Ways to Track Fitness Progress OUTSIDE of the Scale

Fitness

Mar 8

This topic is so near and dear to my heart. I promise you...there are very VERY few moments in my fitness journey that a scale has made me feel good about the hard work I put into my fitness.

Guys! I am not exaggerating. Early on in my journey I found myself running to the scale to check to see if the last 2 weeks of work slapped on those 5 lbs I've been dreaming of. Picture it! All sweaty and proud of the workout I just completed. I run and jump onto the scale! One foot, two feet! "Yea boi! Lewwe see wuh gine on now!" Moving the thing there on the scale left, then right, a little to the left, a smidge to the right.....*death stare*. "You’re kidding me! After all that I only moved up by 1 whole lb!!!! Stupse!!!"

This post really isn't to bash the scale. It has its purpose when used in context with other things and there are healthy ways to utilise it. Lol don't be like me running to the scale every two weeks. The focus of this post, however, is to highlight the many OTHER, sometimes more representative modalities of gauging your growth when embarking on a fitness journey. Let's get into them!

Progress pictures are so so useful for providing visual evidence of changes in your body that may not be represented on a scale. Evidence of toning and even fat loss from certain parts of your body can take place without a change in the objective weight measured by a scale. I usually recommend taking photos at the beginning and the end of a program block. That way the photos can give some insight into how effective that program has been. The same goes for body measurements.
According to NASM-certified trainers, on average changes can be noticed within 6 weeks. However, because we are all different, some persons will see results sooner while it may take longer for others.

Tracking increases or decreases in strength is also another good modality to go by. One of the simplest ways of doing this is by recording the weights that you are able to lift, push or pull over time. For example, during week 1 of your program you were able to bicep curl 10kg. By the time you reached week 8, your record has shown that now you are curling 25kg easily. That is a strong indicator of the increase in your strength over time.
You will hear this term A LOT! It is important that you know what it means. This refers to the gradual increase in the volume (weight), intensity or frequency of a workout so as to challenge to your current level of fitness and thereby stimulate muscle growth & increase strength. Progressive overload is a highly recommended training strategy for all persons wishing to grow in fitness.

Frank & Pablo whenever they have to workout!

This! Definitely one of the most underrated indicators of progress. A lot of people start out a fitness journey feeling many different things. These can include being expectant but scared, uncomfortable or not confident. Some people even feel like meeting with a personal trainer at 3pm to put in 30 minutes of work is a chore. One the most beautiful evolutions I've seen in others and myself is a change in attitudes towards fitness. Seeing growth in this regard is tremendously beneficial to staying consistent with your fitness lifestyle. You WANT to reach a point where your face no longer looks like Frank & Pablo over here!
When I started out in the gym, I felt a little uncomfortable and not my most confident. Also, when it came to Arm day OMG I hated it!!! But I kept showing up and putting in the work. Now, the gym is like my second home and one of the places I feel my most confident. Now I actually look forward to arm day! Being accountable to myself and seeing tremendous growth occurring right before my eyes definitely helped me to grow in this way.

I’m referring to how quickly you can complete a workout without compromising form. Initially, it might take you 1.5 hours to finish a leg day workout. In some cases you may not even be able to complete the workout because you ran out of time. Signs of progress in this context can look like you being able to complete that same leg day routine in half that time. Using a timer while you workout can help you gauge progress in speed.
If you have difficulty managing time efficiently in the gym I strongly encourage you to check out my blog post 'Top 8 Tips for Saving time in the gym'. Within it you’ll find some of my tried and tested hacks for getting in your best work in as little time to get some powerful tips to help you improve in that area.

Also known for short as RPE. This is a more technical fitness term that your personal trainer may use to gauge your improvement over time. The rate of perceived exertion describes how hard you feel like your body is working during exercise. It is a way of measuring physical activity intensity. According to NASM, the RPE scale was created by a Swedish researcher in 1960 to enable someone's feelings about their exercise to indicate level of intensity of that exercise.
Anyone can use this tool to help track improvement in fitness overtime. As your muscles grow and adapt in response to an exercise stimulus, the stronger they become. So for a given weight, less effort is needed to move said weight as strength increases. The RPE score will therefore decreas. This can be practically applied by simply scoring yourself at the end of a movement or entire workout. Keeping a record of this over time allows you to gauge if the amount of exertion needed to complete a movement or workout is improving over time.

Link to RPE Scale

There you have it guys! I really hope that this was helpful. If it was do let me know. Your feedback is very valuable to me. Also SHARE it with a friend! Praying continued growth in your fitness journeys. Never forget that the zeal, the energy, the fight inside you is more than enough to crush those goals.