Do you need to log your workouts?

A well-documented log book can help you track and evaluate your progress in the gym. Whether you’re looking to build muscle or lose fat, a log book will allow you to stay on task for short and long-term goals.

The main aspect of increasing strength, building muscle and preserving muscle is progressive overload. Therefore, you need a method to track your lifts. A notebook or even excel sheet on your mobile (my method) ma

kes it easy for you track your lifts.

When I have a client fill out their log books with notes and aim for progressive overload they achieve better results. When they send me their stats through weekly check ins, we evaluate and see what is a realistic target for the next week or even the next phase. We see what has worked for them until now and set performance goals. This keeps adherence and motivation high too.

When in a fat loss phase having a training log is even more important. At this stage you’re low on calories and the aim should be to retain as much muscle as possible, the best way to do this is to maintain your strength. Your training log should reflect this and if there is a negative change you will need to address this.

In conclusion you don’t NEED to log your workouts BUT it can make a big difference in terms of building muscle and losing fat.