How are you tracking your workouts?

[DCW]

I am so non-tech. I have a small calendar by my DVDs and as SOON as I am finished I write it down. Otherwise I will forget!

[jessicavi]

I track my workouts in Evernote. I am currently doing YT workouts. Since there are so many now I am able to do a new one every day without repeating. Evernote makes it easy to search through what I’ve done before so I don’t repeat. I can use it on my phone which is really convenient. I enter the workouts like a reminder but instead of making them for a future date I use the date I did them. I used to use the iPhone calendar but it’s not as easy to look up stuff. Plus you lose the content over a period of time.

[Leonana]

I follow Jessica Smith's workout calendar, or make one of my own similar to it.

[Laura S.]

Originally Posted by intelsana

I keep a bullet journal and track my workouts there. I keep notes about the workouts if needed there too.

Wow. Another bullet journaler? Most of the time people look at me like they have no idea what I'm talking about when I say the words "bullet journal". Can I ask how you track your workouts there? Do you have a specific spread or do you include it on a daily/weekly spread? I'm curious how you keep the notes about the workouts, too.

[hch]

Originally Posted by LizEMA

Boring, but I just use Microsoft Word. I use their 12 month calendar template (the fonts and sizes changed to my personal preference) and enter in my daily WO's that way.
(I log my WO specifics/notes in a separate Word document.)

For me, this works the best. It's the easiest, simplest, most efficient way for me to track my WO's, and I REALLY wish I had started logging them that way sooner.

Call me boring too if you must, but I simply use a text file on the computer. It works well for me.

My logging tends to be what you may call functional or utilitarian; I don't mind using those words if they're not supposed to be insulting. My log is a memory aid and reference, such that I don't have to guess what weights to use next time or where I am in a rotation. If I somehow had an utterly perfect and reliable memory, I wouldn't have my main reason for keeping a log.

In my log, I record what I did, with added details such as whatever I'm tracking (like weights used, time spent, or distance covered) and certain important extra notes (for example, when I was resuming something after an illness). Because what I'm tracking isn't always the same, I like a certain flexibility.

Although I've never written something as extensive or detailed as a diary of how I felt after every exercise, I do add the longer note sometimes. Most often it's something like a description of what I'm trying when I'm modifying someone else's program or devising my own. (Again, I don't want to rely too much on my memory alone or try to interpret overly brief, cryptic notes. ) I may write other things as well, and I like a format that gives me room.

Yes, I look mainly at what I did the time before. At least every several weeks, I'll probably look at how my fitness performance has changed over that time and possibly compare different programs, but I don't spend much time reading older entries otherwise. I keep the logs anyway, have never deleted them (text isn't too unwieldy to store ), and have sometimes used them for ideas.

I've never done much of any deeper analysis that would lead me to use a spreadsheet or a more intricate way of tracking (especially if the format discourages flexibility in what I track or limits what else I'd write, and I prefer to keep my writing in one place).

I also find keeping a text file "easier, simpler, and more efficient" than using paper. I don't oppose paper philosophically, actually like the idea of using a paper organizer, and recently happily bought binders and related organizational items (like dividers with multicolored tabs) for a different project.

Even so, I have a number of practical reasons not to rely primarily on a paper record here. If I didn't have those problems, I'd still write and edit more easily on a computer. I also find a computer file easier to store, retrieve, back up, and copy. (I'm glad to be typing this post in a text file and posting it on a forum, not writing it by hand and mailing enough copies for everyone. ) Occasionally I've considered using paper as a physically separate backup (my computer file already backs up automatically), but I haven't otherwise considered it as a primary resource.

[Sharaz]

Pretty much grab a piece a paper and start writing the rotation I have in my mind. Then throw the paper away once I’m done. Right now this paper is folded in a pocket in my purse

I don’t have anything in writing, but I do know the programs/rotations I have completed.

[Sue B]

Since working out at the gym, I've been using FitNotes on my phone. I can't find an easy way to keep track of cardio days, though. Posting my workouts on the daily workout threads here has helped with that, so I'm really glad VF is back!

[T2B]

I have a Cathe calendar in my workout room that I slap a reward sticker on after each workout.

Also in my workout room, I use a Create 365 The Happy Planner to record my workouts (bought from Michaels). I love these journals, 2nd year using a vertical planner. I record my workouts in this and any thoughts about the workout, also have room to stick a reward sticker on it as well. I love, love, love stickers. I have way too many of them. Michaels has some cool Create 365 stickers; I use the Fitness stickers & Quotes stickers. Keeps me motivated.

I’m also using an 18 month vertical Wellness Planner (also bought from Michaels) that has daily food tracking/health tracking. The front of the planner has a silhouette of a female in a yoga pose and a quote in the silhouette “ little by little, it adds up to big results”. I record my food and exercise daily. It has room for stickers. Each week has a place to write Weekly Goals on one side and a Healthy Habit Tracker for each day of the week on the other side. Each week has a section that you can jot notes or to do lists or whatever. Each month has a section for monthly goals.

Both planners make me happy! Love seeing the stickers and quotes and love writing in both daily. My hand writing is not small so I like that I have room to write like I write naturally. I don’t have to think about writing smaller to get it to fit in the designated spaces. I have beautiful handwriting (thanks to my 5th grade teacher and writing what I would not do anymore on a piece of paper 100 times or more) so I like seeing my scribble.

If you’re ever in Michaels, it’s worth checking out their planners.