Some people gained strength and muscle while others lost tremendous amounts of weight and body fat; despite the differing goals and vastly different results, they all made one specific change that helped them truly get the results they wanted:
I’d guess this is 80% of people who try and fail to get in shape. Fortunately, you’re reading this BlogFitness which means you’re most likely smart, incredibly good looking, humble, and aware that doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results is the definition of insanity. On top of that, you understand and value the importance of tracking your progress – as the saying goes “that which get measured gets improved.” This is true specifically for these reasons:.
•Scales don’t tell the whole story. If you are training the right way (with an emphasis on strength training), your weight might not drop as fast as it would if you starved yourself and ran 20 miles a day. Heck, you might be getting stronger and more muscular but the scale refuses to budge. Now, if you only had a scale as your ‘measuring stick,’ you’d probably get super discouraged and depressed at the lack of “progress.” However, if you were tracking your body changes properly, you’d realize that you are making far more significant and healthier progress by doing things the right way. At the end of Saint’s journey to the Ab-promise land, his weight WENT UP while his body fat percentage went down. The scale can lie!
•You don’t know if you’re on the right path. Along with the scale not telling the whole story, it’s tough to tell if you’re losing the right kind of weight in the right kind of places. There are so many other aspects to consider other than the number on the scale, including how you look, feel, and where the weight loss is coming from – your muscles or your stored fat. It’s like driving cross country without a map, compass, road signs, or land marks to use – how do you know you’re going the right way if you have no idea where you were or where you’re headed?
•You don’t know how much you’re eating. If you’re overweight, you probably don’t realize how many calories you consume on a daily basis. If you’re underweight and “can’t gain weight no matter what you eat,” you probably don’t realize how many calories you consume on a daily basis. Americans have such a warped sense of reality when it comes to proper “portion size” and what constitutes a meal. We need to be better informed.
•You can’t tell if you’re getting stronger. Our bodies need to be constantly challenged in order to adapt and get stronger. If you do three sets of 10 push ups every day for a year…you will just be really good at doing 3 sets of 10 push ups and nothing more. You need to constantly increase the difficulty of your workouts in order to get results. If you didn’t know how you did last time, how the hell are you going to know if you’re doing better this time?
•That which is measured gets improved! I’m sure there are actual psychological reasons behind why this works, but I know that I get better results when I exercise if I know EXACTLY what I need to lift or how fast I need to run to get stronger and better. If I did 30 push ups in a row last week, then this week I have “31! 31! 31!” emblazoned in my mind while doing them…sure enough I’ll get to 31. On top of that, if you’re constantly keeping track of what you eat, taking measurements, and tracking your workouts, you will always be thinking “healthy!” and thus make healthier decisions on a more consistent basis.
Hopefully at this point you’ve at least come to the conclusion that maybe you should start tracking your progress. “Yes Steve, I have seen the light and I’m ready to start tracking my progress…tell me what the hell I need to do!”
PERFECT. Here’s how to do it..
THE NUMBER ON THE SCALE DOES NOT DEFINE YOU! Tomas, learned this the hard way, of course. When you strength train and eat properly, your body tends to only shed fat while keeping the muscle you already have. Compare that to crash dieting and hours of cardio where your “weight loss” will be greater…but you’ll be losing both muscle and fat (and leave you looking and feeling like a weakling).
Here are the best ways to track yourself OTHER than a scale:
Take a picture – My favorite method. Stand in front of a mirror in a bathing suit or your underwear with your cell phone camera and take a picture.:) Come on, we all have done it, so dont be shy. Then turn to the side and take another picture of your profile view. You might not like what you see. You might not want to look at it again, and you probably won’t want to show it to anybody. THAT’S FINE. Just take the picture, hide it in a folder on your computer, and add to it once a week. You live with yourself (duh), so it’s tough to notice changes on a day-to-day basis. However, if you have two months of week-to-week photos to look back on, you’ll be able to tell if your body is transitioning in the right way.
Take measurements
You can also do this, but I still havent gotten this far... I like the picture method. But here are extra steps you may take
-Neck (for most people, this is the thing that connects your body to your head)
-Shoulders (both arms down at your side, at the widest point from shoulder to shoulder)
-Chest (lift up your arms, wrap the tape measure around your chest, just above the nipple, and then lower your arms)
-Bicep (either left or right, but be consistent)
-Waist (at the belly button for consistency)
-Hips (measure the widest part of your hips)
-Thigh (left or right, but pick the same spot on your thigh each week)
Track Your Workouts
When you exercise, do you do so with purpose? Do you know exactly what you’re going to do and how long it should take you? Or do you kind of wander around the gym like a lost sheep, trying to figure out which machines look fun to use that day. If you’re serious about getting in shape, you need to start tracking your workouts:
•If you did 3 sets of 10 push ups last week for a total of 30 push ups, you need to be able to do 31 total push ups this week to be stronger.
•If you did squats with 135 pounds last week, this week you better be squatting 136 pounds or more
•If you did 3 pull ups last week, you know you need to get to 4 this week if you want to be stronger.
Have a plan, know what kind of results you need to get in order to be better today than you were yesterday, and then GET THERE! You can certainly use any of the sites listed above for diet tracking to keep track of your workouts too, but I personally prefer just using an Excel or Google document (when I’m strength training), or a simple new entry in Evernote (when I’m exercising while traveling). I always know exactly how I did in my last workout so that I know what I need to do in this workout to get stronger.
And that is how I did it and am doing it... Share with me your progess
Tomas Reyes
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