Work on yourself is either a way of life, or an easy fleeting hobby. Only long and consistent workouts allow you to achieve visible and effective results. Moreover, for each sport there are many different programs. To organize their time in the hall, many use special training diaries for athletes.
Recording of classes is not only a report on the work done, but also a plan for future achievements, as well as the visible effectiveness of your activities. The training diary is markedly different from the usual everyday format.
There will be no impressions about the day, some experiences and dreams. A training diary is primarily an organizer of your physical activity. With it, you can significantly improve the effectiveness of trips to the gym. This is a very successful athlete tool with an eye to the long term.
So, from our article you will learn how to keep a training diary, what they are, what to pay special attention to when recording classes and other useful information that will help you increase the level of effectiveness of your stay in the gym.
What are the diaries for athletes?
Today, there are different ways to record classes. All varieties of training diaries have their pros and cons, which must be taken into account.
Types of diaries:
- Online sites
- programs for mobile gadgets;
- paper diary.
We will analyze them in more detail.
Online sites
One of the most popular online training diaries for both men and women is iWorklog. The service has intuitive functionality, and the threshold for entry as such is practically absent here. What also contributes to the full Russian-language localization.
In addition, the resource interface is undemanding to the speed of your Internet connection and quite tolerably works even on 2G protocols, not to mention 3G and fiber.
Another interesting training diary for women and men is Powerlifting. The service includes a set of universal templates. Each of which requires a certain setting for your specific tasks and interests.
Yes, you have to tinker with it, but after the individual sample training diary is ready, you will get an excellent response and a detailed analysis of the current and predicted progress.
Mobile Gadget Applications
On the Web, you can find hundreds of programs to automate and increase the effectiveness of training. A good half is written for mobile devices and for different platforms. On the same "Google Plea" and the AppStore at least a dozen or two other options there. We will mention the best training diaries for Android and iOS.
Simple workout log
Judging by user reviews, Simple Workout Log is one of the most attractive options for beginners. The application is ascetic, but this has its advantages. Software of such a plan, as a rule, is replete with an abundance of sections, categories and tables.
And here we have the simplest analogue, where only the most important elements are indicated. In addition, on weak gadgets, the application works like a clock and does not slow down, opening the next page.
Fitnotes
This is a more advanced training diary with a lot of additional fields and sections. In addition, a nutritional category has been added here, which is especially important at the stages of weight control and drying.
The local interface and tables are flexible, and if desired, they can be tailored specifically for your needs. The application is quite demanding on the system resources of the gadget, so some problems may arise on older devices.
Paper diary
This is a classic version with a notebook or notebook. You can also meet on sale specialized diaries in paper form with already drawn tables and highlighted sections with categories. Professional athletes and fitness trainers recommend sticking with a paper version.
And here we are not talking about reluctance to learn something new, categorically rejecting technology. The point is a little different. When you manually prescribe completed or planned exercises, procedures, etc., your brain processes the information received much more efficiently than if it were mobile gadgets. That is, in this case, motor memory works. That is why the content of training is more practical to draw up by hand.
Diary content
If you do not delve into specific sports, but take the average fitness or athletic training, then the contents of the diary will consist of three sections: a training schedule, results and planned volumes with actual ones. Let's consider them in more detail.
Schedule
Here we are talking about the chronological distribution of class time in the hall. That is, it should be noted on what days you plan to visit it, as well as how much time you are willing to spend on sports. A random visit to the hall will not lead to anything good. One day your laziness will simply prevail.
Be sure to develop an iron habit, which will lead you forward. Strict adherence to the schedule will drive you to classes even when you do not feel like it at all. And this condition is a frequent guest among beginners.
Results and plans
This section reflects repetitions, approaches, and weight. It is best to record them during rest, after completing the next exercise. Professional athletes recommend drawing up a preliminary plan, where all repetitions, weights, etc. will be reflected. And after completing the classes, simply check the boxes or mark with minuses what you could not master.
Most often, the actual volume of completed classes differs from the planned one in a smaller direction. So this is a kind of visual incentive to achieve the desired results. Also in the diary, you can note the pace of a particular exercise and the intensity of the load.
Other sections
With the accumulation of experience and the desire to develop beyond the three standard sections, it may not be enough. You can additionally record the dynamics of weights, programs, injuries and other indicators. Consider the most popular sections.
Weight Dynamics
As a rule, after a month of intensive training, you can track the results of an increase in working weights. For example, in the first week you did a bench press lying in a total weight of 60 kg 3 times. And already in the fourth week - 75 kg 5 times.
Thanks to the entries in the diary, you can track this dynamics. And if they had trained without him, then perhaps they would not have seen anything. It is such visual results that stimulate the continuation of classes and work on yourself further. The diary will never deceive you, on the contrary, it will tell you how good you were then and what you have achieved now. Of course, if during logging you are honest with yourself and do not adjust the results.
Program change
The diary consists mainly of a list of exercises. This allows you to keep track of what and how you did when you last visited the gym: what weights were lifted and how many approaches. Without a diary, all this information is quickly forgotten.
If you plan to change one program to another, then returning to the previous pace of training is problematic. That is, you just don’t remember what and how you did, for example, a month ago. The diary is a reflection of all your sports activities. And with it, you can easily restore the former rhythm of previous workouts.
Injuries
The diary also needs to reflect all incidents related to injuries or pain. For example, you did exercises with dumbbells for squats, and your knee was broken. A note made in the diary will avoid dangerous injuries in the future.
In addition, there are cases when athletes pull and even tear muscles. The event reflected in the diary will make rehabilitation more progressive, because you will know exactly when the injury was received and what time should pass before full recovery. Such notes allow you to avoid serious mistakes and not harm your health.
Long breaks
If you have a training diary at hand, you can safely go for a long break, for example, on maternity leave or shift work. Of course, you will lose shape without visiting the gym, but you can quickly rehabilitate yourself.
With the diary, you will not need to remember what you did in the first weeks of classes, how you changed your programs. Your successful workouts are already reflected on paper (or on the gadget's screen) and all steps are clearly marked. In addition, you can figure out how much time you need for rehabilitation, and with this in mind, plan working days or upcoming summer weekends at sea, where you need to show yourself in all its glory.