With the exception of those who are highly motivated and disciplined, most people have difficulty achieving fitness goals when they workout by themselves. The missing link in this success equation is usually accountability. The addition of a training partner, journal or support group can make all the difference between Fab and Flab. There is something motivating about seeing on paper the food atrocities we’ve consumed or knowing someone is waiting for us at the gym.
Accountability enables us to go for it as a “team” effort, even if the team is me, myself and I. Whether it’s a training partner with similar goals or a piece of paper-go for it. I usually recommend beginners as well as veterans to the fitness game go to www.askrocco.com and get a Free Food Journal, which allows them to write down everything they have consumed including water intake and record the type of exercise performed.
Many trainers and exercise enthusiasts use specific workout journals that record every rep, set and exercise in their workout. I personally don’t think this practice very prudent since it takes time away from the workout. If you want the workout to be intense enough to bring about change you need to rest very little between sets. These journals are better left to bodybuilders, power lifters and athletes who really need to record small incremental improvements.
Almost every time you begin a training program especially with weights, there are large jumps in the amount of weight you can handle. I dislike rep, set and weight journals because the progress in the beginning weeks is often skewed and full of false hope. These leaps in poundage are not a result of significant strength gains but the ability to become more efficient at doing that specific movement. You are actually becoming more skilled at the exercise and adapting to that change in your environment. This is no way to understand real improvement. Consider this adaptive period as kind of a honeymoon to real progress and after the honeymoon comes real work.
So whether your sources of accountability comes in human form or through pen and ink remember an effective source to bring about significant change in your body through exercise is to adjust your ATTITUDE and be ACCOUNTABLE