Recording Training

Recording training is important for a number of reasons. First, it holds people accountable to goals they set for themselves and allows them to see daily progress towards their goal. Second, it allows people to see how their commitment to activity is improving their fitness, making activity easier as fitness increases. Lastly, as an athlete becomes more serious in their training, a training log allows them to look for patterns and learn how their body responds to different workouts and different activities, allowing them to eventually be able to design a training plan for themselves. 

For younger kids, recording training is more about the first two reasons: seeing goals be accomplished and learning the basics of fitness. This can be done a few different ways. A kilometer or time chart is one way. Create a chart with each skier’s name in rows and the day of the week in columns. Each day skiers should write the number of kilometers (or miles) that they ski or the amount of time they spent skiing (or being active). Create a class goal of a number of kilometers or minutes spent in activity in order to make everyone feel a part of a team. Periodically have kids reflect on the chart. Are they able to ski more now then they were when they first started? Is skiing easier? Does skiing more make other activities easier? 

As kids get older or more involved in ski training, they can begin to record the time spent in different activities, intensity levels, and keep notes on how they felt. Keeping notes is important in learning patterns and being able to create a personal training plan in the future. A spreadsheet is the easiest way to have kids do this. You can print it out to create a notebook in which kids write their goals as well. 

This is an example of a training log that includes everything. Intensity refers to how hard the training is. The method is the goal of the training and the activity is what exactly the athlete is doing. The number of minutes is recorded in each corresponding box, with the total minutes of the pink, yellow, and purple sections all equaling each other. This log is very adaptable to meet the age, knowledge, and goals of your program. Subtract columns and add columns accordingly. Most important is that all athletes have a place to record their goals and the work they do towards reaching those goals. The notes section is probably the most important for this as it gives athletes a moment to reflect on what went well, what didn’t, how they felt, and how they are progressing towards their goals.