Rest and Recovery Log

Who this is for

A week of how your body is coping. Record each day's sleep, soreness, aches and recovery alongside your training, so a pattern of tiredness shows up on paper before it turns into a missed week.

People who train most days and want to notice when they are overdoing it, and anyone coming back from a break who wants a record of how each week felt.

What this helps you track

• Which days were rest days and which were training days
• Hours slept each night
• Soreness or tiredness on your own scale
• Niggles and aches, and where they are
• What you did to recover and how your mood was

How to use it

1. Write your name, the date the week starts and the scale you use for soreness, such as 1 to 5.
2. Each evening, mark the day as rest or training and write the hours you slept the night before.
3. Rate soreness or tiredness on your scale and note any niggle or ache by where it is.
4. Write the recovery you did, such as stretching, an easy walk or a massage, and your mood.
5. At the end of the week, count the rest days and write a few lines in the reflection box.
6. Keep it next to your training log; the browser version saves in your own browser.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

What scale should I use for soreness?

Whichever you will keep to: 1 to 5, 1 to 10, or words such as fresh, fine, heavy and sore. Write it in the header so the weeks compare. No scale or cut-off is supplied.

Will it tell me when I need a rest day?

No. It gives you a record to look back on, not advice. If aches or tiredness keep coming up, that is something to talk over with a coach, physio or doctor.

Should I record sleep for the night before or the night after?

The night before is usual, because it is the sleep you trained on. Either works as long as you keep to the same one each week.

How does this fit with a training log?

Use it alongside whatever log records your sessions. Reading the two together shows whether hard weeks line up with poor sleep, more soreness or a low mood.