Many of us are working towards goals. But how can we be sure we are taking those baby steps to reach them? That is where progress measurement comes into play! Keep in mind there is no one size fits all. How you define progress will look different based upon you and your starting point. However, if you are looking for some general advice on where to start to keep an eye on your fitness and nutrition goals… feel free to utilize the tools listed below!
Use InBody Scans: The scale alone will not show you the information you need. More often than not when we make goals related to our physical appearance we are looking for a change in body fat percentage. For example, let's say you want to gain muscle and lose fat, you need to check in with an Inbody scan to ensure your lean muscle mass is increasing, and your fat mass is decreasing. Keep in mind that muscle weighs more than fat due to its greater density. So you may feel those jeans getting looser, but not see the scale move the way you want it to. Inbody will give you a clearer picture of what’s going on.
Feel How your Clothes Fit: I have seen quite a feel people use this method religiously and see great results. Grab an item of clothing you know you can use as a marker, and see if a few months of solid effort makes some changes there.
Log Your Improvement in Truecoach: At work, many of us clock in and out. This shows that we’ve been in the office, putting in work, and deserve our wage. The same rings true when we keep track of our improvement within the gym. We have been completing our workouts, we've been lifting weights, doing the cardio, etc, and overtime when you log the progress you will notice a positive shift. Rome wasn’t built in a day nor will your fitness goals be reached in a week.
Snap Some Progress Pics and Videos: Need I say more? You see yourself everyday. This means that your slow fade into being ripped may go unnoticed. When you take pictures you can look back and truly see the difference. Videos are a great tool as well to look at improvement in form and technique.
Keep a Journal: It may sound silly but keeping a journal can help turn our attention from religiously worrying about metrics, to analyzing how our body feels. For example, if you wrote at the beginning of your journal that your knees hurt when you walk for long periods of time, and now you’re writing that you can go on long hikes with no pain; that demonstrates amazing progress that goes beyond body fat percentage.
Finishing Reminders: Progress looks different for everyone. For a female with amenorrhea, a progressive step for her would be increasing her body fat percentage, for an overweight individual getting consistent with two times in the gym is great progress, or for a highly stressed business owner, taking relaxing walks during lunch breaks could be helpful. Ultimately, you decide what you want your life to look like, but we at SAA are here to guide you towards results! Keep working hard.