Most Helpful Customer Reviews
64 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent workout log and information source, November 29, 1999
I just joined a gym and I'm really out of shape. This book really answered a lot of my questions about beginning an exercise program. It has a log where I can record the cardio exercises I did and the strength training (including weight lifted, sets and reps). There is also a place for nutrition notes. The layout is very straight forward and will allow me to track my progress over six months. On Mondays, I write my personal goals for the week and on Sunday, I write a weekly wrap-up, which really holds me accountable for those goals. This book really helps me to keep track of my progress in a concrete way. I highly recommend it.
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44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A gift of fitness to yourself!, August 11, 2001
This review is from: The Ultimate Workout Log: An Exercise Diary and Fitness Guide (Spiral-bound)
When the last book had been filled, my exercise routine tapered off and then fizzled. Was having a book around to record cardio exercise, strength training, stretching, a rating, how many sets, the reps and the weights used giving me the motivation I needed? Or was it how guilty I felt about not exercising and having to write down...ahh...nothing that day the real problem.
So, when my husband gave me the evil eye and said I was sitting around reading too many books, I bought another one. Ideally the plan is to buy one book every 23 weeks so you have a fresh one ready to go at the end of week 24. So, the first thing to do is to write in "order new book" under week 23, so you never forget and end up getting out of your normal workout routine.
Do you remember writing a diary? Well, if you exercise...this will be one you don't mind having everyone read. It is like writing a review of yourself, of your goals and your accomplishments. The benefits of keeping a training diary is so you can feel guilty when you don't, see when you did well and find out what on earth you did last week that helped you to lose a few pounds. Something you might want to repeat!
Suzanne Schlosberg believes this book will get you results. There are designated spaces to record your goals for the next six months and more specific objectives for each individual week an then day.
"It is hard for anyone-accomplished athlete or complete novice-to stay motivated without a mission. Research confirms the importance of setting concrete workout goals." -pg.8
This edition differs from the first log I owned in that now there is a space for daily nutrition notes (like if you are on the Suzanne Somers' diet). There are training tips based on current research and a batch of fun sports slang and inspirational quotes. There is a new question-and-answer format and a resources section on page 157 of essential books to help supplement the information presented. A section on how to use the log is very helpful. Suzanne also has a delightful sense of humor. Her writing flows casually through the pages, making you feel that she is almost your personal trainer.
So, what will you be recording? First...your goals for the next six months. This is called the Big Picture. On the Workout diary page, may I suggest a "before" picture. There is just enough space for an "after" picture on the last page. That way, you can look back on your achievements and realize how much you changed. At the start of each week, you identify your mission. The Cardio section lets you record say: Bike, 15 minutes, felt energized! The Strength Training area has room for: Chest Press wt. 80, sets. 3, reps 10. May I suggest Karen Voight's book: Precision Training for Body & Mind...to help you out on this area. She describes the workout moves so well and in pictures. This book doesn't go into detail about any specific sport, but is your log to record all those activities.
Finally, you give yourself a daily rating on a scale of 1-5. Hey, that is like giving yourself a daily "body" review. I can do this...I can do this...
Do you know how to measure your heart rate? And what is your target zone? Will I burn more fat if I exercise at a slow pace? How often should I check my heart rate? What are the most effective cardio machines? How long will it take to see results? Does the order of my routine matter? Should I hire a trainer. How can I keep from getting injured? Suzanne tells all.
The next two chapters explain strength training with a picture of all the muscles of the body (and labels) so you can easily learn the main muscles so you can understand that the lat pulldown is a back exercise. A special chapter on "fueling up" leads you to the path of enlightenment on how many calories to eat a day, what vitamin supplements to take, how much water to drink and if it is a bad idea to eat before a workout.
Essential information takes up the first third of the book and it helps to read this information again and again throughout the six months. The workout diary follows and is a beautifully set out with a plum "day" title and then lines for your diary and blocks of gray under wt. sets reps. At the top of the right hand page there is a training tip or sports speak (for the adventurous) for the week. On the top left hand pages following the first page of each week, there is a inspirational quote.
This might just be the motivation you need. I know it worked the last time I had this book and I am ready to get back to a real exercise routine again. I looked around at some sites where you could log in your workouts, but it seems that if you turn on the computer, you are never going to get to that workout, so this book is a better solution. If you leave it on your kitchen counter...open to the next workout day....who knows what might happen.
Monday will be the start of a new fitness adventure!
~The Rebecca Review
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40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not for those who are serious about keeping a workout diary., July 30, 2007
I was in search of a workout log because I believe that keeping a daily record of your exercises, nutrition...etc is a good way to keep you motivated and for you to learn your patterns. They are an invaluable tool for those who are serious about diet and exercise. Without doing much research (which is my own fault) I decided to pick this one up on a whim. It was a mistake.
This book starts with a short section on setting goals and using the log as your workout diary. The inside of the front cover has a section where you can set your goals for the next six months. In the back of the log you get a few tools such as a section that shows how many calories you burn for a given activity, a section for personal records and a six-month wrap-up that lets you summarize the last six months. The meat of the book is a workout log that is divided by weeks. You get a page for each day and at the end of the week you get a weekly wrap-up page that lets you record notes on your cardio, mind/body training, strength training and nutrition. On each page of the workout log you get a little blurb of either trivia, myths or a quote from an athlete.
This all sounds great on paper but there are some major flaws in the design of this workout log. Most of the flaws lie in the daily logs, which is too bad because that's obviously what you're going to use the most!
Space is a major concern here, and it's my biggest complaint. The author attempted to cram way too much on a single page. You can search this book on Amazon to get an idea of how this log is laid out. Here are some examples of the space issues:
The Morning Info section is 3/4 inch width and less then 1/2 inch high! There's barely enough room for initials here let alone a recording of "morning info".
There are only three lines for cardio. On a given day I might do more then three different things. I might start out on an elliptical and biking in the morning, walk a mile for lunch, do some swimming when I get home and go to my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu class in the evening. It gets hard to record all of these so I end up going down into the strength training section for this. The notes section for the cardio is less then 1 1/2 inches so you better be short with your notes! (or write really really tiny!).
The strength training isn't much better. You get more lines (10) for this section, but even that isn't enough for an "ultimate" workout log. For example, if I do my upper body then i'm going to at least do my biceps, triceps, chest, abs, back, shoulders and forearms. Usually I do 2-3 exercises on each. Even if I do 2 then I would need 14 spaces. You also get to record the weight, sets and reps. This section isn't very good because it becomes hard to record here when you change weights in a single set. The notes section is the same as cardio so you get less then 1 1/2 inches for your notes on each exercise.
This is the 3rd edition of the book and it advertises that it includes yoga and pilates. Well, this is a 2 3/4 by 1 inch box where you get to record all of your yoga and pilates information! (I don't do either right now, but if I did I imagine that this isn't enough room for that).
You get a useless section for nutrition notes, which has 4 lines (you can use the very top for a 5th line). Each line is 2 3/4 inches long so good luck recording any valuable nutrition information (food, calories, fat, carbs...etc). If you eat 5+ meals a day then this section is very useless. I eat 5 meals a day plus small snacks and I find it very hard to record everything. I usually end up writing in the mind-body notes above.
One other major issue is that each page already has the day of the week on it. This is too bad because if you decide that you don't feel like writing because of a free day, or for any other reason then it becomes a wasted page. I really wish the author would have thought everything through with this workout log.
Finally there is an awkwardly placed daily wrap-up section.
If you are doing any serious diet/exercise program then this log is not for you. If you are the type that just wants to jot a few words down then this may work for you, but you will probably have to work around some sections (such as the nutrition section) for it to be effective in any way. I like to keep more detailed notes so my pages usually end up looking like a mess. Each page is very awkward and cumbersome to work with. Writing in a log every day can take some getting used to. When it becomes very cumbersome then it also becomes very annoying and feels like a chore. I suggest you use Amazon to search inside and see the layout. Just keep in mind that the pages are much smaller then what you will see on your screen.
I really wish I would have thought all of this out before my purchase, but I rushed into this, which is my own fault. I am very surprised that this log has a 4.5/5 here on Amazon (at the time of this review).
Luckily I found the BodyMinder fitness diary. This log is a whole lot better. Instead of trying to cram everything on one page it uses a two page approach. This is much more roomy and allows you to record a lot more information. Also BodyMinder is much more discrete in the gym. BodyMinder has more useful tools such as a section that contains common foods and their nutrition (and allows you to enter your own foods)... but all of this is a different review.
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