Albert Einstein once said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." It doesn't take a genius to see the truth in that statement. Yet everyday thousands of Americans are walking on a treadmill hoping to lose weight. They did it last Spring and they will most likely do it again next Spring.

I do not expect any member of CrossFit Petram to follow CrossFit's or even our gym's program blindly. If you've made the time to show up three to five times a week then you deserve results. Tracking your progress is the best way to ensure that you coach and you are doing the right actions to get you the results you want.

1. Keeping Yourself Honest

Unlike the treadmill jockey's above athletes at CrossFit Petram are focused on specific and measurable goals. This can be to lose 20 pounds in 3 months, put 30 pounds onto their back squat or to make it onto the varsity team this year.

By recording our workouts we can track progress over weeks and months. If the results aren't what we want, we know we need to make a change. This could mean attending more classes, eating more, eating less, or even getting extra help with your goals. Without a system to track these workouts you will never know if you need to make a change.

2. Staying Hungry

Inside of everyone of our members is a competitor. I see athletes every day that work modest desk jobs turn into fierce competitors in the gym. This culture of winning is what pushes us outside of our comfort zone. This motivation is driven by writing scores up on the white board and in our own journals.

When I write those scores up on the board I see athletes grin because they beat their friend in the workout or clench their jaw because they lost. Either way they come back the next day even harder. Tracking these standardized workouts not only lets us see progress but also fuel motivation.

3. Keeping Me Honest

CrossFit isn't cheap. I understand that when most people walk in they are sacrificing something in one way or another to be here. It's my obligation to make sure that athletes at CrossFit Petram are getting what they deserve. If they are not getting results I should not be in business.

By tracking your progress you can tell if you are getting what you paid for. If you are squatting the same weight day one hundred as you did day one I am not doing my job. This ensures that I'm continuously learning and building an awesome gym so that my members will keep getting stronger and coming back.

Ways to Track:

Analog

If your like me you love pen and paper. After every workout I pull out my small black note book and record my workout for the day. It's simple and I love it.

Any notebook that will fit in your gym bag will do. Most people use a spiral notebook but its completely up to you. There are also workout logs that can be purchased online.

Digital

Almost everyone has a smart phone today. This makes it extremely easy and simple to track your workouts and progress. Apps can easily pull workouts from an RSS feed or be plugged in manually.

Apps also have the benefit of showing your progress in unique ways. Many will give you a line graph of your PR's and some will even tell you your power output for a certain workout.

My favorite one of these apps is Pocket WOD. It includes timers and a workout library in case if you ever have to workout alone.

Take Away

Don't give into insanity. Tracking your workouts is stupid simple and everyone should do it.

Seriously. Do it.

3 Reasons tracking your workouts prevents insanity