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Are you writing down your goals and tracking your progress?
by Michael Collins
..................................................................................
 It’s
time to head down to Staples, OfficeMax or your favorite local or online
store and get a nice new planner or journal. I can’t stress how important
keeping a journal is for achieving your fitness goals, and in this article
I'll tell you why..
What will a journal do
for you?
A journal
helps you to know
exactly where you are right now. Often times, just getting your business out
on paper can give you a different perspective on things. Also, you’ll be
able to make sense out of the jumble of goals, interests and motivations in
your head. The clarity gained from being able to see whole picture will
help you design the future life and body you want.
I know many people whose
goals and motivations change weekly! Even I used to have quickly- changing
goals. I remember back around 1996, there was a contest given by a magazine
to win $10,000 or a similar sum. I had an athletic physique at the time, but
on the skinny side. I decided my chance to win was to bulk up and get as big
as possible.
So for the next 12 weeks I
kept track of everything I did with a journal, and I proceeded to
pack on
slabs of muscle and fat (purposely). I ended with gaining about 17 pounds
total in 12 weeks.
I didn’t win the contest,
and pictures of the winners were posted in a later issue of the magazine.
Doh! The winners were ripped to the bone. So I changed course and
headed back to a cutting phase for the next contest. By being able to look
back on my journal, I was easily able to readjust my training and eating to
coincide with my new goal.
The key to journaling
effectiveness is consistency
A journal that is
consistently updated can be one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal.
The longer and more consistent, the better. You’ll be able to track your
progress on exercises and food intake, which is vital to keeping you on
target. Perhaps even more important is the motivation that comes from seeing
where you were back then.
Most people rely on
memory, and although the mind is a great thing for storage, it can
sometimes get muddied. Paper and pen (or the electronic equivalent if you
choose) is more effective for specifics.
Insight into the past
Without a journal, you may
not understand the magnitude of how far you’ve come. I know recently when I
was going through some old stuff in the closets; I came across some exercise
journals from 1998- 10 years ago. Some entries were detailed and some were
not very detailed at all. But I poured through each one, and I got sucked
in. 2 hours later I emerged from my reading as if 2 minutes had gone by.
What seemed like such insignificant data and stories back then provided a
wealth of information and insight into the past. It also excited me as to
how far I’ve actually progressed.
If I had not written these
entries in the journal, I would not have remembered so vividly our workouts
back then, or our
eating habits or anything. 10 years ago I was doing
incline dumbbell press for 3 sets of 6 reps at 180 pounds. There’s no way I
would have remembered that. I know what I was eating, what brands of foods,
how much food. I know
how many calories I was taking in. I know what nagging
injuries like elbow tendonitis felt like and how I healed them up quickly.
I have down what magazine articles I read back then, what program I was
trying and what kind of progress was made from them.
To keep a journal, it
doesn’t have to be anything fancy. You can have a full blown planner or
something simple as a clean notebook. As my old journal has just a few empty
pages left, I’ll be moving on to a new one that my brother gave me- a Moleskine.
 
The Moleskine is small so
it fits in your back pocket if you prefer to bring it to the gym and record
your sets and reps
Nothing but lines... The
journal seems to be well made. Solid cover, strong binding. Good for those
who like to take it everywhere.
 -
This picture is probably
too small to see the details but each of those little books is a different
design, so if you like more bells and whistles, you've got lots to choose
from.
Of course I needed
something to write in my journal with, so my brother also got me this fancy
MCNewsletters.com, Fisher Space Pen. It writes when you're in boiling
heat (250 degrees Fahrenheit), Freezing cold (-30 degrees Fahrenheit),
underwater, over grease and in outer space. I guess I can't use those
excuses anymore?
Seriously though, all you
need is a pen and cheap notebook to get started. Write down your goals,
write down your daily actions, write down your food intake, as Eugene wrote
in his awesome article on
food journaling.
If you're just starting
out, don't get fancy or formal. Just get something down. Condition
yourself to do it each day. Make it a habit like brushing your teeth. Once
it's part of you, then you can move on to more esoteric forms of keeping
track.
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