What Are the Best Ways to Track Workouts?

Do you enjoy working out, but want to track the information that comes with each workout session? Perhaps you like to switch up your workouts because your mind and body thrive best when you have variety. Or maybe you want to see if you burn more calories doing one activity over another. It is important in fitness to have access to the best ways to track workouts, so you can track and measure your results, and gauge progress.

There is no right or wrong way to work out, but having a system where you can see your results can help you work toward the body that you want. Check out these suggestions that can make it easier for you to track your workouts and discover what is most beneficial for you. 

Know What To Keep Track Of 

First, decide what data you are trying to keep track of before you settle on a method. If you’re not sure where to start, these ideas can help you. Most of the best ways to track workouts offer these features, as they are most beneficial to measure progress.

Keep track of:

• Length of workout
• Type of workout
• Calories burned (if known)
• How you feel afterward
• Any known soreness

These are just some ideas to help you get started. Along the way, you might think of other things you want to track. When you do, just add them to your list. The key with fitness tracking is to spot trends over time with the data you have. 

Use a Fitness Tracker

A fitness tracker, such as a FitBit, is one of the most popular ways to keep an eye on your fitness levels, the activities that you normally partake in, and how you are feeling. Depending on the device you use, it may automatically count how many calories you burned during your session, the type of workout it was, how long it lasted, and what levels your heart rate rose to when exercising (such as warm-up, fat burning, aerobic, etc).

Most fitness trackers work with an app on your smartphone, allowing you to easily check-in and keep an eye on what’s going on with your workout. 

Keep a Spreadsheet

Keeping track of your workouts on your laptop is nothing new, and you can make it easier on yourself by using a program such as Excel. Here, you can log your information directly on the spreadsheet, and easily copy and spreadsheet, making multiple pages for different days, weeks, or months. Some individuals feel intimidated by the various functions that can be used in Excel, but with a little practice, it is not hard to use. In no time you can learn how to unpivot data in Excel and manipulate it to suit your needs. 

Mark It With Pen and Paper

The old-fashioned method of paper and pen never fails, and can even be an advantage depending on what you are focusing on. If you are doing strength training, it might be easier to use pen and paper to make note of the size of the weights you are using and the routine you are doing, so you can change it up if you are wanting to build your muscles even more. You can use a notebook, a binder, or whatever type of setup you prefer to write information down in, as long as you can easily access it. 

Final Thoughts

There is no shortage of best ways to track workouts to help you record and visualize your workout progress. First, it is important to understand what you need and want to track. This can help you determine if it is time to switch up your workout, if something is causing you too much pain, or if you prefer one type of exercise over another. You can then use whatever methods feel the most normal to you.

This could be with the help of a fitness tracker, which captures a lot of data as you are using it, but you can also compile the information on a spreadsheet or even use pen and paper. The most important thing is that you stay consistent and you are able to notice trends in your workouts, so you can adjust them as needed. 

Tags: exercise, exercise log, fitness, fitness log, progress, workout log, Workout Logs, workout tracking

This entry was posted under Motivation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.