Progress is a subjective term, but the definition is especially up to interpretation in the context of fitness. Whether you’ve been following a regular fitness routine for years, months, or days, you probably started on your fitness journey with the intention to make a change — be it to gain muscle, get strong, or just to improve your health overall. So, how far have you come? Maybe you haven’t given it much thought, or you just haven’t found a method that works for you, but figuring out how to track your workout progress in a way that makes you feel comfortable and motivates you to stay committed to your goals is key to advancing in your practice.
I think it’s safe to say that, the more time you spend working out different muscles and testing the limitations of your body, the more in-tune you become with yourself both physically and mentally. That sort of mind-body-soul connection is incredibly valuable, not to mention something you can trust, but there’s also value in a tangible log or documentation of some sort that literally shows you how you’re progressing if, that is, your intuition alone isn’t enough. And, TBH, for some people, it’s not.
Stan Dutton, a NASM-certified trainer and head coach for the personal training platform Ladder, says that, once in awhile, your inner critic can get in the way of noticing real progress, despite any physical evidence of said progress. “This often happens when we’re in that gray area — where progress is slowly happening, but we haven’t reached our goals yet,” he tells Elite Daily over email. So, during these times in particular, Dutton adds, it’s important to practice what he refers to as "measuring backwards" — looking at how far you’ve come in order to see that your hard work really is paying off.
“When my Ladder clients look back at their exercise history within the platform, they’ll see, not only are they getting stronger in the sense of lifting heavier weights, but they’ll also be able to track improvement in the number of push-ups they can do, or the amount of time they can hold a plank,” Dutton explains, noting that even the "smallest" improvements in your workout routine can feel the most satisfying.
So how can you go about accurately tracking your workout progress on the daily? Here are some suggestions from the experts.
Did you ever have to take those irritating timed math tests in elementary school so that your teacher could measure how fast you could do your times tables? Dutton says the same concept can be applied to fitness: All you have to do is integrate a monthly challenge into your workout schedule to measure how far you've come in your progress.
For example, how many push-ups can you do in a minute? How long can you hold a plank? You can set a monthly goal if you'd like, but what matters most is that you see improvement — any improvement — to show that you're putting in the work, and it's paying off.
Personally, I am obsessed with planners and calendars, and I always start my day by drafting a to-do list. Five out of the seven days of the week, "workout" is written next to a checkbox. According to Dutton, tracking your workouts via calendar is definitely beneficial, especially if you expand on your notes.
For instance, you could just write your workout sessions on your calendar and that would suffice, but if you want to add a little more detail, Dutton suggests writing down how much time you spent exercising on a given day, and maybe even what part of the body you worked (upper body, lower body, core, back, etc.).
"One of the most powerful things we can do is visually see how consistent we’ve been," Dutton tells Elite Daily. "Simply crossing off your workout days in a different color, if you use a traditional calendar, will give you insight into just how many workouts you’ve completed that month."
Dutton isn't wrong when he says that, because you're probably already using your phone a lot throughout the day as it is, going digital with your journaling process can be especially helpful. And, if you're more of a Q&A type of person and less likely to dedicate the time and energy to writing out your thoughts, fitness apps that serve as trackers, workout generators, and that also supply your own personal coach like Ladder does, can make a huge difference.
"Now, it isn’t just a game of adjusting the weight you use, or the reps you do week to week, but [with a training app] you’re able to have a holistic experience that takes energy level, time constraints, and any aches or pains into consideration," Dutton says. "While a simpler app can prompt you to provide feedback, having a human on the other end will do what no computer can — listen, understand, and implement a plan that’s fit for you."
Your body is constantly switching things up; sometimes you'll feel light as a feather and energetic, other times you might feel bloated and lethargic. Either way, it's all natural, my friend, and that's exactly why relying on a scale to track your progress isn't such a great idea. Instead, Dutton suggests measure your success in other ways, like how heavy you're lifting, or how many reps you can complete in a set.
"Fluctuations can be very demotivating, so it’s important for us to be able to measure success in a number of ways," he tells Elite Daily. "If you’re exercising in the gym, notice that you’re able to lift more weight, or do more reps than you could a few weeks ago. If you’re a runner, notice that you’re getting faster or are able to run further."