Daily Exercise Chart

Using a daily exercise chart as part of your fitness program can be an invaluable way to track your progress. If you're searching for a way to keep up with your tracing your progress beyond marking it on your calendar, you can use a free exercise chart or exercise log. You can find these items in your favorite fitness books and magazines as well as online. If you're feeling particularly creative, you can even make your own and design it so that it specifically fits your needs.

When you come across an exercise chart in a book or magazine, what should you look for to make sure it has all the things you need?

• Days of the week: Whether you exercise daily or several days a week, you may want to adhere to a schedule. By being able to record which days you work out, you can ensure you're getting the minimum amount of exercise you want. Also, since weight training targeting one muscle group should not be done on consecutive days, keeping track of when you strength train will help avoid the risk of overworking a particular part of your body.
• Room to record: You need enough room to write down what you do. If the space is small, you can always abbreviate. For example, write "J" for jogging or "S" for swimming—just make sure to use abbreviations that are easy for you to remember.
• Activity: Some charts may come with activities already listed and all you do is fill in which exercise you did. The best charts will list a large variety of workouts, from walking (2 mph to 4 mph) to gardening to boxing.
• Size of chart: Do you want to post your exercise chart in a prominent place as a motivating tool? Or do you want to be able to slip it into a purse, gym bag or back pocket for portable ease? The size of your perfect chart depends on how and where you'll use it most. It makes more sense to carry a small chart with you if you do most of your workouts in a gym, while posting a calendar-size chart in your kitchen works well when you exercise more in your home.

If you find an especially useful chart in a book or magazine, try and make photocopies for your personal use so that once you fill one out, you have another ready to fill in.

If you want to design your own daily exercise chart, you don't have to be especially computer-proficient to do so. You can use a basic table or calendar-generating program. For example, a simple table chart for someone who weighs approximately 150 pounds may look like this:

You can begin with a blank exercise chart and fill in your information accordingly. Remember, all exercisers don't burn calories equally. You'll need to input your weight into a calorie-burning estimator to get the correct number of calories burned for a person of your weight during various activities.

If losing weight is one of your goals, keeping track of how much you work out is important, especially when you figure in caloric intake versus caloric output. Maintaining a food journal (with a similar setup to the exercise chart) along with charting your workouts is a great way to reach your weight loss and fitness goals. Because overall health incorporates your diet as well as activity, using all available tools at your disposal will only benefit you.

A daily reminder of your workout plans doesn't need to be complicated or elaborate; it just needs to work as an aid to keep you focused and motivated.

• Pictures of People Exercising
• Women Fitness Models
• Male Fitness Model

• Breast Lifting Exercise
• Contour Abs
• Naked Exercise
• Naked Pilates
• Hula Hoop Exercises

• Category:Exercise Equipment and Apparel
• Definition of Exercise
• Printable Exercise Journals
• Spinning Bikes
• Calories Burned During Exercise