Conquer Your Exercise Goals With a Fitness Journal
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Many of us have kept some form of a journal at some point in our lives, such as a diary or a sketchbook. For many, it's a way to express thoughts and feelings; for others, it's an outlet for creativity. Journals are prevalent in our lives, and that includes fitness journals. Exercise is known to maintain and improve health, increase energy levels and help with relaxation and sleep quality. While many are aware of this, it is often difficult for most to keep track of their exercise goals. Maintaining a fitness journal is a good way to keep track of progress and determine if a person is sticking to his or her intended routine.
Benefits of Keeping a Fitness Journal
Tracks progress. Discouragement can often impede a person from completing his or her goals. Typically, if you don’t see any form of progress, it can lead you to think that you are simply wasting time. Keeping track of progress, whether it is writing down your workouts or a healthy meals, will increase your motivation to continue putting in effort to reach your specific goals. The progress will be slow at first, but it will allow you to see that you are heading toward your desired path. It will be rewarding to look back and see what you’ve accomplished and how far you’ve gotten.
Keeps you committed. Goals are part of our everyday lives; without them, we have nothing to reach for. Setting goals means putting energy into attaining them in any way possible, for there is no right or wrong method for achievement. Having a fitness journal will help create a clear objective. It doesn’t matter how big or small or how short or long the fitness plan is – all that matters is that there is a goal to work toward.
Maintains consistency. Especially during college, it’s difficult to complete everything you want to accomplish in an allocated amount of time. That’s also why having a fitness journal can be beneficial – it is essentially a personal workout calendar that notifies you to keep up your hard work. Consistency is the key to a healthy lifestyle. It is not easy to maintain a workout schedule or a desired way of eating, but filling out your fitness journal designates time for you to reflect on your ongoing performance.
Gives a realistic picture. Knowing that you have a structure to follow will help keep you structured for the long run. It is a good idea to create a specific outline so that it makes it easier to follow and commit to. Of course, if one plan doesn’t work out you can explore other options, but make sure that however you choose to display your performance you are able to keep up with it. This can help you set new goals, make adjustments to existing ones and evaluate your fitness level.
How to Start a Fitness Journal
The most common misconception when it comes to fitness journals is that they are all kept in notebooks. However, there are also apps that are designed to make the fitness process easy to navigate and help you create a schedule. Two eye-catching apps include "Daily Tracker + Journal & Diary" and "Fitlist - Gym Workout Log." Inside "Daily Tracker," individuals can take notes and keep track of workouts, food, sleep and even expenses. The app "Fitlist" allows people to create workouts by choosing from a list of over 1000 exercises, add notes and view a comprehensive progress of their progress. With journals, there are a variety of layouts to try – a popular one is bullet journals. In bullet journals, you can design your own layout and check off a goal each day. You can also fill in missing information such as the distance of a run or the type of workout accomplished that day.
Important Notes
When keeping a fitness journal, remember to go through it every day. Even if it’s your day off, make sure that you are following your plan. The only way to ensure consistency and accuracy in your progress is to take notes daily. Use failures as motivation to try again and produce better results for next time. Even if you are yet to see drastic physical results, the key word to remember is yet. Be patient, keep up with your goals by logging them and maintain motivation to push through. It will only be a matter of time before your changes and results become evident. It will just take time.
