OK.
I wasn’t going to go straight to the gutter this week but I have to.
Some things in life boggle my mind.
Yes I know this is a training/coaching log but I am just disgusted.
I was in the men’s room a few minutes ago and as I was washing my hands I saw a guy come out of the poop stall and totally bypass the sink.
I know he wasn’t changing in there. He was making his business and did not wash his hands.
Really?
Did we learn nothing form the Dark Ages?
Does he no care about pink eye?
The worst thing is this kid walks around like his “s” does not stink.
Well, it does.
And now I know that his hands do too.
Simply disgusting.
Arighty then, I am done venting.
Let’s talk about training.
Me and my crew are on a deload this week and we needed it.
We’ve been working pretty hard and since we have no A/C here at TPS it’s been pretty hot. Temps in the weight room at TPS have been well over 100 for the past week.
Temps in Boston have been in the high 90’s with Rainforest-like humidity levels. Training in this type of environment when you are not acclimated takes a toll on you.
It must have taken its toll on us as we are all felling a little off this week.
That’s where my tips for this week come in.
Do you keep a training journal?
If not why?
Keeping a journal is a huge benefit to you in the long term.
Your journal will have all kinds of valuable information for you to look back on as you get a few years or decades under your belt. You can look it over and see what types of results you got form what type of program. You’ll see what produced results and what didn’t.
So what do you keep in your training journal?
Let’s go over this.
You keep as much or as little as you like.
Personally I like to keep a lot of info.
The Basics:
At the minimum you should keep track of your main exercises and what you did for sets and reps. You can also track assistance and accessory work and sets/reps for that.
Warmup, prehab/rehab and any mobility work you do is also a good idea.
I also like to track things like body weight and temperature and humidity, injuries, whether you slept well, had any extra external stressors, if you got hammered the night before and any other details that could positively or negatively affect your performance.
As an example, fat guys do not usually do well in the heat and high humidity. I tend to run out of steam earlier when it is Africa hot. I don’t let this creep in my head to sabotage my session but I like to know why things went the way they did and for me this is a big one. Some days it is not so bad and some days it kills me.
You skinny guys and girls probably don’t have this issue.
The point is that each person has things that affect them differently and tracking these can go a long way to understanding why you had success or a bad day when you look back and review.
I know I have had some of my best days in the fall and winter.
So, here is what I suggest you keep in your journal:
Start off with body weight especially if you compete and use gear. Your weight will affect how well the gear fits and also makes a difference on your lifts for the most part.
If you do the same type of warmup every day, no need to track it all the time, just make note of it and if you change it, record it.
Next, list any injuries and how severe they are from day to day. Also add in any special exercises or corrective exercises that you did to help warm up or improve the injury.
As an example, I’ve been doing a lot of banded distractions for my hip the past few months and also working on improving flexibility/mobility in my hips. I list the work I have been doing.
Then we move on to the exercises. List the name and what bar you used. For example, if you squatted and used a Yoke Bar, be sure and write down Yoke Bar squats, and not just regular squats. Notice I didn’t say back squats?
That’s dumb.
They are just squats.
I like to track sets and weights including warm ups. I also record when
I added gear and what type if I am using gear.
Here is an example.
Bar x 5 x 2 (stiff and hard to move)
135 x 5 x 1
185 x 5 x 1 (getting looser)
225 x 3 x 1
275 x 1 x 1 (felt good)
Added Metal Ace Briefs
315x 1 x 1 (hard to get depth)
365 x 1 x 1
405 x 1 x 1 (got good depth and speed)
455x 1 x 1
Added Metal Jack Squat Suit
495 x 1 x 1 (straps loose)
And so on.
Make notes as above on how it felt. This will also help you later.
After that, record the name of the assistance/accessory work and record sets and reps.
At the end of the session, make a note of how you feel and if it was a great day, an average day or whatever.
If you don’t keep a journal, start now.
What gets measured gets managed and this is the difference between training and just working out.
Good luck and I hope this helps.
Also, wash your damn hands.
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