How the training diary motivates us and helps us improve results in sports

Recordings sometimes make it possible to see things that we would never have noticed.
Many athletes keep a training diary. What for? It's very simple: for self-control. For very successful athletes, diaries are replaced by a whole staff of specialists who monitor the training process. And those who have not yet reached this level have to use notes.

And I must say that the level of your training does not play any role in this matter. Regardless of experience, it will be useful for any athlete to keep records in which he will take into account all the details of training.

Even for a very experienced powerlifter, it can be difficult to keep in mind all the necessary information about upcoming loads, and this problem is easily solved by a diary.

Anna Motina

World Class Coach

A training diary is a sacred scripture for any athlete. Each training program has an end goal, and the training diary helps to achieve this goal. For example, today an athlete has a leg press, we open the diary, in the past two weeks he has pressed six sets of 6-12 repetitions with a weight of 80 to 140 kg. The diary notes that the final weight is given freely, there is a reserve of strength, which means that today the athlete will try to increase the weight by 5-10 kg. In cyclical sports, the distance, speed, time and pulse of the athlete are subject to control. This data helps to build a competent workout and prepare for a marathon or triathlon.

Training diary: what does it include?

If you want to do something well, consider every detail. Check, write down every detail, work out an algorithm that will lead you to success. It's the same in sports.

The diary contains a training schedule for a week, a plan for a single workout, working weights, duration of exercises, as well as well-being after completed approaches.

Someone will say: why do you need to prescribe everything in such detail? The fact is that notes help to organize yourself, your time and effort correctly. You will only be required to record all aspects of training, which are listed above. Bored? Maybe, but the game is worth the candle.

Organization: who will benefit from a training diary?

Self–organization is a complicated thing, everyone has it to one degree or another, but not everyone has enough of it. A training diary is a great solution to this problem.

It organizes all the necessary data about classes, helps to monitor progress, and this, by the way, is very motivating. After all, even the smallest achievements are visible in the diary.

Any athlete will be pleased to see their results. This will definitely add to the desire to study further and achieve success.

How to keep a training diary?

Everything is individual here: you can lead in an authentic way, that is, write everything down in a notebook or notebook. But you will spend much more time on this than if you conduct it on electronic devices.

Now there are many applications that allow you to carefully monitor the training process.

As for the periodicity, it is better to make notes after each workout, otherwise the meaning of the diary disappears. And remember: the more detailed your records are, the easier it will be to track your progress later and make your workouts even more effective.