Fitness Log Lesson

Autumn Hackbarth
Edu 214
• Ms. Hackbarth: Hello everyone!
• Students: Hi!
• Ms. Hackbarth: Today we will be learning the importance of a fitness log and how
to make/use one. Can anyone tell me why they think a fitness log is important?
• Student 1: To know all of the physical activities you are doing?
• Ms. Hackbarth: Yes, fitness logs are an incredible way to know exactly what you
are doing physically. We will focus on consistency, evaluation, and motivation
today. After, we will learn how to make a fitness log.
• Student 2: What will we be making the fitness log on?
• Ms. Hackbarth: We will be using the computers and use the program Excel, now
let’s get started.
• Ms. Hackbarth: Fitness logs are used by many and
everyone has different reasons for using them. The three I
mentioned earlier are some of the most popular reasons for
using a fitness log.
• Student 3: My older brother uses one for consistency!
• Ms. Hackbarth: Fitness logs help people see how their
lifestyle and other factors are affecting their workout sessions,
which will help them be able to achieve consistency in
working out. For example, some days people might not get
enough sleep or have to work extra hours. By recording this
information you can adjust your program to accommodate
different schedules.
• Student 4: I see how that can be helpful!
• Ms. Hackbarth: Next is Evaluation. Fitness logs provide
people with valuable insight into past training sessions which
is fundamental in evaluating your progress. By keeping track
of your physical fitness, you will be able to see what has
worked best for you and what needs improvement. This a
good way for you to make advancements.
• Student 5: I think it will be interesting to be able to see the
progress I have made.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

• Last we will talk about
motivation. Fitness logs are a great
way to stay motivated. You get to
look back over your fitness log and
see all of your progress. Seeing the
improvements you’ve made and
how far you’ve come can really give
people a much needed boost of
motivation that will keep you
wanting to stay physically active and
fit. Now who is ready to make a
fitness log?
• Class: We are!

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Ms. Hackbarth: First, we need to open up
Excel. We need to add a title which will be
“Fitness Log.” To do this, we need to click
“insert” then “Head and Footer.” This will put
your title on top of the log. Does everyone
understand so far?
Class: Yes!
• Ms. Hackbarth: Next, we will be
adding our different type of
exercises. First, on the line below
column A on line 1, we will write
“Type of Exercise “ and make it
bold for it to stand out and be
noticeable. As you can see, there
isn’t enough room to be able to
see “Type of Exercise.” To make it
all noticeable we will go up to
“A” and drag the right side out till
it’s big enough to see “Type of
Exercise.” Any questions so far?
• Class: No
• Ms. Hackbarth: Next we need
to add our different exercises. For
exercises, we will be adding the
ones we learned last week. Can
someone tell me the different
exercises we learned?
• Student 6: I can! We learned push-ups, sit-ups, squats, burpees, planks, lunges,
and high knees.
• Ms. Hackbarth: Correct! We will list those exercises in column A in row 2-8. When
you make your own fitness log, you will list one extra exercise that you will look
up on your own and list in the same column but row 9.
• Student 7: Can it be any exercise we want?
• Ms. Hackbarth: Yes, just remember that you will be presenting the exercise in
front of the class.
• Ms. Hackbarth: Now we will
add the days of the week and
the total. In column B-H row 1,
we will put Sunday through
Saturday in each column and
bold them. Next, in column I
we will write “total” and also
bold it.
• Ms. Hackbarth: Now with
the days of the week and total
done, we need to write in
imaginary numbers of how
many of each exercise we
completed on each day so we
can see how total works. To
save time I have already
written numbers down. Does
everyone understand how I
did that?
• Class: Yes!
• Ms. Hackbarth: Now with all the numbers put in, we need to add up the total. The total adds up how much of
each exercise we did during that week. To add the total, we highlight an entire row and press “AutoSum.” It will
add all of the numbers in the column for you. Any questions?
• Class: No.
• Ms. Hackbarth: The last thing we need to do is add color. Adding color makes logs easier to read and understand. To add color,
highlight the area you want colored and pick, “Good, Bad, or Neutral.” They will give you the same color that they are. To pick other
colors you can click on the arrow next to them and choose any color you want. When you choose a color, the gridlines will go away.
To get the lines back, you must highlight every column and row and then right click and press “format cells” then “border tab”and
then select “inside cell.” Now the lines will appear again. Does everyone understand?
• Students: Yes!
Now that you all know how to make your
own fitness log, each one of you will make
your own. Every step I just showed you has
to be in your own log, and remember the
one extra exercise you have to look up and
include. You can also include extra columns
to your log like the two examples I have
showing on the right. Have fun and be
creative!