possibly isn’t.



One important thing to note is that every single item in their directory may not be 100% accurate. So use this app as a guide (albeit an extremely useful one) as errors can be made when products are entered into the database.

Don’t Track Your Weight


So you’re tracking your workouts and diet so it makes sense to track your weight every day right?

Actually, no.

scale

I’ll happily argue all day with anyone that believes that stepping on the scale is the best way to track their progress. The problem with relying on the scales is they can only tell you part of the story.

What scales can’t tell you is how your body composition is changing, whether you’re getting stronger week after week and how much your confidence is increasing as your body is transforming.

Too many people allow a number on the scales to decide their mood, confidence and self-worth.

That’s bullshit and needs to stop.

What you see in the mirror and how your clothes fit you will tell you far more than just a number on the scales. Your weight may remain constant but if you’re losing fat and gaining muscle you’re going to look very different over time.

Wrap Up


Tracking your workouts and diet really is one of the most important things you can do to give yourself the best chance of success. Not only will it help to keep you on the right track, but as soon as you stray off it, you can spot it straight away.

Decide whether you’re going to record your workouts in a notebook or with one of the many apps available and make sure you stick with it. Same goes for recording your diet in the Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker app by MyFitnessPal.

But don’t allow yourself to fall into the trap of weighing yourself every day, there are far more important measures of your progress. In fact you may even find that the dream body you’re working so hard towards leads to a bigger number on the scales than where you are now.

Consistency is the key to success, whether that is working out, maintaining a healthy diet or leading a happy and fulfilled life. Start tracking today and take a huge leap forward towards your goal.

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gareth jones picAuthor Bio: Gareth Jones - Founder of Lift Like A Rock Star




Gareth founded Lift Like A Rock Star to help confused and frustrated 25-40 year old guys get the body of their dreams. He does this by providing a BS free strategy that has come from over a decade of his own trial and error.



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