- a very important thing not only for bodybuilders, but for all athletes. In the training diary, athletes track their progress, study possible mistakes and, accordingly, adjust the training plan to get better results.

How to keep a training diary?

A training diary can be used to record a variety of indicators: from working approaches and the number of repetitions, to anthropometric data and well-being in training. We recommend not to be lazy and write down as much information as possible in your training diary - this will only benefit. The more data you can operate with, the more accurately and efficiently you will be able to adjust the training regime, and, therefore, you will get much better results.

Here is one example of a training diary:

As we can see, here, in addition to the training process (number of exercises, sets, reps) there is also data on the duration of the workout, cardio loads, body weight and some notes.

Also, in addition to the main training diary, you can also keep a diary with anthropometric data.

It may look like this:

You can set the sampling frequency as you wish. Personally, I usually take measurements twice a month, although more often - once a week, for example.

How to properly analyze data using a training diary?

All data in the training diary can be divided into two groups: for long-term analysis, and short-term. For example, in each workout, you need to try to progress the load, so the data on the number of sets per exercise and reps is short-term data that you will need in each workout, and which you will analyze very often. Long-term data is, for example, anthropometry. You will need this data less often - once every 1-2 weeks.

A global analysis of the training program should be carried out no earlier than after 2-3 months. The analysis plan is as follows: you look at how you have progressed (was it good or bad) How did you feel during training? And also look at anthropometry - whether volumes and weight have increased, and whether the waist has become larger (since an enlarged waist is the main sign that you have gained excess weight in the form of fat). Also, if your goal is to increase strength, then evaluate your progress before starting and at the end of the training cycle. By analyzing this data, you can already adjust your training in the right direction.

For example, if you almost always felt unwell during training, there was a breakdown, the weights in training grew poorly, then you can reduce the number of hard workouts and add more light ones. And there can be many such options, you need to select everything for yourself empirically. However, we also do not forget about and, because nutrition is more than 70% of success in training.

Also, you can make small changes without waiting for the end of the period of 2-3 months. For example, one exercise (if you feel that it clearly does not suit you for any reason) replace with another.

At the end of the topic about the training diary.

I would also like to note that recently records of training in mobile devices have become very popular. In my opinion, this is superfluous and will only interfere with training. Therefore, in my opinion, it is best to use a regular notebook as a training diary. This is more practical, visual, and will not distract from the most important thing - from training.

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Today we will talk about this thing - a training diary: how to keep a training diary correctly and how to write it to help your own progress, and not waste paper.

In bodybuilding, two things play a key role in your success: load progression and supercompensation (more in the article). Load progression states that with each new workout you should be heavier (increased working weight, more sets or reps, less rest pauses, etc.). Supercompensation suggests that the muscles after the necessary recovery become a little stronger and a little more.

By following these two principles, you will grow. this is the essence of power sports. Often, it is not always possible to remember exactly how many sets of the exercise you performed, how many repetitions and what rest breaks you had in the previous workout. And this is really important, because. today you have to “surpass” past results. And if past achievements are blurred, then today's training simply loses its meaning.

"By eye" it is very difficult to catch the progression. Last week, for example, in the final approach you shook 100 for 6, and today 100 for 8 - a progression on the face. However, last week you rested 2 minutes between sets, and today you gave yourself as much time as you wanted. And it's not progress at all.

When you have a training diary at hand, you can see past results: working weights, the number of sets, repetitions and rest pauses. The workout makes sense. You just go and try your best to beat the previous score.

Due to what you should add intensity (progress):

• Working weight gain. Even 0.5 kg is an increase.
• More reps at the same weight as last workout.
• More sets at the same weight as last workout.
• Decreased rest periods between sets.

Your gains may be microscopic, but they should be. You should always strive to improve on your own past performance. This is what distinguishes sports from physical education. In sports, you fight for the best result, physical education is for the rest. And here the training diary is the best tool to help you progress.

Another undoubted advantage of keeping a training diary is finding out the duration of the phase and your supercompensation point. Over time, you will understand how much rest you need for a particular muscle group. If you manage to progress when you come to the next training session, then you have caught your supercompensation by the tail.

Benefits of keeping a training diary:

• The specifics of the training plan - you know exactly what needs to be done today.
• Feedback. What happened, in what conditions did you train (rest breaks, training time, body condition, etc.), what needs to be reviewed and what needs to be improved.
• Analysis of mistakes and adjustment of the training plan based on your records.
• Finding out the duration of the recovery phase for different muscle groups and the point of supercompensation.
• An archive of your achievements, which may be useful in the future and not only for you.

How should you keep a training diary?

There are many ways to keep a workout diary. You yourself must understand which factors and data are important to you, and which are secondary. Let's list what is important to consider first:

• Exercises
• Weights (warm-up and working) and the number of repetitions
• Number of approaches
• Rest breaks between sets

What else to consider, for greater benefit:

• Date of training, number of training week or day
• Workout time + duration
• Own weight
• Well-being/mood (sleep/didn’t get enough sleep, ate well/failed to eat well, hard day at work/great morning, etc.)
• Warm-up and cool-down times and type (cardio or stretching and warm-up exercises)
• Self assessment for training

You can write all this data in a regular notebook, notepad or excel. You can also use mobile applications with a bunch of interesting tables and graphs, since there are a lot of them now - choose which one you like best. The main thing is that it is convenient for you to track your own progress.

Training diary: a sample from one online service

Consider and write down in the diary what will be IMPORTANT for you and your progress on the current program. The main point of keeping a training diary is to spur you on to new achievements by seeing your past results.

And a few more words! Evaluate your training program no earlier than 3-6 months later. Training should be regular and of the same type, so that you can say - this works for me, but this does not. By analyzing your training diary, you will gradually build an ideal training scheme for yourself.

Conclusion

Use the factors and reference points listed above to help you understand how to keep your training diary. Analyze your achievements and the conditions in which you showed them. Practice shows that people who keep a training diary achieve great results in sports.

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In order for muscles to grow, they must be constantly stressed by physical training. However, the muscles gradually adapt to their usual loads - so that muscle growth does not stop, the working weight in the exercises performed must constantly increase.

To track the progress of working weights, it is necessary to keep a sports training diary. It should include both the training program itself and the strength indicators of the current week. If you try to keep these numbers in your head, you will most likely simply forget them.

Why not a smartphone app?

The paper version of the training diary has a number of important advantages compared to the application for a mobile phone - firstly, we have already mentioned that a smartphone, forcing you to constantly be distracted by messages, and it is better to leave it in the locker room.

Secondly, the task of the training diary is not at all to fix the list of exercises, but to analyze the completed training and compare the indicators with the numbers from the past weeks. You have to see if you are standing still or progressing - no app can tell you better than yourself.

How to keep a sports diary?

In addition to the list of the main exercises of the training program, the sports diary should contain records of the warm-up and cool-down performed - the type of activity (treadmill, rowing machine, etc.), its duration and heart rate (if this information is available from the cardio machine).

FitSeven also recommends that you make a note in your fitness diary about whether to increase or decrease the working weight the next time you perform a certain exercise - in our printable training diary, this information is entered in the last column of the table.

Training blocks

In the diary itself, it is recommended to record not only the date of the workout, but also the week number of the training cycle - breaking the program into blocks of 10-12 weeks is one of the most effective methods for analyzing the progress of training and the overall success of the program.

At the end of each week, you should review your completed sports diary, preparing a training plan for the next 7 days. Rewrite the exercise program, and also make notes about the working weight that you will need to use - this is where the notes ↓ come in handy.

How to analyze a training diary?

By spending at least 3-4 hours a week on the gym itself and on the road, train yourself to dedicate 10 minutes to analyzing whether you have spent these hours usefully. Compare workout diary sheets from different weeks, note if there is progress in working weights and warm-up cardio.

It is comparing whether your numbers have changed in (bench press, standing press, deadlift, bent over row and squat) that will jump-start progress. If you see that the key figures are standing still (or decreasing) - look for the cause and eliminate it.

Anagonist muscle training

Last week in the Beginner's Guide, we talked about the benefits of training antagonist muscles on the same day, citing the example. We will continue to use this approach in leg training, combining exercises on the front and back of the thigh.

Also, leg day will include exercises for triceps and biceps - in fact, these muscle groups are not associated with the lower body, so when fatigued, they will not have a negative effect on strength indicators (unlike combining arm and upper body training) .

Training program: 9 week

We are opening the third and final month of the Beginner's Guide. The program will gradually turn into a split on the upper and lower body, which can be performed constantly, while progressing in muscle growth. Print out your workout diary and start filling it out next week.

Workout A (Monday and Friday)

• Squats with body weight (warm-up) - 2 x 10-12
• - 4 x 5-7
• Deadlift with a kettlebell (warm-up) - 2 x 10-12
• - 4 x 5-7
• Hyperextensions - 2 x 10-15
• - 2 x 8-10
• Block pull for triceps - 2 x 8-10

Workout B (Wednesday)

A serious beginner in the gym is not difficult to determine. A person who has decided to improve the shape of the body, the first duty is to acquire a notebook for recording classes. What are they needed for? To track achievements from one day to the next.

The Need for a Record Log

The log book has two purposes:

1. Planning your own lessons.
2. Progression tracking, analysis and regulation of physical activity.

This is viewed as a set of digital data and noteworthy records. Powerlifting requires fixing the increase in weights. Fitness bikini. For him, you should control the number of approaches and exercises, as well as take measurements of body parts. By appointment, you will be able to analyze the planned training and create a new one, taking into account your training and physiological data.

The journal plays an important role during self-control and self-checking of achievements. Letting the data of your own classes in the gym go by chance, you will not be able to soberly assess the effectiveness of the classes and your achievements. Capturing data will help you track down mistakes, positive results, and point your capabilities in the right direction.

Registration of records

Approximate sample diary in accordance with disciplinary development.

1. Day of the week, date, month.
2. Class hours (beginning and end).
3. Lesson planning.
4. The names of the exercises, the number of repetitions, the time spent on the execution of the task, the duration of the delays between the execution and.
5. Weight at work.
6. Time spent warming up and cool down.

It is necessary to record the physiological state in the journal. Some measurements take place once a month, others during each class in the gym.

The following parameters are entered:

• Weight indicators at the beginning of work and after.
• How often does the contraction of the heart muscles occur, pressure readings; before the start of training, during it, at the end.
• Changes in the volume of body parts.
• Sports nutrition, daily menu.
• Morning blood sugar. Before work in the gym and at the end. The measurement is carried out twice every seven days.
• Recording energy expenditure throughout the session will also be helpful.
• Record the performance of the exercises by the end of the classes in terms of strength (the last approaches were difficult, easy). In this case, you will know to increase or reduce the number of tasks.
• Mark successes or failures with an evaluation.

Diaries electronic

Over time, it became possible to replace ordinary notepads with electronic ones.

For example, a fitness diary. Allows you to plan a diet, regulate the load and rest.

1. There is a great calorie program that helps you plan your diet.
2. There are many applications for android, they are easy to find.

Do not waste time in vain and start doing it right, without records it is very difficult to compare your results.

What are the benefits of keeping diaries?

1. Specific training plan.
2. The result of the lessons; conditions; rest time, work; general condition; draw conclusions about the necessary improvements.
3. Analysis of errors, based on them the possibility of adjusting planned targets.
4. Recovery period for different muscle groups.
5. Revised archival records over the past years, comparing the growth of achievements.

How to write a diary

The ideal bodybuilding diary looks like this:

1. Timestamps (training time, seven-day day, month, date)
2. Weighing weight. Achievements.
3. The content of program tasks.
4. Body condition.
5. Weight indicators.

Here's everything you need to write down during training. But! There are no clear rules for keeping records; everyone approaches this issue individually. It is most effective to break the executable and isolating. Do not keep dry records, add for yourself; heart rate measurement, tone level, training scores, minor injuries and other things that are meaningful to you.

Bodybuilders need to know:

1. It is very good if you gradually increase the working weights at each lesson.
2. The program must be worked out to the end, and only after that the results are displayed.
3. Introduce innovations as they come.
4. Practice dynamic change.

The program is drawn up, the journal is being kept, and after that, three months later, you really need to put a well-deserved assessment of your work. Usually in men, it all comes down to a set of muscle mass and strength results.

For girls - weight loss and normalization of muscle groups of the lower body. Adequacy in assessing weight, body parameters, body condition is important. Along with a training log, a nutrition log should also be kept. The main thing is to develop the habit of keeping records at each workout and then you will clearly see your achievements.

Gym diary

You have probably come across experienced athletes, in between exercises, writing down something in notebooks. Do you think it's a waste of time? This is your delusion. Just experienced visitors to the hall are well aware of the significance of such records. They make it possible to monitor the results achieved, and subsequently receive significant assistance from the coach.

A diary in the gym is a significant thing, it can make your process of gaining weight, developing relief muscles, gaining mass, a hundred times more effective.

Example sample entries:

Such notes will be clear to you and the coach, you should not write memoirs. Is that a small note about the state of the body on demand. A food log should also be kept. To develop dietary nutrition, it is necessary to individually rely on the set target program. The main thing is to develop the habit of keeping records at each workout and then you will clearly see your achievements.

How to keep a training diary?

There are no clear restrictions on conduct. An example of evaluation parameters may consist of the following positions:

1. Weighing weight.
2. Specifying temporary data.
3. The name of the exercise.
4. Achievements.
5. The weight indicator at the final stage of the task.

Indicate how you feel at the end of the work. If you feel unwell, you should consult a sports doctor. Write down everything that happens in your body so that you have something to compare with.

A bodybuilder - a girl who is serious about training, needs a journal of records without fail. It will help to see and compare the successes achieved, to identify the mistakes that girls very often make.

Analysis of sports training based on records

Keeping a journal is not difficult. We must take this decision with full responsibility. It is not possible to analyze your results from memory. An ordinary school notebook will lead to perfection in execution. For example, you are in a state of stagnation for more than ten workouts. How to get out of this situation without knowing what is happening? This is where the diary comes in handy.

After analyzing each workout, you will find a way out of this situation. One insignificant nuance may be the main one in your problems. The most outstanding athletes do not appear in training without the main weapon - a journal of records.

How to keep a training diary and what comes out of it, you can talk endlessly. It is better to read a diary posted on the Internet and see a photo of a girl who, after 37 years, looks twenty. Tracking her records of strength training, you can understand that without keeping records of such results it is not possible to achieve such results.

Based on keeping a journal of records of activities, and nutrition, we are achieving unheard of success - this is a reality. The correct analysis of the performed exercises, the strict fulfillment of the set goals, the desire to achieve the unattainable, push our athletes to the heights of glory.

They probably noticed that there are people who go to the gym with a notebook or diary and constantly painstakingly write down and calculate something, they are a minority, but it is this small% of guys and girls who do it right.

For example: your dream is to take 60kg for biceps. for 8 repetitions, you walk and swing it constantly, and you keep thinking and thinking, soon the bitsuha will be huge, and the barbell will be 60 kg. will be like a feather in your hands.

But that’s not a task, the weight doesn’t give in in any way, and at the 5th training session you don’t even remember what kind of weight you took on the first one, but how did the weight increase go?, were there 4 or 5 approaches? everything was mixed up in my head and forgotten.

TRAINING DIARY is a necessary reminder for clear control and accounting in training, the final success depends on it.

The progression looks like:

→ increase in training weights;
→ increase in the number of repetitions;
→ reduced rest between sets;
→ increasing the number of approaches;
→ use , etc.

Mass and strength will grow from periodic increase - this is the main rule of power sports. I am 99.9% sure that those who do not have a diary, after 1-2 months of training, will not keep in their heads all the weights with which they worked in each repetition, how many approaches there were, but how to build a chain of muscle load growth ??? So it turns out that many jump in one place, puff, try, get tired, but there is practically no sense.

Without a training diary, there is only one goal, but there is no clearly defined plan, which ultimately nullifies all your efforts. so that this does not happen, we will reveal the secrets of proper diary keeping:

The training diary records success, progress and results over time, which is not always possible to remember!

Sample training diary

To get started, take a fairly thick diary or notebook, if you want to really progress and get good results, bring it to every workout, and write down all your actions not at the end of the workout, but after each repetition in the approach !!!

1. On the first page of the diary, write down all your parameters , after, every month, starting from the date of measuring the parameters, measure yourself again and write similar data next to it so that you can see what success you have achieved, someone in gaining muscle mass, and someone in reducing fat deposits. Do not measure yourself every day or week, progress will be, but minimal, and some impatient may lose the desire to practice.

2. On the following sheets, write your entire training program with a detailed set of exercises, weights, sets and reps. I recommend that you indicate in brackets opposite the name of the exercise which muscle group is being trained, so as not to get confused and not ask stupid questions to trainers and others.

Consider an example for a 3-time workout per week. Through the fraction 12/40, 10 is the number of repetitions, and 40 is the weight of the weight, pay attention to the load using your own body weight is indicated by the number 0.
Look at exercise 5 on Wednesday - 20/0, that is, 20 - repetitions, and weight - 0 - you do this without weights, under the weight of your body. And remember training weights should gradually increase upwards , rapid growth - overtraining and a dead end, without growth - stagnation in muscle development.