Why tracking your workout progress will get you better results

I think we can all agree that we go to the gym because we want to improve in one way or another: whether it’s shredding weight, becoming leaner or more bulky, or just keeping fit, we all want to become better versions of ourselves, through perseverance and determination. To maximise your chances of succeeding you should track your progress.

Progress is defined as ‘forward or onward movement towards a destination’. But how do we know if we’re moving forward towards our fitness goal? Simple. By knowing where we’re standing initially. This is why, if you’re serious about wanting to make physical changes, we cannot stress enough how important it is to track your progress. This does not mean going on the scales every day and panicking if our bodies retain some water, this means creating a plan and structure that can support this progress, by tracking your workouts.

Challenge Yourself

The main reason why we don’t usually track our workouts is because we have a workout routine we are comfortable with and that we feel does the job so we stick to it. The problem with this approach is that if the workout remains the same for too long, progress becomes limited. In fact, as your body adapts to the workout, you actually require less strength and effort, due to your body becoming more efficient at performing the same exercises. By writing everything down, you ensure you can spot the trend and add some variety to your workout. Even if it’s one extra rep per workout - that means that the volume of work or intensity your body is going through does not remain constant and as a result encourages further adaptations. By doing so, you’re also being challenged by competing with yourself and constantly aiming to do better.

Add Structure to Your Workout

Sometimes it's easy to simply pick a piece of equipment and starting training. Whilst this is great because we are being active, repeating this over and over without a structure in place makes it more difficult to compare workouts and assess if progress is being made. To add some structure, start by defining your goal e.g. losing 10lbs over 8 weeks and then plan a workout routine that will help you work towards that goal. Once you have your workout, follow the routine for a few weeks and track your progress over that period. After a period of 8-12 weeks, assess your progress so far, review your workout plan and change it so your body doesn’t get too used to the same workout (see Benefits of Changing Your Workout). This could involve changing the exercises involved, varying tempo, rest times, loads, duration or intensity.

Track Your Progress

Here's how to do it: To track weight loss, fat loss or muscle gain start by measuring your body once a week, on the same day and at a similar time. Be careful, don’t do it more often as you don’t want to trigger an OCD-type behaviour of constantly measuring yourself. Take some pictures of yourself, take measurements (neck, shoulders, chest, bicep, waist, hips, thighs - can be all or just a few of these), measure body fat % using calipers or scales designed to do this or even go on the scales, but be aware that the scales are not always our friend - for example, if you start building muscle, you might become heavier, but leaner than before.

Tracking does not have to be limited to weight goals. You could measure your 1 rep max (1RM) to measure change in strength or the maximum number of reps you can do with a certain weight e.g. 70% of 1RM. There re also many other measurements you can use to monitor aerobic performance progress.

Track Your Food - whether it’s with the help of an app or just writing down your meals, tracking your food helps make you aware of your daily intake and by visualising everything it becomes easier to know which dietary changes may be beneficial.

Applying The Numbers

To track your numbers you can use apps such as Workout Log, Fitness Point or any of the apps found in the paraphernalia available online, or simply the notes function of your phone or an old-school diary. Regardless of the way you log it, now you need to try and use the numbers to push yourself. So if you did 10 press-ups last week, you need to be able to do 11 or more this week. If you ran 5 miles in 45 minutes, aim to run 5 miles in less 45 minutes. If you did squats with 130lbs yesterday, try to squat with 130.5 today. Aim for small increments on a daily if not weekly basis.

Have A Plan

By adding some structure to your workout, you can commence that forward or onward movement towards your destination. By focusing on getting stronger or fitter and being more knowledgeable of what you eat and track your progress, you will get there.

Want to start tracking your progress and still don’t know how to go about it? Why not pop in and speak to our Synergy Mentors who can offer you free fitness advice and support to help you reach your goal.