MEASURING PROGRESS: BEYOND THE SCALE

Tracking your progress in the gym is an important thing to do so you can get stronger, feel healthier, and feel a sense of accomplishment in what you’re doing. But what does that look like? The truth is that there are so many ways to measure your progress, and this goes far beyond aesthetics or a number on the scale. I’m going to explain the many ways you can do this so you can ensure you’re getting the most out of your training physically and mentally.

Strength Improvements

Strength improvements may come across as simple: lift heavier weights, right?

Nope. Don’t think so simple. Rather than confining yourself to only increasing the weight you’re lifting, think about how many reps and sets you’re doing from week to week. To make this easy, I’m going to share an example.

Week 1: You did three sets of ten reps with a 40-pound dumbbell.
Week 2: You did three sets of twelve reps with a 40-pound dumbbell.

The weight didn’t change here, but you still progressed from week one to week two. This type of progress could also be shown in how many sets you did - i.e. four sets instead of three. Essentially, if you’re doing more reps with the same weight from week to week, that's great progress.

Conditioning & Endurance

When it comes to conditioning and endurance, there are also many ways you can progress. One great sign of progress is how long of breaks you feel you need during a workout. Maybe your first week of training, you find yourself needing three minute breaks between sets to feel ready to start your next movement. Within a few weeks, you may find that you feel more ready to start your next set within just 90 seconds. Maybe you even feel less fatigued when you do twelve reps of squats in the third week versus the first week. Over time, you should feel more and more energized through your workouts which will translate to making movements (like stairs) in your everyday life easier as well.

Improved Form & Technique

Improving your form and technique in the gym is one major sign of progress that can easily be forgotten about. On week one of training, you might find it challenging to learn new movement patterns. You may have to move slow through them and not have full range of motion. Over several weeks, you’ll find that you start getting more comfortable with movements and can do them more naturally. You might get more depth in a squat or be able to fully extend your arm overhead, which you used to struggle with. These are huge signs of progress and are arguably the most important things to help you feel better in your day-to-day life.

Mental & Emotional

Finally, my favorite form of progress. Working out can help you improve your mental health in many ways. When you start moving better and feeling stronger, you likely will have more confidence in yourself and your abilities. Getting in a routine with working out and having a plan will translate to you having more discipline in other aspects of your life, which helps create that sense of accomplishment I mentioned earlier. You may even find that working out can decrease anxiety and make your mind feel more clear. The benefits you can see mentally through training are countless.

Conclusion

Tracking progress in the gym goes so far beyond the scale or aesthetics. There are ways to progress in strength, conditioning, form, and mentality. Progress goes so far beyond numbers, and I hope through some of the ways I have shared, you are able to celebrate yourself and the progress you have, or can, make in the gym. Do not limit yourself to numbers. Celebrate the small things and keep getting better!