The importance of tracking your workout results every day

Yo guys, this is something we constantly talk about in class, but I just wanted to make a post about it letting you know why we tell you to record your results, the benefits of it, and how it helps you improve your fitness. The SugarWOD results board is not just there to see who did the workout the fastest or who lifted the most weight (although a bit of friendly competition is always fun) it is there more specifically, to track your progress.

The benefits of tracking your results each day:

It helps you learn about yourself as an athlete, what you need to work on, what your strengths are etc.

When you train multiple times a week, it can get hard to remember what you did every day in regards to weights used and scaling options chosen. If you track it all, there’s no guessing, you can go back and check.

It will help you get more out of the RPE system, making sure you are using the correct weights for each movement and each RPE, if you get it wrong one day, and you make sure to write that down, then next time it comes up, you know you will get it right.

It helps you show that you are constantly improving over time, sometimes it can get hard to see the progress you are making, especially if you have no data to look back on.

What we do in class is constantly changing and varied, but there will be similarities in workouts and strength pieces, so you can use previous data to help you decide what to do to get the most out of your session.

Don’t forget to not only post your score, but also use that opportunity to add notes about how it went, such as:

• What weight you used or what scaling options you chose.
• How you felt during and after.
• If you think you nailed the RPE for the day or not.
• Your strategy for the workout and whether or not it worked.
• How you were feeling on the day before training.
• Did I get a good night's sleep, did I eat enough food before coming to the gym.
• Any movements that you think you need to work on.

All of this is valuable information that you can use to learn about yourself as an athlete and how you perform, and as you learn more, you can more effectively attack workouts and target weaknesses, so that you can get the most out of every single training session. (how to personalise workouts that better target your weaknesses is a post for another day)

Also quick note, don’t forget to use that fist bump and comment function on SugarWOD for everyone, a tap of a button and a few words of encouragement (or a GIF) can go a long way!