Anyone successful with not tracking workouts?
jiggyj9
Posts: 90 Member
Hi all,
I am an intermediate-advanced bodybuilder (just for myself, don't compete) and have been tracking my workouts and food for years. While I enjoy food tracking in a weird way, I feel like tracking my workouts takes the joy and natural flow out of it, having to turn back the pages to find last week's reps/sets, etc. I recently started going into the gym with a few planned movements, but not tracking my reps/sets and instead just doing what I feel, heavy or not, whatever rep range, etc. Does anyone do this and feel like it's been successful/good for them?
Thanks for the input!
I am an intermediate-advanced bodybuilder (just for myself, don't compete) and have been tracking my workouts and food for years. While I enjoy food tracking in a weird way, I feel like tracking my workouts takes the joy and natural flow out of it, having to turn back the pages to find last week's reps/sets, etc. I recently started going into the gym with a few planned movements, but not tracking my reps/sets and instead just doing what I feel, heavy or not, whatever rep range, etc. Does anyone do this and feel like it's been successful/good for them?
Thanks for the input!
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Replies
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Not tracking would work for a beginner, but I doubt that would work for intermediate-advanced. If you want to maintain, sure, but to progress, I doubt it.1
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At some point, if you're looking to increase lean mass, you need some type of objective measurement to know that you're progressively increasing the difficulty of your workout. I suppose if you're doing the same workout week to week, and are completely honest and self aware, you can just use RPE and not worry about reps, but for me it's too easy on "hard" days to go easy on myself, "Oh, that's hard enough FFS" then I look at my log and I'm doing 10% less than I was previously. That can be due to legitimate physical reasons of course, but a lot of times it's just mental, and the logs don't lie.
But then again, I'm an engineer. I need numbers. And I use an app to log so it's pretty darn easy.1 -
At some point, if you're looking to increase lean mass, you need some type of objective measurement to know that you're progressively increasing the difficulty of your workout. I suppose if you're doing the same workout week to week, and are completely honest and self aware, you can just use RPE and not worry about reps, but for me it's too easy on "hard" days to go easy on myself, "Oh, that's hard enough FFS" then I look at my log and I'm doing 10% less than I was previously. That can be due to legitimate physical reasons of course, but a lot of times it's just mental, and the logs don't lie.
But then again, I'm an engineer. I need numbers. And I use an app to log so it's pretty darn easy.
Thanks for your insights! Which app do you use?
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The fitnotes app is very customizable. I've used it for years and makes tracking workouts super easy.0
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Happyness4me2 wrote: »The fitnotes app is very customizable. I've used it for years and makes tracking workouts super easy.
I’ll have to look into that one. I use the free version of the Strong app, and it works well enough.2 -
I think maybe for a short time just to fall in love with the process again “winging it” might work to take the “stress” out of it . If you want to progress though…it’s inevitable to return to tracking. I use fitlist and that way I can quickly save my workouts and ensure I’m applying progressive overload. I’ve wasted too much time in the gym (I don’t compete either) by “winging it”…tracking has got me to where I am today and after five years of lifting I finally feel like my body reflects that work.2
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I track my workouts, but it’s more for having a plan going in than noting what I’ve done each workout. I do it all on a free app, so it’s easy to track during each workout or adjust workouts ahead of time.1
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Oh ya! I’ve had great success not wasting time tracking my workouts the 12 years I’ve been doing it! With diet Ive kept track of calories and macros in the past but I always did that for so long and then eventually quite doing it. As of now i don’t track what so ever and can still achieve any goal I set out for.2
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50 years of training and I never tracked a workout. If you remember your weight and reps and sets you’re ok. Plus some days your stronger and some days you’re weaker so you need to learn to be flexible with your training.4
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tomcustombuilder wrote: »50 years of training and I never tracked a workout. If you remember your weight and reps and sets you’re ok. Plus some days your stronger and some days you’re weaker so you need to learn to be flexible with your training.
Ya exactly buddy here is right!
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Depends on your goals and timeline. You don't ever have to track your workouts unless your looking for a sustainable logical path to a specific goal, otherwise just lift weights and don't worry about it, imo. Cheers1
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Setgraph tells you the latest weight you did with each exercise. Very useful0
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Keeping track is a must, especially for intermediate lifters as you claim to be. Part of the beginner process is finding an easy way to keep track of weekly progress.
Hey I’m gonna rebuild the engine today, ain’t really keel track of what I’m doing, just gonna wing it and work on the parts that I FEEL needs to be done. Next week, now where did I leave off again? Oh well I’ll just start on a different area of the engine that FEELS right.
Catch my drift? You have to give your body a response to recover from. But if you’re happy with your physique and simply want to maintain. Have at it, as the other 90% of gym bros do1 -
Btw what you’re experiencing is a want of auto regulation. Which is great, but you still have to keep track of the parts you are working on any given day.1
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its personal preference whether to log or not. You can progress fine without it. People that are in there lifting and are purposely being conscious of their sets, reps, and weights generally will remember from session to session without logging and if there is progress over time.I_AM_ISRAEL wrote: »Keeping track is a must, especially for intermediate lifters as you claim to be. Part of the beginner process is finding an easy way to keep track of weekly progress.
Hey I’m gonna rebuild the engine today, ain’t really keel track of what I’m doing, just gonna wing it and work on the parts that I FEEL needs to be done. Next week, now where did I leave off again? Oh well I’ll just start on a different area of the engine that FEELS right.
Catch my drift? You have to give your body a response to recover from. But if you’re happy with your physique and simply want to maintain. Have at it, as the other 90% of gym bros do
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@tomcustombuilder
You must not people watch at the gym as much as I do. Most in the gym have no idea what’s going on 😂0 -
I don’t really watch others at the gym, we’ll there is this one woman…..I_AM_ISRAEL wrote: »@tomcustombuilder
You must not people watch at the gym as much as I do. Most in the gym have no idea what’s going on 😂
Seriously though what other people do or don’t do doesn’t interest me.
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I_AM_ISRAEL wrote: »@tomcustombuilder
You must not people watch at the gym as much as I do. Most in the gym have no idea what’s going on 😂
They could easily be thinking the same thing about you. Most people just aren't rude enough to say it. That being said, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Just because some people work out *differently* from you doesn't mean they're wrong. I've seen more than one post on here from people who bulk and cut who post saying "I've been bulking now for 2 years, trying to cut but just can't stop bulking... I've gained 45 pounds. Help! What do I do!!!!!". This is a big part of the reason there is now pushback against the bulk/cut style. Bulking is fun. Cutting sucks. So a number of people just never quite get to the cutting part. Full disclosure: I don't bulk and cut.2 -
Right now I'm purposely trying to build muscle @ 70 yrs old so for me it's important that I have a plan, it helps me use the energy I have over the course more targeted, and I get a better bang for the buck at the end of the day. I do go through periods of not recording lifts and I have to admit it's probably those times where I was just maintaining a routine in the general sense, but anytime I wanted more, it always came time to be more clinical and record my nutrition and weight routine so I could measure progress. cheers.2
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the bulk/cut process can be misleading as most people have the idea that you have to pack on a bunch of weight then spend months cutting the fat when in reality when it’s done correctly there is a very small surplus and if the waist grows more than an inch or so, a short dieting down period takes place and then the surplus resumes. The tighter you get your diet down, the longer you go before you have to diet down.sollyn23l2 wrote: »I_AM_ISRAEL wrote: »@tomcustombuilder
You must not people watch at the gym as much as I do. Most in the gym have no idea what’s going on 😂
They could easily be thinking the same thing about you. Most people just aren't rude enough to say it. That being said, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Just because some people work out *differently* from you doesn't mean they're wrong. I've seen more than one post on here from people who bulk and cut who post saying "I've been bulking now for 2 years, trying to cut but just can't stop bulking... I've gained 45 pounds. Help! What do I do!!!!!". This is a big part of the reason there is now pushback against the bulk/cut style. Bulking is fun. Cutting sucks. So a number of people just never quite get to the cutting part. Full disclosure: I don't bulk and cut.
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tomcustombuilder wrote: »
the bulk/cut process can be misleading as most people have the idea that you have to pack on a bunch of weight then spend months cutting the fat when in reality when it’s done correctly there is a very small surplus and if the waist grows more than an inch or so, a short dieting down period takes place and then the surplus resumes. The tighter you get your diet down, the longer you go before you have to diet down.sollyn23l2 wrote: »I_AM_ISRAEL wrote: »@tomcustombuilder
You must not people watch at the gym as much as I do. Most in the gym have no idea what’s going on 😂
They could easily be thinking the same thing about you. Most people just aren't rude enough to say it. That being said, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Just because some people work out *differently* from you doesn't mean they're wrong. I've seen more than one post on here from people who bulk and cut who post saying "I've been bulking now for 2 years, trying to cut but just can't stop bulking... I've gained 45 pounds. Help! What do I do!!!!!". This is a big part of the reason there is now pushback against the bulk/cut style. Bulking is fun. Cutting sucks. So a number of people just never quite get to the cutting part. Full disclosure: I don't bulk and cut.
Yep, exactly.1 -
I bulk and cut all day. Most optimal way to build muscle. As the previous poster mentioned. Most are ignorant to the fact that a true “bulk” means, gaining something like .5lbs-1lbs of BW per week over the span of 8-12 weeks.
But hey, to each their own0 -
trueI_AM_ISRAEL wrote: »I bulk and cut all day. Most optimal way to build muscle. As the previous poster mentioned. Most are ignorant to the fact that a true “bulk” means, gaining something like .5lbs-1lbs of BW per week over the span of 8-12 weeks.
But hey, to each their own
a “bulking diet” is really just your normal maintenance diet with an added protein shake or something similar, provided your maintenance diet is on the healthier side.
There is no reason to re invent the wheel just like when “cutting” you just eliminate some of what you normally eat rather than going on some new ultra “clean” diet plan.
It’s all very simple, really.
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it really depends on one’s goals. If you want to become strong AF. Then you’ll be eating more than “a shake a day”.
More like, 2-3 cheeseburgers extra a day.
Now if your goal is to remain super shredded because of body dysmorphia while bulking? Then eat an extra apple or shake a day for the rest of your life to sloooooowly gain muscle mass.
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I_AM_ISRAEL wrote: »it really depends on one’s goals. If you want to become strong AF. Then you’ll be eating more than “a shake a day”.
More like, 2-3 cheeseburgers extra a day.
Now if your goal is to remain super shredded because of body dysmorphia while bulking? Then eat an extra apple or shake a day for the rest of your life to sloooooowly gain muscle mass.
Lol, body dysmorphia you mean keeping fat gain under control? Strong AF to look like a powerlifter which usually ends up as a fat guy with traps? Unless you're super lean that's what an extra 2-3 cheeseburgers will get you unless you’re “enhanced” then you’re going into a whole other set of rules.
The majority of guys at the gym in good shape are usually in the 12-14% bf range and really aren’t interested in getting much higher.1 -
Lol bruh don’t lie to yourself. Everyone who gets shredded is afraid to get fat again 😂1
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Lol bruh, nobody wants to get fat. There is no reason to bruh….I_AM_ISRAEL wrote: »Lol bruh don’t lie to yourself. Everyone who gets shredded is afraid to get fat again 😂
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pandoragreen21 wrote: »I think maybe for a short time just to fall in love with the process again “winging it” might work to take the “stress” out of it . If you want to progress though…it’s inevitable to return to tracking. I use fitlist and that way I can quickly save my workouts and ensure I’m applying progressive overload. I’ve wasted too much time in the gym (I don’t compete either) by “winging it”…tracking has got me to where I am today and after five years of lifting I finally feel like my body reflects that work.
This is pretty much exactly how I'm feeling now. I've gone a few weeks without tracking and have enjoyed the natural flow, but now I'm starting to feel like a chicken with its head cut off, and it's increasingly difficult to remember past performance. I need to try one of these apps!
I also appreciate the other points of view. There is certainly no one-size-fits-all box.
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Try the Fitbod app for tracking! The exercise library is a fair size and it’s much easier than a notebook in terms of seeing your workout history
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I’m not as pro as these guys. I do weights for my own personal satisfaction, and don’t record it as any kind of calorie burn.
I simply set a weight training placeholder in my exercise diary so I know when I’ve done it:
And I keep simple notes for my own use to refer back to, using the “exercise notes” function at the bottom of the screen:
This particular day I was determined to work on squats and very little else. I have no spotters (my gym’s clientele tends towards grey headed possums and most of those are doing dumbbells and machines) , so I’ve got my own system to stay safe. I also have no intentions of blowing out my knees at this age.
It’s fast, easy to enter, simple, and a good reference point if I need to go back. But then again, I kinda already know when I’ve increased weight.
On training days, my trainer does the whole chart and notepad thing.
My question, however, is….and TIA to you knowledgeable folks….if the goal is to keep increasing weights, at some point you’re going to max out, right? How do you know when you have, and where do you go from there? What would do you do differently?0
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