Fortschrittchen

Writing

On keeping a record in the gym

Four pieces that together answer one question: what do you actually have to do to get somewhere in the gym — and what can be left out? They work with paper and a pen, and they are in an order that starts at the beginning.

  1. Beginners don't need a program, they need a notebook

    Training programs are on every corner, mostly free. Half the people who start still quit within two months. What they actually fail on, and what is enough for the first four weeks.

  2. A training log: what belongs in it and what doesn't

    Five entries are enough — and the seat height is one of them. Why mood, sleep and calories hurt, why the date is trimming, and where paper stops working.

  3. The smallest possible increase

    Five kilos on top of forty is a twelve percent jump. Why that goes wrong, when one more rep is the better increase, and how to come back after a break.

  4. Why this app has no streaks

    A chain of training days counts attendance, not progress. What happens when it breaks, what grows instead — and where streaks genuinely do work.