Creative Fitness Journal Ideas for Workout Motivation + Planning

Are you looking for a way to keep track of your workouts, but you're not sure where to start? Or maybe you already have a fitness journal and want some new ideas for what to include in it. Either way, this post is for you!

Journaling is a great way to get in touch with your goals, prioritize self-care, track your progress, and stay connected to what matters most to you.

We all have days when we just don't feel like working out. But if you keep a fitness journal and write down why you want to work out, it can help you stick to your goals.

Keeping a fitness journal is also a great way to track your progress over time and tap into the power of planning to live your best life. You can look back on it later and see how far you've come!

We're going to talk about why it's important to keep a record of your workouts, how to do it creatively, and even how to choose the best fitness journal for your needs.

Why Start a Fitness Journal?

A fitness journal can help keep you motivated during workouts by reminding you of your goals and progress. It can also help keep track of what exercises work best for you, so that you don't waste time doing things that don't give good results.

Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or someone who’s still searching for the right fitness routine for your needs and goals, you've probably tried a number of different workouts, and found that some work better than others. And if you're like most people, the routines that work best for you are the ones that are easy to follow, don't require too much thought or planning, and fit into your lifestyle.

The problem is that when it comes to getting motivated to get up and get moving—especially if your workouts aren't working as well as they could be—it's hard to keep track of what's working and what isn't. It's hard to see patterns or figure out why things didn't go as well as they should have.

That's where fitness journals come in!

By writing down your goals and progress, it will also help motivate you when times get tough—you'll be able to see how much progress you've made so far, which will motivate you to keep going!

Creative Workout and Fitness Journal Ideas

If you want to make the most of your workouts, you might need some extra motivation. That's where creative fitness journals come in. You can write down your goals and track your progress with these tools. Plus, they're fun! Here are some creative ways to use workout journals to stay motivated:

Plan and Track Your Workouts.

Keep track of the type of workout you did, how much weight you lifted, and how many repetitions you performed. You should also keep track of how many calories you burned and how long it took. This workout journal idea will help you to see what types of exercises are most effective for you, so that you can focus on those in the future.

Create lists of goals and progress. You'll want to write down your fitness goals at the beginning of each month so that they're fresh in your mind and easy to remember. Then write down what steps you need to take towards achieving each goal. Check in regularly on your goals to stay on task, make any adjustments, and log any learnings. Track your progress over time—write down how much weight you've lifted over a period of weeks or months.

Add Motivational Quotes and Affirmations.

If you're looking for inspiration on your next workout, why not add motivational quotes to your fitness journal? You can use these quotes as a reminder of what you're working toward, or just to get you pumped up before you hit the gym.

This is a great way to keep yourself inspired and focused on your goals. Write down how you feel after each workout, and how it affected your energy levels and mood.

Create a Vision Board.

What Is a Vision Board?

A vision board is a collage or poster board that contains pictures, words, quotes, and other images that represent what you want in life. It's a visual reminder of what you want to achieve, and it can help motivate you when times get tough.

Creating a vision board in your workout journal will help you stay motivated and excited about reaching your fitness goals, which will help ensure that they're not just something on paper but actually happen!

Why Use a Vision Board?

Vision boards are an effective way to create motivation and inspiration for any goal-oriented activity, especially working out. By adding affirmations and images of things that inspire us in our workout journals, we can create more positive energy around our goals by focusing on what we want instead of what we don't have yet.

Try personalizing your journal with photos or sketches. You can draw out what you want to look like after losing weight or adding muscle—it's not just about the number on the scale!

Personalize Your Journal with Stickers or Washi Tape.

Use washi tape or stickers to decorate your workout journal so it has meaning personally significant to you!

Use a Fitness Tracker.

A fitness tracker or habit tracker can help you keep track of your workouts and how many steps you take each day. It will also show how long you sleep at night, which is key for staying healthy!

Related: What Is a Sleep Diary? Plus, How to Fill It In

Include a Gratitude Section.

Write down things in your daily fitness journal for which you are grateful like family members, friends, pets, or even your favorite workout shoes!

Write down your goals and progress.

Write down goals for the week and month, and keep track of progress. If you haven’t achieved your goals by the end of each day, write down what went wrong and what steps you can take to fix it.

Related: How to Do a Goals Check-In and Stay on Track All Year Long

Plan and Log Your Meals and Water Intake.

Keep a food diary Write down everything that goes into your body—this includes the calories in food and drinks as well as the amount of water consumed each day, even supplements. Keep a list of healthy snacks in easy reach. Having healthy snacks on hand can help prevent overeating or reaching for junk food when hunger strikes! Including meal planning in your journal can make healthy eating easier and more aligned with your overall health goals.

Learn more about other healthy living hacks with 10 Tips for a Healthier Lifestyle.

Track Your Weight Loss or Muscle Gain.

You can create your own tracker for whatever specific goal or goals you like in the note pages of your LifePlanner™ like Katie Steiner (planner enthusiast and homeschooling mom of six) did with her smart, simple, and oh-so-helpful weight-loss tracker (pictured above).

Alternatively, you can create a use a dedicated tracker or wellness log of your eating habits and exercise routine, to see where you need improvement. If you're not losing weight or gaining muscle mass as quickly as expected, look into what else you can do to increase your results in a healthy and safe way!

Related: 10 Creative Weight Loss Journal Ideas

Add Inspirational Photos or Sketches.

Add some inspiration to your log by including photos or sketches of things that motivate you. This could be anything from inspirational quotes to pictures of yourself at the gym!

For this, you'll need sticky notes, pen or pencil, inspirational photos and/or magazine, scissors, and a glue stick.

You can draw directly in your journal or use the sticky notes so you can create a collage, rearrange your sketches, and replace them as your motivation needs change.

You can also take a photo of something that inspires you—a piece of artwork, an animal, or a picture of someone in action (like an athlete). Or cut out motivational quotes and photos from a magazine or online printout to add to your journal. Just have fun with it!

Types of Fitness and Workout Journals

There are many different types of fitness and workout journals. Some are more complex than others, but they all serve the same purpose: to help you stay motivated and on track with your goals. Here are some examples:

A Simple Notebook

A notebook is the most basic type of fitness journal, but it’s still effective. Whether it’s a college-ruled lined notebook or a dot grid notebook you use as a fitness bullet journal, something simple may work best if you’re just getting started with a fitness program and don’t have too many goals yet. You can write down your workouts and track your progress as you go along.

There are so many fun ways to use a blank notebook! Get creative and create your own fitness and workout journal as unique as you are. You may also like 25  Creative Bullet Journal Page Ideas + Time-Saving Tips.

A Guided Journal

Another type of fitness and workout journal is one with prompts, tips, and built-in content to guide you. Examples of guided journals you can use for fitness and workouts include wellness journals, self-care journals, and goal-setting journals you can use for reaching any goal you like, especially fitness goals!

To learn more about guided journals and how to use them, check out Everything You Need to Know About Guided Journals. And for more self-care tips, explore 7 Kinds of Well-Being to Add to Your Self-Care Routine.

A Daily Fitness Planner

If you have multiple goals that need to be tracked, then a daily fitness planner may be better for you. These types of workout journal planners often include space for tracking other aspects of your life such as diet, sleep habits, and stress levels, as well as pages for food journals, workout logs, reflection and journaling.

A fitness and workout journal doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as a notebook with a few pages dedicated to recording your workouts, or it can be a daily planner journal that includes every detail of your exercise regimen. It can even be a monthly planner that you can customize to focus on your fitness goals. Whatever type of workout journal you decide on, it’s important that you find one that works best for you.

How to Choose the Best Fitness Journal for You

The best fitness journal for you will depend on your goals, the type of exercises you do, and how detailed you want to be. If you’re just getting started with exercise and want to keep track of your progress over time, then a simple notebook may work well. If you have multiple goals that need to be tracked, then a guided journal or daily fitness planner is better for you.

Ultimately, the best fitness journal for you will help you reach your goals, whether they’re to lose weight, build muscle, or just maintain a healthy lifestyle. The key is to find a journal that works with your schedule and lifestyle.

Find your new fitness and workout journal, planner, or notebook and start living (and feeling!) your best. And if you need more help finding the right planner for organizing every area of your life, check out this roundup of the best planners.