How to Set up a Training Journal in a Paper Notebook

In this digital-first era, there are plenty of apps and devices that promise to faithfully track your progress in the gym, or your running mileage, or any other type of exercise you do. But even as I bounce between them, I always keep my real training journal on paper. You know, in a notebook. With a pen. And maybe you should, too.

Why keep a training journal on paper? 

First, it’s not just me. Venerable publication The Onion documented the subculture I am part of in their landmark investigative piece, Guy at Gym Has Precious Little Diary to Keep Track of All His Exercises. I’ve noticed elite athletes doing this as well: Olympian Mattie Rogers wrote on Instagram that “really, if you’re not writing down your workouts, how you feel, what you feel, what changes you made that day, what’s hurting, good things, bad things, etc., you are missing an important link in your training in my opinion.” The post is an older one, but I’ve seen her using paper journals in more recent posts, as well. She has very nice handwriting.

Another Olympian, gold medal rower Brad Alan Lewis, wrote his memoir Assault on Lake Casitas based in part on his training journals from that time. During one chapter, when he was feeling particularly disconnected from his training, he wrote that he didn’t keep training journals at all. It was a telling detail in the emotional arc of the story, as he turned over the reins of his training to a coach he didn’t actually trust. Eventually he quit working with that coach, stole a boat, teamed up with a player who had been cut from the same team, and returned for an underdog victory at the Olympic Trials. It’s a good story and a damn good book. But I digress.

I keep my training journals on paper because a paper book is mine. I cannot forget my password to it. It will not disappear from the cloud when the company that makes it goes bust. I will not think back to a year I set a personal record and wonder whether I was tracking my runs in Runkeeper or Runtastic, and whether I logged my strength training in Fitnotes or in Hevy. I have all my training journals right here on my shelf.

I also go with paper because I’m not limited to what an app designer decided I should track. I can scribble notes on which cues I was thinking about during a lift (“BIG ELBOWS”), stick in charts of percentages or kilogram/pound conversions, or write down which workouts I did at the gym or at home. I can underline the lifts that moved well, and put a squiggle under the ones that I just barely managed to finish. I find all of this incredibly useful when looking back, whether that’s a week later, or a year later. 

How to start your training journal on paper

First, you need a notebook. The best notebook for a training journal is something hardback or stitched, because spiral bindings tend to get beat-up when you toss them in a gym bag. You can be fancy with a nice hardback like a Leuchtturm, or go with the knockoff version—my favorite is a Michaels store brand that goes for around $8, but here’s one from Amazon for $4. Or get a composition notebook; those are two or three bucks and there’s no spiral binding to worry about. Or, you know, go to your local craft store or stationary aisle and pick out something that you’ll actually enjoy using. 

Or go with a journal that is pre-printed with sheets that will help organize your workout. This one has a line for each exercise you do, with areas at the top and bottom of the page to track your water intake, supplements, bodyweight, macros, and more. Here’s a similar journal with a slightly different layout.  

Are you a runner? This journal lays out a week’s worth of runs on one page, with areas to note location, weather, and whether you’re experiencing any aches or pains for each. Or try this one, which gives each run its own page and has plenty of areas for different aspects you might want to keep notes on.

How to track your workouts in your training journal

What you decide to track is up to you, but consider making a place for any or all of these bits of information: 

• Time of day

• How long the workout took

• The strength exercises you did, with the reps, sets, and weight for each

• How the exercises felt—did something hurt? Did you feel particularly good at a skill today?

• How long you rested between sets

• Which muscle groups you worked that day

• For running or cardio, did you do intervals? Was there a specific workout protocol you were following?

• How intense the workout was, overall

• How the workout felt, overall—was it a good day, a bad day, or an average day? 

• Other factors that may have been affecting your workout that day (especially if you’d like to find patterns in those good and bad days). Did you eat before the gym? Was it a stressful day at work?

• Did you work out with a friend, trainer, or coach? If so, who?

• What was the goal of the workout? Did you feel like you met that goal?

Credit: Beth Skwarecki

What to track in your training journal aside from workouts

As long as you’re keeping this journal, you may want to track other aspects of your health or fitness as well. Some people like to track: 

• Steps taken each day

• How much water you drank

• Your calories and macros

• Your weight

• Your mood

• Quotes, tips, or reminders of the energy you want to bring to your workouts or your life

• Ideas for future workouts or goals

• Big-picture timelines, like how long until that marathon you have planned for next year

And don’t forget to use your journal to reflect on your progress and note the results of competitions! If you run a race, write down how it went and what, if anything, you’d do differently next time. If you hit a goal in the gym, write down how you warmed up for it, and what you did afterward to celebrate.