It is not a commonly understood condition, with medical community unable to clarify exact cause. IBS appears to occur due to body’s inability to regulate bowel functions correctly. This leads to a number of unpleasant symptoms such as abdominal pain, cramping, excessive wind and irregular bowel movements including constipation and/or diarrhoea. However, there are treatments available to allow sufferers to manage their symptoms.

If you start to notice irregular bowel movements or suffer prolonged abdominal discomfort you could be suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Keeping a diary to monitor food intake, exercise and stress levels is a good idea to track anything that may exacerbate your symptoms. When diagnosing IBS your medical practitioner will ask you for a general history of your bowel movements so keeping records will come in handy.

I know you've heard this before and it seems "basic". But it is an important key to success. And apparently, it isn't heard enough because I'd say less than 1% of people I see in gym keep track of their workout.

An essential part of organization needed to get each workout day right is a training diary. At its most basic minimum this is a written record of reps and poundage for every work set you do and an evaluation of each workout so that you can stay alert to warning signs of overtraining.

After each workout reflect on your evaluation and, when necessary, make adjustments to avoid falling foul of overtraining.

A training diary or journal is indispensable for keeping you on track for training success. No matter where you are now — 180-pound squat or 500, 13-inch arms or 17, 135-pound bench press or 350 — systematic organization and focus on achieving goals that a training journal enforces will help you to get bigger, stronger, and leaner.

As simple as it is to use a training log, do not underestimate its vital role in helping you achieve your fitness goals. Most trainees are aware that they should record their workouts in a permanent way, but few actually do it.

And even those trainees who keep some sort of training log usually fail to exploit its full potential benefits. This is one of major reasons why most trainees get minimal results from their training.

Your training journal is extremely important and should be more than just a list of weights, sets and rep.

When used properly, a training journal enforces organization needed to get each work-out right, week after week, month after month and year after year. By recording your poundages and reps, you log your entire training program and week-by-week breakdown of how you work through routine (s) in each training cycle in journal.

A training log eliminates reliance upon memory. There will be no, "Did I squat eight reps with 330 pounds at my last squat workout, or was it seven?" Refer to your journal and you will see precisely what you did last time—i.e., what you need to improve on if you are to make your next workout a step forward.

With a well-kept and detailed journal, you'll know with absolute certainty what is working in your program and what doesn't. Are you stagnating? Not making progress you want? Go back and consult your journal at a time that you were making fantastic progress? What were you doing then that you are not doing now?