One of the most frustrating parts of training is not knowing whether you are improving or not. Some times it can feel like you are going to the gym but it is not making any difference. At times you forget what weights you lifted in the last session and you are worried that maybe you have got weaker. The best solution for teenagers to all these problems is to keep a diary.
Training diary- This is the simplest diary to do. All you have to do is fill in the exercises, the amount of weight you lifted, the amount of reps, and the date. This should be filled in either during your workout or after your workout if you have a good memory. If you feel you are not improving then check your diary to see if you have reached a plateu and are no longer improving. If this is the case then you will realise you need to mix up and change your training to promote new muscle growth. Change the amount of reps or the rest time (etc). A diary is a great way for teenagers to measure their peformance and to show yourself that you are improving.
More complex diaries
Nutrition Diary- Your improvement in the gym is not all to do with training. It may also be to do with your nutrition. Teenagers often neglect the importance of nutrition in training. Keeping a nutrition diary and entering everyday what you have eaten or drank can help you to relate your nutrition to your training peformance. If you have had a bad day in the gym then you can check your meal on that day and you can see if poor nutrition has led to a poor peformance. Some teenagers like to keep a nutrition diary to make sure they are consuming enough protein. This can be helpful in making sure your protein levels stay consistent.
Sleep Diary- Another main factor effecting your peformance could be the amount of sleep you have. As a teenager it is important that you have plenty of sleep to make sure your peformance in the gym is good. By simply recording how many hours you slept and if you had a good sleep you can check whether sleep had effected your peformance. A sleep diary is very simple and can be very effective, however doing all 3 diaries can become long and boring so unless you are a gym fanatic we advise you stick with a training diary.