Training logs and the gym

[Toxic]

I can't understand why you wouldn't log your progress (or lack thereof). I am my biggest competitor, and as such my diary is my most powerful tool.

It amazes me that throughout the 3 years I have been lifting, in 5 different gyms, I could count the number of people logging their results on one hand.

Why just train harder when you can train smarter?

[cr0wd0g]

Quote

I can't understand why you wouldn't log your progress (or lack thereof). I am my biggest competitor, and as such my diary is my most powerful tool.

It amazes me that throughout the 3 years I have been lifting, in 5 different gyms, I could count the number of people logging their results on one hand.

Why just train harder when you can train smarter?

Just because you need a training log, doesn't mean everyone does. I'm happy with my body and the results I've obtained are through training as hard as I can regardless of what I lifted the previous week. I'm not a power lifter and I'm not trying to break any records. I'm trying to break down the fibres in my muscles so they repair and grow. My aim each evening is to leave the gym feeling that I've worked hard then go home and feed my body what it needs to get massive!


PS. It also helps that I compete against my training partner.

[docholiday]

A critical component of bodybuilding and pretty much any sport is Monitor and Control. The primary reason I use my logs is so that I can keep my parameters consistent, e.g. tempo, weight, reps, session times, endurance and recovery rate and improve on these during subsequent sessions.

If you're primarily interested in aesthetics i.e. the way your body looks in the mirror then you can get away with a little monitoring and controlling. You can hit the gym and do as many reps and sets as you want to build the body you want. However, if you want raw strength, endurance and want to create an aesthetically pleasing body then you have to monitor to have as much control over everything that impacts that goal including nutrition.

I'm not an advocate of any methodology but sometimes personal motivation and tenacity just isn't enough to take you to where you want to go.