Workout Journals
There are 3 great things I noticed about keeping a workout journal for my karate journey:
- It keeps me “on task” and eliminates the delusion that the work got done when I actually skipped a session – (yes, it also happens to me).
- It helps me dealing with the “little voices” always ready to offer credible excuses. I trained & have something to report, or I did not, period!
- My journal is public; I openly receive encouragements & nudges from a supportive community of like minded karatekas; I am also inspired and in awe at the workouts and progress reported by others – an invisible “peer pressure” is also active and keeps me accountable.
While I am in China, my usual karate week revolves around 4 nights at the dojo, 2 nights of yoga, occasional extra endurance and strength workouts. Typically, it would look like this:
- Monday: Dojo Night, karate; usually with kumite.
- Tuesday: Pilates – (but they changed the dates, so I cannot go any longer), I will make Tuesdays BAD days (Big Abs Days) where I will focus on a core workout.
- Wednesday: Dojo Night, karate.
- Thursday: Strength (but lately, I have been slacking badly in that area) – Yoga Night.
- Friday: Dojo Night, karate.
- Saturday: Dojo Night, karate.
- Sunday: Yoga Night.
- Throw in the daily makiwara work; I have a wall mounted makiwara behind my desk & twice or 3 times a day, I hit it for a few reps… and the hands, forearms and grip work I perform every second day with grippers and improvised hojo undo apparatus (also from my desk…).
- Yoga days are rest days; I enjoy the great stretch that yoga brings, but it is not a straining workout.
Going back through the past weeks, I noticed that I neglected interval training; I usually perform “stair work” in the staircase of my building. I have also stayed away from strength training, partly because of my shoulder injury. I finally have delayed implementing a “Ross Enamait” type of program to take me through to the next level.
The additional bonus of a workout journal is that, magically, “everything that you measure, improves”.
Are you keeping track of your workouts? How does that help you?
My workout journal defenatly helped me. Last days haven’t done anything, because of a very busy schedule and a lot of fatigue, and then I kinda feel bad for not working out, because for a few days I haven’t put anything in my workout journal. Today I finally have a day with a lot of free time, so I’m gonna work out now
Keep up the workout journals, Fred. Besides keeping you on task, it makes for entertaining and inspiring reading.
I agree with Meguro –inspiring reading indeed.
As for me, my journal helps me continually improve (appropriately titled “Kaizen”) and serves as a reminder to push paces and boundaries. I look back periodically and see where I need to take another step, be it a baby step or a big boy step.
The journals of other folks helps me learn new exercises and techniques. Meguro’s journal has been immensely helpful. I can name 2-3 workouts/techniques off the top of my head that I learned from his journal. I can only hope that folks read my journal and learn from me as I’ve learned from him. Sandman’s journal also has been a big help.
OSU!
My journal is an immense help to me too – same reasons as above. It definitely keeps me on track, and I like to go back and review my postings from time to time to check my progress. I’m usually happy with the progress, but I’ve also found instances where I thought I hit a personal best, only to find out I’d done much better some time back. It’s also a little bit of a creative outlet for me – I enjoy writing a little story along with my training from time to time.
One of the most influential logs for me was Gary’s – although he doesn’t keep it up regularly now, his training philosophy had a big impact on the way I structure my workouts.