12 Best Workout Planners to Help You Reach Your Fitness Goals
Stay on track and motivated.
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Sometimes the hardest part of starting a new workout routine is, well, starting. Making time, choosing the exercise and actually going to the gym can all sound overwhelming at the beginning. But a workout planner — where you can plan out your exercises and workouts — can help you actually stick to the plan.
Whether it’s a fitness app you can quickly pull out at the gym or a full-fledged journal, like the ones below, where you can write out goals and how you felt during the workout, there’s a workout planner out there to reach your fitness goals.
Our top picks:
“A workout planner can help you stick to a routine by helping you block out times to exercise and also by creating a structured plan for you to follow,” says Good Housekeeping’s on-staff exercise expert and Women’s Fitness Specialist Stefani Sassos, M.S., R.D.N., C.D.N., NASM-CPT. “Charting your progress in your workout planner can help keep you motivated and hold you accountable with your exercise journey. Having a written record of what you have accomplished can be a very powerful tool.”
Think of these workout planners as an extension of a daily journal. Many of these options go beyond just planning out your workouts to include meal planning and goal setting. Some of the more detailed guides will even include guided prompts to better assess what’s working for you and how your exercise routine is impacting your mental health. It’s a wellness catch-all.
Below, you’ll find workout planners for everyone, from beginners to those trying to amp up their training.
Pros
- Daily and weekly tracking
- Grocery lists and food tracking
- Stickers and bookmarks included
Cons
- Can be a lot to fill out
Created with the help of fitness experts, this planner goes beyond just recording your workouts for the week. This six-month journal helps you document daily activities and your water and food intake as well as long-term goals, with weekly habit tracking, result recording, mood rating, grocery lists and more. To make it even more interactive and engaging, it comes with fun accessories like bookmarks and organizational stickers that might bring a little more joy to a tough workout. Though some may find that filling in all of those stats a bit time-consuming.
Pros
- Easy to organize
- Mood trackers
- Affordable
Cons
- Cover is flimsy
At under $10, this basic planner may be all you really need to plan out a slew of workouts for the week. Offering sections to add your training goals, there are training pages with columns to fill out each exercise including the number of sets, reps and weight, as well as any cardio and how you felt during the activity. For those with specific goals, there are also progress sections to write down measurements, weight and body fat percentage. With this simple yet effective log, you can record up to 100 workouts with 11 exercises for each. Just be aware that some reviewers on Amazon note that the cover is on the flimsy side.
Pros
- Straightforward
- Body measurement recording
- Workout guides
Cons
- Limited number of exercises can be recorded on a page
Those building a workout routine for the first time could use some extra structure, and that's what this straightforward journal excels at. The aim is to help you create SMART goals (a.k.a. specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound goals) with calendars, trackers for strength training and cardio and sections for recording body measurements. The most helpful for newbies, however, may be the guides on common exercises and nutrition to help get you started. Keep in mind that only eight exercises can be recorded on a page.
Pros
- Portable
- Focus on wellness
- Fun stickers included
Cons
- No detailed workout recording
This slim, watercolored planner is filled with inspirational quotes and mini pep talks on setting goals. There are slots to record goals, body composition, daily activity (including water, steps and sleep) and food intake. It’s not as detailed for workout recording, but it’s still a great option for someone trying to add more movement into their life — and it comes with the brand's popular stickers.
Pros
- Long-term goal setting
- Fun stickers included
- Bonus eating and exercise ebooks
Cons
- Paper quality could be better
Exercising and nutrition go hand in hand, and this wellness planner is great for tracking both. Filled with weekly reviews and habit tracking, this 13-week journal also provides daily health tracking for your workouts and meal plan and you can flag reminders to "get outside" or for treat days with fun stickers. With your purchase, you'll also receive several ebooks that feature information on meal planning, recipes and workouts to encourage healthy eating and exercise. The journal comes with a pen holder, closure band and is available in 17 colors, however a few reviewers on Amazon have noted that the paper quality could be better.
Pros
- Focus on feelings
- Intentional goal sections
- Three months of planning
Cons
- No detailed workout tracking
Tracking your workouts can match your aesthetic with this stunning hardcover journal from Papier that comes in seven trendy shades whether you're partial to Barbie pink, Kelly green or lavender. While there is no detailed workout planning, it prioritizes overall wellness and emotions rather than specific exercises, offering sections to fill out activities, meals, what went well and what you’re thankful for each day over a three-month period. With consistency, you can help meet your goals and gain a better sense of how you feel implementing new goals and habits.
Pros
- Focus on feelings
- Intentional goal sections
- Three months of planning
Cons
- Divided into sections, like fitness, diet and goals, rather than day by day
As the creators of some of the most beloved blank journals and organizers, Moleskin’s wellness journal offers a ton of customization options among the brand's signature ivory pages. The book is divided into tabbed sections for personal goals, fitness, diet and health and care, with the fitness tab designed as a weekly grid to record daily exercises, warm-ups, reps, etc. This allows you to concoct weekly workouts and meal plans while also providing ample space for journaling your feelings, jotting down observations or devising future plans. This set-up may feel disjointed for those who prefer a journal that goes day by day with a complete overview of diet and exercise together on a page.
Pros
- Detailed weekly plans
- Journal easily stays open to any page
- Goal-setting app included
Cons
- Pages may rip from spiral binding
The compact Fitbook was made for toting around the gym with you with weekly schedules to log your workout routine as well as food. It includes slots to record your vitamins and water intake and sections to reflect on each week. You can note your progress through designated sections for weight, body fat percentage, waist measurement, calories burned, bench press weight and more. It comes with a pen, closure elastic and a storage sleeve, and because it's spiral bound, it's easier for the journal stay open for referencing while working out (just be careful not to tear out pages). Your purchase also grants you access to FitBook+ app that aims to better help you make an attainable 12-week goal.
Pros
- 16-week planner
- Prompts to inspire motivation and gratitude
- Daily workout recording
Cons
- Not much space for food logging
If you need a push to get you going, this one is chock-full of encouragement for every step of the way. Featuring 16 weeks of daily records for workouts, food intake, and mood, this journal will motivate you to keep on moving with help from plenty of inspirational prompts, quotes and tips. What we like about it is that it helps empower you to create shorter-term goals to focus on that can go beyond physical fitness and into mental health, with sections for what you appreciate about your body and rating how your day went. One complaint some Amazon reviewers had is that there was not much room for food logging.
Pros
- Daily tracking
- 90-day overview section
- Weekly color-coded tabs
Cons
- Small font and boxes for writing
Fans of Cassie Ho, the founder of Blogilates, will appreciate her 90-day journal that allows you to fill up 90 days of workouts (whether you do Blogilates videos or do your own plan). It features progress charts, daily food, workout, mood and meal tracking so you can stay on top of your goals, though the font and boxes may run a little small to fit it all. It’s bright and colorful enough to get you excited to fill it out for the full three months — and the color-coded tabs labeled by week along the edge allow you to open up to the exact page you're looking for.
Pros
- Can track beyond food and fitness, like supplements, alcohol intake and mental health
- Nice leather cover
- Built-in pouch
Cons
- Can be too intense for some
Claimed to mimic the training journal developed by the U.S. Department of Defense to log a soldier’s daily and weekly health and fitness goals and take them to the next level with stats on their nutrition and emotional state, this leather workout planner is designed for those who thrive under structure. There are many slots to chronicle your fitness journey to help you establish consistency and accountability. It even goes so far as to monitor supplements, alcohol intake and stress levels, though recording everything may get too intensive for some people. In the back of the journal, you'll find a built-in collapsible pouch that can hold things like your I.D., cards or cash.
Pros
- Track workout specs like reps and weight
- Can help with accountability
Cons
- Flexible cover may be prone to bending
Ink+Volt planners are popular for their goal-setting encouragement components, which is exactly what you’ll get with this pick. This undated, three-month planner lets you track everything from workouts (down to the reps and weight) to specific weekly goals (and the tasks you need to do to get there). Over time, it will help you develop accountability as you see yourself achieving your fitness goals in real time. Be careful with the flexible cover as it may make it more prone to bending.
How we chose the best workout planners
In the Good Housekeeping Institute Wellness Lab, we've tested everything you need for a home gym, including treadmills, dumbbells, gym bags and even health apps.
To put together this guide to the best workout planners, we prioritized journals that our fitness experts think will effectively help you build a routine you’ll be successful at, and that came undated, so you can customize your routine. We considered a variety of downloadable and physical workout planners to determine the best options for different types of people to stay motivated when starting a routine. We also consulted our colleagues in the GH Institute Nutrition Lab to get their advice on what to look for when it comes to the best ways to keep tabs on meal planning and healthy eating.
We also considered options that had bonus content like ebooks and apps to help achieve fitness goals. Some workout planners are more detailed with spaces to add specific exercises and reps while others consider wellness and movement more holistically. We included both options in our selections.
Why trust Good Housekeeping?
This round-up was written by contributing writer Courtney Campbell, a longtime product reviewer, who selected products based on hours of research and reporting, as well as her own experience trying to stick to a healthy routine. Her work has appeared in Apartment Therapy, Domino and SELF.
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