We’re off to the second month of the year, and if you’re like half of the world’s population, you’d most likely have forgotten about your fitness resolution for the New Year. If you’re like the other half, you’d never even have bothered making a resolution at all.
But if you’re all set to get fit this year regardless of whether you made a resolution or not, start by getting yourself a fitness journal. Download an app, or do it the old-fashioned way with a spiral notebook.
Why bother doing that? Well, here are five reasons why you should document your fitness journey.
1. You need a roadmap to achieve fitness goals.
Let’s be real, you’d end up wasting hours of travel time if you have no idea how to get to your destination. It’s the same with your fitness journey. Without a fitness plan, you waste hours on ineffective workouts. Having a journal provides you with a guide to achieve your goals.
Create a fitness plan with clearly stated goals. Craft exercise routines, and schedule workouts. Put these in actual writing – not just in mental notes that are bound to be buried in the deep recesses of your brain. This fitness roadmap will remind you where you’re going, why you’re on this journey, and how to stay on the right path.
2. You need to stay accountable to your fitness regimen.
Stop blaming your workload or endless events for your inability to stick to your fitness regimen. Maintain personal accountability and commit to a schedule to keep on track. A fitness journal helps you do this as it reminds you of your habitual commitment to yourself.
Be brutally honest with yourself when writing your journal. Trying to fool yourself is, well, foolish. If you’ve struggled with workouts this week, write the reasons why it happened. This will help you identify where you can improve. It’ll also help you focus on engaging in more productive activities that will help you in your fitness journey.
3. Consistency matters.
Consistency is important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. You’ll have more substantial results with regular moderate exercises than periodic extreme fitness routines. So, don’t work out like hell for one week then turn into a couch potato for the rest of the month.
Taking notes on how long your workout is, how much weight you lift, or how many reps you do for each exercise will help you remain consistent with your fitness program.
4. You need to track your progress.
How many times have you eagerly started a fitness journey only to abandon it eventually? Can’t count them anymore, right? Make this time different by keeping track of your progress and monitoring where you are in your journey. A fitness journal can give you an idea if you’re anywhere near your goal and give you the push you need to move forward. It can also help you look back and see which workouts were most effective and help you adjust current ones for better results.
5. Baselines can inspire you to overcome fitness roadblocks.
It happens often – we tend to hit a plateau and get frustrated thinking that nothing ever happens no matter how much effort we exert in keeping fit. It’s been a month already, but you haven’t even lost a single pound so you just throw in the towel.
But, if you’ve kept a record from the beginning of your journey, you’d realize how much you’ve accomplished already. Seeing your progress from your baselines would motivate and encourage you to keep working on your fitness goals.
