How do you keep track of everything?

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LolaKarwowski
LolaKarwowski Posts: 217 Member
edited July 2015 in Fitness and Exercise
How do you keep track of all the different exercises, reps, sets, weights, etc.? I tried using a journal and it's so annoying. Is there an awesome app I don't know about?

This question is for those who need to use extra tools to remember stuff.

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  • colors_fade
    colors_fade Posts: 464 Member
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    I don't and am unaware of any awesome app that does it. The folks at my gym who I see with complicated routines, they all have the same thing: pad and paper, and everything is written down.


    For me: in MFP, I just log the minutes I spent lifting and MFP converts that to calories (rough estimate; good enough for me).

    I don't record all the sets/reps. My PR's are my benchmarks, and lifting 3x per week, being consistent, I know if I'm making progress.

    I've been doing it for two years though and I have a pretty good memory.

    I'd just recommend the old pen and paper route.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    The most versatile general-purpose online exercise log that I have found is TrainingPeaks (http://www.trainingpeaks.com).
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    A pen and a notebook.
  • Josalinn
    Josalinn Posts: 1,066 Member
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    You could try Weighttraining.com's app. It's free. I really like this paper log though.
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
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    I track it all on MFP. You just go to add exercise, but instead of selecting "cardio" you select "strength training." You can use exercises already in the database or add your own if what you're doing isn't in there. Since it's all in one place, I don't need to have a notebook with me if I need to figure out how much weight I lifted last week.

    My husband created his own spreadsheet (read: I created a spreadsheet for my husband) that he prints off and writes everything on...and then leaves all over our garage gym for me to pick up. Men! :smile:
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited July 2015
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    Fitnotes is a nice app that is free and easy to use.

    I use a notebook because I like to write notes and draw arrows and scribble in the margins.

    I also log on bodyspace because I like the graphs and the ridiculous weekly email congratulating me on my exercise efforts.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
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    LolaKarwowski wrote: »
    How do you keep track of all the different exercises, reps, sets, weights, etc.? I tried using a journal and it's so annoying. Is there an awesome app I don't know about?

    This question is for those who need to use extra tools to remember stuff.

    Honestly, I used to try to hard to track large sets of lots of different exercises, thinking that is how you improve. Anymore though, a workout only consists of 3 -5 exercise, so sets/rep tracking isn't hard. I don't find a need for isolation.

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    I use Jefit.
  • slaite1
    slaite1 Posts: 1,307 Member
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    I use MFP-I've created a lot of my own exercises. Much like logging food-it gets faster and easier the more you do it. Takes me 10 seconds to log each exercise while I rest between sets. Plus I like easily being able to look back and compare my exercise to calories to weight lost all in one spot.
  • CarlydogsMom
    CarlydogsMom Posts: 645 Member
    edited July 2015
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    I have my Galaxy Note phone and use the stylus for writing my notes. Then you can convert to PDF, or transcribe into Excel (which I do, I love data), or really, what I mostly do is refer to the previous session on my Note to determine my current sessions weights/lifts when I'm at the gym.

    At home with a glass of wine or while in TV-watching mode, I'll use Excel for all that info. I have separate columns for every set (reps per set), every weight per set, then I calculate the total amount of weight lifted (reps x weight per rep), then divide THAT by total number of reps, to get an average weight per rep. I can see if my average weight per rep is trending up or down. I know there is a lot of possible wiggle room (fewer sets that particular day, other outliers) on that, but it's fun to see my average weight per rep trend upwards over time.

    I add notes on how I was feeling that day, etc. I can see that I probably won't do all this for too long...but it's kinda fun to track for now.

    I have the app Jefit, too, but it's not as user-friendly as I thought it would be.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
    edited July 2015
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    personally, I don't think you can really beat an old fashioned note book...I see people fiddling around with phone apps and whatnot and it seems like it takes way more time than just writing down how much weight you just lifted for which lift.

    I work pretty consistently in the same rep ranges on all my lifts so it's really not all that necessary for me to write things down these days...I usually only note anything when I move up in weight on a particular lift.

    My Oly stuff is generally 3x5, accessory work like squat variations, bench variations, press variations and rows are generally 3x8-10 and my isolation type movements are generally 10-12.
  • DaddieCat
    DaddieCat Posts: 3,643 Member
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    bodybuilding.com has an app. Fitocracy has an app... to add to the few mentioned already.
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
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    Pen and paper. Anything I'm working at a defined percentage I just check off sets as I do them, same with most accessories. Only write down weights when I'm not quite hitting a percentage for whatever reason or if I miss reps. Or accidentally turn a couple singles into a double or things like that. It's very satisfying to see the success pile up as training cycles progress.
  • kali31337
    kali31337 Posts: 1,048 Member
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    LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »
    I track it all on MFP. You just go to add exercise, but instead of selecting "cardio" you select "strength training." You can use exercises already in the database or add your own if what you're doing isn't in there. Since it's all in one place, I don't need to have a notebook with me if I need to figure out how much weight I lifted last week.

    This. Since I already have my phone with me, I just use it as a quick rest between weights. Plus I can see what the weight was the last time I did the exercise. Very helpful
  • Danixkm
    Danixkm Posts: 114 Member
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    I like fitocracy since it seems easier to keep track of reps, sets and weights etc
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    fitocracy is great, but in the gym, there is nothing better, nothing that tells people there that you are serious, than an old school composition notebook and a pen.

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