Recently, I started going back to the gym. Hours of working on web applications have added to a puffier physique than I would like. I find endless hours of cardio to be boring as hell, and the body builders staring into the mirror while trying to “pump” make me chuckle.

So I’m doing some powerlifting. I’m not at all interested in the competitive nature of it, but I love the fact that everything is quantifiable. And the goals are easy - increase your maximum lift in the squat, the deadlift, and the bench press.

Anyway.

As a good little programmer and emacs addict, I’ve added a simple function to my .emacs to help me keep track of what I’m lifting.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

  (defun log-workout (exercise sets reps weight)
  (interactive "sExercise: \nNSets: \nNReps: \nNWeight(kg):")
  (find-file "~/Documents/Exercise/exercise-log.org")
  (end-of-buffer)
  (insert (format "| %s | %s | %d | %d | %d | %d | %d |\n"
                  (date-string)
                  exercise sets reps weight
                  (+ weight 20) ; weight plus bar (Kg)
                  (* sets reps (+ weight 20)))) ; total weight lifted (Kg)
  (save-buffer))

And while I’m at it, here’s one for my weight:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

  (defun log-weight (weight)
  (interactive "NWeight: ")
  (find-file "~/Documents/Exercise/weight-log.org")
  (end-of-buffer)
  (insert
   (format "| %s | %d | %.2f |\n"
           (date-string)
           weight
           (* weight 0.453))) ; weight in Kg
  (save-buffer))

A lot of the heavy lifting is being done by org-mode. The table mode makes everything line up nicely. You’ll probably want to add a header for each column, but that’s not completely necessary.

Just pop these into your .emacs file, change the path on your files, and start logging your progress.