Record Records

A quick reminder that Monday’s WOD will be cancelled due to the holiday! But we still hope you will join us for Friday’s WOD! Should be a good time. 

We talk a lot about keeping a log of your WODs so that you can go back to see how you’ve progressed. As we start doing more technical lifts, benchmark girl WODs, Hero WODs, we’re going to want to be able to chart measurable results in our training. Not only is it good for progression, it gives motivation for you as an athlete when you hit PR’s (personal records or personal bests), helps you establish goals and tailor your programming to your needs, and, when you become a fire-breathing Crossfitter who beast-modals all your RX+ WODs, is great to show-off to your non-Crossfitting Facebook friends. (Sike, don’t do that; that’s annoying.)

I wanted to share some tips with keeping training logs. Keep in mind that everyone has their own style, and there’s no wrong way to record a workout, but a few things might point you in the right direction to starting your own WOD Log. 

A few things you should always include are the date, the WOD you did, and how you scaled it. Some things that might be useful to write down, for future reference: write how you felt, what was harder than expected, what you did pre (buy-in) and post (cash-out) workout. 

As an example, let’s take a look at Diane, as if we scaled it, and one way to record it in our log book:

01 JAN

Diane

Rounds of 21-15-9 for time:

Deadlifts, 225#

Hand-stand push-ups

Scaled: DL (135#), box push up (30” box)

Time: 2.45 min, Not RX

Notes:

Buy-in: 100 double-unders, 50 PVC-Overhead Squats (OHS), 25 med-ball slams

WOD: Deadlifts too light but need work on technique. Box push-ups were easy, try RX next time. Last set easy, middle set took longest.

Cash-out: 100 sit-ups, 50 push-ups, 25 burpees

Let’s do one for strength WOD

03 JAN

Squat Snatch: 3-3-3-3-3-3-3

155-185-210-225-265F-245

Notes:

Buy-in: 100 air squats, 2K row

WOD: Started too light. Broken technique made me fail at 265. Practiced four pulls at 135# before WOD. 245# not heavy.

Cash-out: 50 double-unders, 40 hollow rocks, 30 double-unders, 20 hollow rocks

Whatever way you figure is best for your training is ultimately up to you. The purpose isn’t to have something pretty or boastful; the purpose is to give you the analytics that will help you set goals, fine-tune your GPP, and get fit while celebrating milestones along the way.

Some tools that might help you:

Beyond the Whiteboard: My personal favorite. Let’s you create your own programming pretty easily. My favorite feature is the modality breakdown. The biggest downside: it’s subscription base, unless you belong to an affiliate.

WODHub: More for use as an affiliate tool, but they have individual WOD Logging as well.

LogsItAll: Haven’t used this one, but recommended to me by a friend. Let us know if you decide to try it out!

Workout Hero: I don’t use this app to log, but I do like the workouts they have in there. Quick links to PDFs, CFJ, etc. as well. I think it costs $0.99 though, and I only know of one for the iPhone.

myWOD: Not as powerful as I would like, but definitely nice to have around for the interval timers, the news feed and workouts on-the-go! Again, I only know of the app for iPhone.