Why You Should Consider Keeping a Daily Journal

As the last few weeks of summer are coming to an end, I thought I’d share with you a tip that several of my clients who deal with low back pain have found helpful. 

The Use of a Daily Journal

I’d say many people don’t write a daily journal.

Some might find it irrelevant or boring.

But I’ve come to realize that a daily journal can be an educational tool for people recovering from injuries.

For instance, take a person without a medical or kinesiology background that develops an L5-S1 herniated disc and is suffering from sciatica. The person without a medical or kinesiology background is not going to have a strong education in herniated disc injuries and perhaps doesn’t know what movements to avoid.

But keeping a daily journal may help.

Let me explain.

Keeping a journal may help one identify what activities they should and should not perform, as well as their tolerance level to an activity. 

For instance – if a person sits continuously for 30 minutes on Monday and Tuesday and they get severe pain – they may come to understand that sitting for 30 minutes continuous is an activity they should avoid. Or if a person walks for 20 minutes and gets low back pain – they can record that 20 minutes of walking triggered their pain and this could remind that they should walk for under 20 minutes next time. 

Another benefit of writing a daily journal is that people will be able to track their progress.

For example – using our person from earlier who develops pain from 30 minutes of sitting – maybe a week goes by, and they try sitting again for 30 minutes, but this time they find they can sit for 40 minutes. 

A sign of progress.

Or maybe a week go by and the person can only sit for 20 minutes now.

A sign of regression, and an indication that something in the program may be making them worse. 

The use of a daily journal can provide insight into one’s program and determine if they are making progress or not. 

Tracking Progress as a Coach

Coaches can have their clients use a daily journal to track their workout progress when they’re not training with their coach.

For example. 

Did the client have a good workout? Was it a bad workout? Did they perform all the reps and sets? Did an exercise like deadlifts hurt? And why did it hurt? All of this information is important for a coach to obtain. Because if there were any issues with the workout, a coach might want to change the programming to accommodate the needs of the client. 

I encourage all of my clients who have an injury to keep track of their progress through a journal – it helps me identify setbacks or activities in a client’s program that may need adjusting. 

A daily journal can consist of many things, and they don’t just have to involve activities. You can make the journal more specific, and it could include things such as food or drinks you consume, which may be of importance to yourself.

Something to consider, and you can go into as much detail as you want 

Salute, 

Remi