Good post, but I think there is too much emphasis in general on tracking and logging workouts.
I find the whole tracking and logging weights, reps and feelings while working out to be daunting and pointless. Maybe it's because I am not a "I'm going to start working out and dieting" type person, rather I just live a healthy lifestyle by design. I don't "diet", I just try to eat healthy in general. I don't have a "work out routine", I just try to be physical every day. It makes the whole exercise process more a part of my natural life, rather than something I have to schedule.
I enjoy going to the gym and getting a good workout, doing whatever I feel like at the moment. The important part to me is working up a sweat and getting my heart pumping, not how many reps with a certain weight I did. I can see if you have a goal of weight loss or increasing your strength to a certain level that can be measured by numbers, but if you are aiming for general health, why do you need to keep a detailed log? Just try to exercise everyday, regardless of what that includes.
If you do keep a detailed log of your workouts, what kind of actionable data does that information provide you? Do you refer back to it daily, weekly, monthly and try to optimize your workouts based on your previous history? If so, how?
People that keeps logs tend to be those that want to focus on increasing the difficulty of their workout over time - progress in how much weight you can lift in a certain exercise, etc.
It's no surprise that if progression is not your goal then logging is not for you.
It's not necessary to keep a log to focus on increasing the difficulty of workout. Over a period of time your body gets used to a certain weight and at that time you'll feel that it's too easy to lift that certain weight. You then increase the weight.
I train with weights, and I they certainly do not weigh the same on different days. Some days are better than others, a log helps keep me on track.
Of course that's me. It might work for you though. In my coaching experience I find, that most people are not objective enough (or have a good enough memory) to work like that.
Tracking calories on paper vs in your head is a similar objective/subjective mess for most people. The mind is very good at deceiving itself.
I train with weights as well, but I do a whole body routine regularly. It's not very hard to remember the weights (at least the ballpark). I think if you do isolated exercises it'll be harder to remember the weights and a log will certainly help.
Well, a log is the easiest way to remind yourself what you weight you lifted a few days ago, if you are having trouble remembering. But no, it's not required.
Tracking your workouts is important for debugging later - if you're not getting the results you want, how can you figure out the issue if you don't know what you've been doing?
If your goal is "general health" and you're doing okay, you're lucky (or you should set harder / more specific goals!) But as an example, I thought I was eating well, but when I started tracking my calories for a few months, I realized I had underestimated my daily calorie intake by about 400 calories, and I was still eating way too many carbs for what I considered to be a "low-carb" diet.
I'm also on Fitocracy (was using spreadsheets before) to track weightlifting - tracking is a necessity for lifting IMO.
It took me about half a year of lifting to get where I wanted to be, and tracking was instrumental in achieving that. But now it's all just maintenance, so why should I track? Some people approach it like a sport (that you want to continue to get better at) and some approach it like exercise (to maintain a level of fitness) – both seem perfectly fine to me.
I am not familiar with Fitocracy but it seems to be getting much love here. Part of my dislike for tracking and measuring fitness might come from my experience with cumbersome apps that make the process a pain. I used Fitness Buddy for a period, and found it way to complicated and in-depth to make tracking how much weight I lifted and the reps quickly between exercises. I'll give Fitocracy a shot, and see if I change my mind.
As a side note, I do like tracking how much I walk, but not for debugging, but for motivation. I'd like to hit a 100 miles before the end of the year just by walking at lunch, but for no other reason that personal pride I guess.
While much of the discussion here is focused on tracking activity, I want to mention that we at Fitocracy consider tracking secondary to the social experience the app and site provide. We believe that the key to long term success isn't about numbers on a screen but rather, making fitness a part of your identity and every day life through spending time with people and communities just like you. I highly recommend you check out the social aspects of the experience if you download the app :)
I just carry a small notebook with me to the gym. I note the reps and weight, and any subjective notes about what worked, what didn't, and what to aim for next time.
Takes a few seconds to fill out in between reps.
I'm sure there are useful, simple apps, but you don't need an app to track.
As others mentioned, tracking lets you make sure you're increasing your lifts. I never progressed consistently until I started tracking, and slightly increasing each time.
I use the Fitocracy iPhone app to keep track of the weight and number of reps for each exercise. It helps me push myself to get better. For example, if I deadlifted 300lbs for 5 reps last week, then this week I shoot for 305 x 5. I find that this type of tracking is the only reliable way to make progress. Plus, it's great motivation.
This is an interesting example of the positive effects peer pressure can have. In high-school a friend and I decided to hit the weight room every morning before school. He was on the football team, and I'd joined the wrestling team (with no prior experience). He was more dedicated than I, and would roust me from bed every morning. When I told him I wasn't up for it one morning, he threatened to start ringing the doorbell which would wake my parents, something I didn't really care to have pinned on me. It worked, and I was more consistent because of him. Moral of the story: Find a workout buddy.
Why the snark? They're just providing another piece of data in an open discussion that may encourage more people to try the app. What's wrong with that?
If your argument is that the comment didn't add much to the discussion, I'd reply that yours added even less.
I find that by logging workouts and measuring progress, I am much more likely to improve and know by how much I improved. Logging workouts can also save time. By logging my workouts, I know exactly what my target goals are for my next workout, so I can get in and get it over with instead of wasting time doing what "feels right" at the time. This works great for me, but YMMV.
Which is really an example of gamification. Indeed, the "chain" can be seen as a progress bar that you get to fill each day you work at something. Really cool.
I use Fitocracy mainly to track my running, but also for some other workouts here and there. I just like having the historical data of how far and how fast I'm going each run (in fact I wrote a simple API to get at my run info out of Fitocracy: https://github.com/dorkrawk/unofficial-fitocracy-runs-api ). When I'm training for a race I have an idea of what I need to be doing each week so it's nice to have that data in one place. I also appreciate seeing what my friends are doing because it acts as a motivator for me to not slack off.
I see some people who don't care about these thing in the gym. Usually they just wander around without any kind of system and spend most of the time chatting. I guess they still feel like they accomplished something.
I however believe that if you don't measure your progress you are likely to have none.
I don't log anything, and I also don't wander around chatting. I show up, push myself hard, and then leave. But the types of workouts I do are guided, for example I did taekwondo for four years, and recently switched to doing "boot camp" workouts. I find it is much easier to exercise when an instructor is telling me what to do than if I just show up to a gym full of equipment and then have to motivate myself to do something with it. If your workouts are self guided then it makes sense to log what you are doing so you can keep yourself on track.
I see these types of people as well, and this is probably true for most people. I guess I just don't need goals when it comes to fitness to stay motivated or make progress.
If you do keep a detailed log of your workouts, what kind of actionable data does that information provide you? Do you refer back to it daily, weekly, monthly and try to optimize your workouts based on your previous history? If so, how?
I am naturally a competitive person. While lifting weights isn't necessarily 'competitive'. I have found that by tracking it I make a competitive with myself. I always want to do better than the last time. While I might not always lift more sometimes you win some sometimes you lose some against yourself.
I find the whole tracking and logging weights, reps and feelings while working out to be daunting and pointless. Maybe it's because I am not a "I'm going to start working out and dieting" type person, rather I just live a healthy lifestyle by design. I don't "diet", I just try to eat healthy in general. I don't have a "work out routine", I just try to be physical every day. It makes the whole exercise process more a part of my natural life, rather than something I have to schedule.
I enjoy going to the gym and getting a good workout, doing whatever I feel like at the moment. The important part to me is working up a sweat and getting my heart pumping, not how many reps with a certain weight I did. I can see if you have a goal of weight loss or increasing your strength to a certain level that can be measured by numbers, but if you are aiming for general health, why do you need to keep a detailed log? Just try to exercise everyday, regardless of what that includes.
If you do keep a detailed log of your workouts, what kind of actionable data does that information provide you? Do you refer back to it daily, weekly, monthly and try to optimize your workouts based on your previous history? If so, how?