by Brian Cannone
Anyone who works in fitness modeling, bodybuilding shows, or as a personal trainer has one thing that they do every single day…they journal. This is not the type of journal that you might think…there is not usually a lot of personal angst, poetry, or random complaining in this type of journal. Instead, you would find things like lists of exercises, times, dates, measurements of all kinds, and much more.
So, if you are someone involved in bodybuilding or fitness modeling you might wonder if you too should be keeping a workout or food journal and the answer is a great big YES!
Why the emphasis? Someone who constantly works on their body has to know what they are doing in order to understand if something has gone off track. For example, would you be able to know right away if your waistline expanded by an inch or so? After a long time doing workouts, you may not even remember how your body looks or feels after a specific set of exercises or what the results tended to be, but a journal is going to be a very easy way to see that something is “off”.
Also, if you have just gotten started in the world of fitness modeling or bodybuilding shows, you may not realize the incredible value of goals. While you can write something as bold as “I will win the 2013 competition” you will find that you are more likely to succeed if you keep your journal entries to attainable goals with deadlines.
For instance, “I will do 50 reps of exercise XYZ within the next 40 days” is a great goal because it lets you have a deadline, keep track of your progress, and understand which routines bring you closer to the goal
We also suggest that you create and keep a food and sleep journal too. This is a good way to understand if your diet is not as good as you think, if the foods that you choose are working against your goals, and if you are not getting an adequate amount of rest. Remember that food and sleep are major components of the serious fitness regimen and when you skip out on one portion of the routine (meaning that you don’t eat enough or sleep enough) it is always going to show up on your workouts and your body.
Journals keep you “honest” and on track and almost any fitness expert seriously advocates them.
