Tracking your workouts is important. It probably seems like an unnecessary chore; however, when you track your workouts you are gathering data that you can use. As you look back at your data, you’ll be able to evaluate your workouts. You can see areas where you’ve made great improvements and areas where you need to modify or change your workout approach. Tracking your workouts is also a source of motivation and can help you identify when you’ve reached your goals.

What do you track?

When you’re tracking your workouts there are many different pieces of data that you can track. What you track depends on several factors. It’s often useful to track everything, because sometimes the data can be surprisingly useful. First, let’s look at what you can track and why, and then we’ll explore the how.

Distance – How far did you run, bike, walk, or roller skate? You might track this information if you’re working up to a distance. For example, if you’d like to be able to run a marathon, then you’ll track your distance to gain motivation and information as you gradually increase it.

Pace – Pace means that you’re tracking your speed over distance. For example, you might run a ten-minute mile now and your goal might be to run an eight-minute mile. So you’ll track how your pace improves as you get into better shape. You can track this for running, walking, bicycling, and anything else that can be tracked over a distance. Indoor fitness machines work for both distance and pace as well.

Reps – If you’re doing strength training then you can track reps. You can also track reps for time. For example, you might be able to do five push-ups in a minute now and a month from now you might be able to do ten. Tracking this gives you information and motivation, especially since strength increases aren't as noticeable as distance or pace.

Heart Rate – If you’re training for something or you want to keep your heart rate in a certain zone, then you’ll track your heart rate along with the type of workout that you’re performing. 

Calories – If you’re strictly looking for weight-loss results, then tracking calories can be useful. You can compare calories burned with calories consumed and predict your weight loss. If your prediction is off, then you have information to help you resolve the discrepancy and figure out why. Remember, though, this isn't an exact science, so don't perseverate over it.

Time – Time is different from pace and it only applies to certain workouts. For example, let’s say you have a goal to do 100 push-ups. Maybe the first time you try this it takes 30 minutes. That’s your time. As your fitness improves, your time should decrease. 

How to track

There are an abundance of options for tracking. You can use a fitness tracking tool like the FitBit to track your information or join an online service like FitDay.com to track your information. You can buy a fitness journal, create a spreadsheet, buy a notebook, or download a mobile app. The best tool is the one that supports you to follow through and actually track the information. You’ll be surprised how tracking your workouts will change them. Give it a try. Track for 30 days and watch what happens.