The Black Label Workout Log: Training Diary
Peter Drucker is often quoted as saying, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” And while the quote might have been primarily meant for the realm of business management, it also extends to many other disciplines. This is especially true for fitness, specifically in regards to recording your effort given to workout routines.
If you are not recording your effort, IMHO, you really are missing out. It could be the missing link that it is costing you dearly when it comes to achieving peak performance. Otherwise, you are just mindlessly going through the motions when you fail to record details of your workout. Without the data, you can’t possibly analyze your performance and forget about having the ability to set a meaningful course forward in regards to accomplishing your goals. Like dust in the wind, your results will be all over the place – whichever way the winds blow.
That’s where the Black Label Workout Log comes in. It brings order and accountability to your workout routines by giving you the ability to quantify your effort level. It’s like the perfect training partner, pushing you get the most out of your training sessions while providing motivation to reach your goals. Below I’ll cover what exactly what the Black Label Workout Log provides.
S.M.A.R.T Goals
For starters, there is a page to set goals. Not just any goals, but the recommended format is SMART goals. If this concept is new to you, check out my post on setting SMART goals here. There are columns to record the date started and completed. Setting specific health and fitness goals will provide clarity and targets to set your aim. Having your goals handy in your training diary makes regular review super convenient.
When you make it a habit to write down and regularly review your goals, you’ll find that this process actively engages your mind. Regular review reinforces the importance of your goals. It gets your subconscious mind involved and sets in motion powerful forces to seek out their completion. Best of all – It doesn’t take long and puts what you are trying to accomplish top of mind. A quick review before training will help you stay focused and on task during your most demanding training sessions.
Workout Log Entries
The meat and potatoes of this training log is definitely the Workout Log pages. And this delivers in spades with more than enough space to record the most important details of your workouts. First, there is enough room to record up to 6 sets for up to 10 exercises. If you are doing more than this in a single session, then my hat off to you. 🙂
There is also a section to record details on up to two cardio/HIIT routines. Wrapping it up, a Notes section provides enough space to jot down thoughts on the workout Use your notes section to record how you felt during training and set reminders. For example, maybe you need to to review your form when performing an exercise. Or maybe you crushed it, and you need to focus on increasing the difficulty in the next training session.
And best of all, there are 160 pages for you to record your workouts. If you work out 3x a week, then this book will last you an entire year (52 x 3 = 156). If you work out more frequently, like in my case 6x a week, then you’ll get six months per training log.
Personal Bests
Another feature of this fitness planner I really like is that they provide pages to record your PBs (personal bests). You capture the details of the exercise, your record, and the date achieved. What I love about this is that it allows you see your wins at a quick glance. With a scan, I can see all the progress I’ve mad, where I’m improving and if something is missing, where I need more work.
The PBs section really motivates me to give my best effort on every workout. On days where you just are not feeling it, PBs can act as a motivator to remind you why its worth following through with your commitment. On days when you feel great, you have targets to aim for to raising the bar just a little higher. The bar raise might be adding more weight, squeezing out another rep, or progressing to a more challenging exercise.
Monthly Calendar
I appreciate that the calendar pages in the workout log are blank. This allows you to start with whatever month you want. With two pages with 6 months per page, you have enough calendars to cover an entire year. I find the calendar entries are a good way to get instant feedback on exactly how much work has been put in for any given month and for longer term trends, over the course of a year.
Weekly Measurements
The weekly measurements page allows you to track important metrics to gauge progress. Measurements include weight, neck, chest, waist, hips, biceps, thighs, calves, and your body fat % – so you get all of the essentials. Use it to determine how effective your training and nutrition regimen has been to achieving your goals.I also like that the recommendation is to record these measurements weekly. IMHO, once a week is a really sound time frame. I know in today’s fast paced world, everyone is looking for results yesterday. But sometimes too much data generates a lot of extra noise. You need to find balance as it is difficult to see the forest for the trees.
For example, if you’ve ever weighed yourself multiple times during the day, you know that your body weight fluctuates. There are a lot of factors behind this. Things like how much food and drink you’ve consumed, hydration levels, activity levels and a lot of other factors that are too numerous to cover here. But my point is that if you record too often, you may wind up with more noise than actual signal. A weekly check in has always been sufficient for my needs.
Wrap Up
Overall, I’m impressed with everything the Black Label Workout Log has to offer. The quality of this log is truly top-shelf. I can tell that a lot of time and effort was put into its design and creation. It really is a great tool to keep you on track. Everything you need to succeed is included – goals, personal bests, measurements, calendars, and your workouts. The only thing you have to provide is the effort to use it.
If you are interested in upping your fitness game, check it out on Amazon or here.
