Write Stuff Down

In the not too distant past, I have tried a few workout apps.

Technology is wonderful, and with it, now we can apply it to our training, right?

Maybe…

After getting the apps, I have to organize my phone to know where they are. Then I'd have to remember to open them to use them in the first place. And while I'm in the middle of logging my stuff…what's going on on social media? And what would happen if the internet went out?

What if I told you there's an alternative solution? One that doesn't require electricity, the internet, and had no risk of getting lost forever in some database in the sky?

We all need something that we can log what we're doing to make sure we're making progress. Something you can also bring back up easily so you can reflect on it.

The answer is to just get a notebook.

The Old Ways Still Work

Writing today is a lost art.

I don't just mean texting or emails or posts and comments on social media.

I mean writing to yourself to figure out a problem you're having.

I also mean writing long form things (like this) to convey a message.

How many people do you know personally still have a journal or diary?

When was the last time you wrote a long letter to a friend and sent it via mail? Then you have to wait days (or even a week!) to get a response. (All my OGs will remember having pen pals.)

Small rant:

It's crazy to me how little both writing and reading are done today. I suppose in the past people didn't have the internet or even a lot of entertainment, so they had a lot of free time to think, write and read. That's sad because for a lot of human history, not every adult could read and write. It was usually reserved for the elites to learn. Being able to do both and convey a message to a large amount of people was a skill that a lot of people wish they had. Now we take it for granted. We don't like to read and certainly aren't writing as much as we should.

Rant over.

Back to writing.

Writing can help you brain dump for your own goals or a problem you're having. It's easier to think about a solution when your brain is no longer being used as a storage unit. Your brain is meant for creativity as well, so when it can "see" the problem in "physical" form, it can look at it objectively and get to work on it.

We can apply this same process to our training.

Speaking of training, let's upgrade our terminology for a second. Let's go from "working out" to "training."

Training Requires Tracking

Training means you have a goal in mind, and each workout is a small step towards that goal. We need to separate it from just a "workout" because sadly a "workout" could mean "I'm going to see how many pushups and squats I can do in 5 minutes" with no regard for the future.

So if training is goal setting, and it requires small steps, then those small steps are your short term goals for today. You do those steps, and then plan harder steps for the next time you train.

This means you need a way to track what you did in the past so the future you "gets help" and knows what to do. Besides, you don't want to flat out forget.

A notebook to the rescue!

It's super simple, and it brings tracking things back to it's most natural state. It's a physical artifact that you can write in, review to see what you did over the last few days/weeks or even look further back over the last year or long to see what you were doing before.

Writing for Training 101

If you haven't written in a while, don't fret. The most basic form of writing is writing to yourself to figure something out. Then later it turns into creating a plan, and much later writing for other people.

Step 1: Brain Vomit

• Write out a goal/problem you're having. What do you want from all of these workouts in the first place?

• As a side note, this is a great place to start writing no matter what you want to work on in life.

Step 2: Find a Plan

• You're going to need a training program and progression with milestones along the way. These progressions could either mean weight, reps or progressions.

• The plan/program you find should be something connected to your goals, but also simpler than you want it to be. Things will get harder soon enough.

• Even better: use your brainstorming session from above and write out what you think is a good idea. There's a good chance that you have something already floating around in your head. Get it out.

Step 3: Writing for Today

• Get a notebook, go workout, write down what you did.

• You should be able to use one page per week if you have the size for it.

Step 4: Write for the Future

• After your workout, write down what you need to do the next time based on what you did today.

• You might also have a feeling as to how hard the workout was, so either write a note to yourself or just write down the plan based on how you felt so you'll remember. ("Oh, I only want to go up 2lbs today because last week it was hard.")

Step 5: Write for the Long Haul

• This writing process is good for getting ready for the next few days, but also for where to pick up if it's been 1-2 weeks after a layoff.

• If you have long term goals (about a year), review once a week. Are you on track for your goals?

• If you get stuck, review again. If you look further back, what were you doing before that was working? I recently had one of these moments myself. Having a training log is a great tool for this.

Long Term Thinking

This might upset some people, but I don't like the concept of training to failure. I don't even like the idea of maxing out too often for most people. I know that's not exciting because it's not as extreme and the workouts don't "burn" as much, but hear me out.

Going to failure could mean "I'm going to bench 135lbs today for as many reps as possible."

First of all, that plan is vastly different depending on if your current best is 350lbs vs 150lbs.

Secondly, out of that max rep set, which one of those reps made you better? What if you only got 6? (For the 150 bencher.) What if you got 50?! (For the 350 bencher.) Yes you felt a burn, but what do you do the next time?

Going to failure or maxing out is a test. If you do this often, you're testing yourself every day, without preparing for the test. It's like sitting down to take a calculus test without learning it first. The real test should be a competition. As Dan John says, "Only max out when you're in front of 3 judges."

If you can perform that same 135 bench with a lot lower volume, let's say 3 sets of 5, then guarantee going up by 5 or even 1lbs, with a lot less stress, isn't that less demanding than maxing out or going into infinite reps?

I go on that rant because I want you getting better in the long term.

Getting better doesn't have to mean destroying yourself every day. I know people want to feel the burn and even chase soreness, but you can actually get better without getting sore. Besides, getting sore on day one and expecting to feel that same sensation will mean that you chase whatever crazy workout is required to get it.

You don't have to blow yourself out of the water every day.

Things may go slower, and you may only be sore after 1 or 2 days and never get sore again, but taking things slowly, actually training, is what leads to long term success.

So if that's the case, then training and logging what you do are your friends.

Things may feel mundane at times, but as long as you're making steady progress, you're in a good spot.

Write for You. Write for Others.

As a bonus, it's nice to just sit down in quite and remember what you were doing when, without screens, without noise and without the temptation of being on your phone.

Then when you figure out what works, you repeat it over and over until you get what you want.

Then, if you're feeling generous, you can show other people the way.

And you can do that by writing to them.

Thanks for reading!

As always if you have any questions you can reply to this newsletter or fill out this questionnaire.