out records on each pair of log pages, for ease of entering data and analyzing
it.. When used properly, a training journal enforces the organization needed to
get each workout right, for week after week, month after month, and year
after year. By recording your poundages and reps, your training journal logs
your entire training program, and the week-by-week breakdown of how you
work through the routine(s) of each training cycle.. A training log eliminates reliance upon memory. ere will be no, “Did I
squat reps with pounds last squat workout, or was it ?” Refer to your
journal and you will see precisely what you did last time—i.e., what you
need to improve on if you are to make your next workout a step forward.
While a small error of memory in the very early part of a cycle may not be
critical, it could be later on in a cycle when you are in new poundage terri-
tory—a mistake of just a few pounds at this stage could destroy a set and
possibly ruin a workout.. With a first-class training journal that is meticulously kept up to date you
will never wonder, for example, when it was that you broke the -pound
bench press barrier, or first squatted with pounds. A journal will keep
your memory accurate.. You must be honest when entering data. Record the quality of your
reps. If you did five good ones but the sixth needed a tad of help from a
training partner, do not record all six as if they were done under your own
steam. Record the ones you did alone, but note the assisted rep as only a half
rep.. It is not enough just to train hard. You need to train hard with a target to
beat in every work set you do. e targets to beat in any given workout are
your achievements the previous time you performed that same routine/
workout.. If you train hard but with no rigorous concern over reps and poundages,
you cannot be sure you are training progressively. Unless you have accurate
records of the achievements to be bettered, you cannot be sure that you
really are giving your all. But for accurate records of sets, reps and pound-
ages to have meaning, your training conditions must be consistent. If one
workout you rush between sets, then next workout you take your time, you
cannot fairly compare those two sessions. If one week the deadlift is your