Tracking your progress in the gym is crucial to achieving your fitness goals. Not only does it help you stay motivated, but it also allows you to see your progress over time and make adjustments to your workout routine.
It sounds good but a lot of times we aren’t sure just *exactly* what that means in real time.
What do I track?
What does success look like for me?
Why does it matter?
- It keeps you going: Seeing progress, no matter how small, can be incredibly motivating. It’s a tangible way to see the results of your hard work and can encourage you to keep pushing yourself. So often we skip over the seemingly “little” things because we’re so focused on the outcome instead of the effort.
- Goal setting: A simple way to track is to aim for a number to hit or to complete a streak. Things like “I’m going to work out 2 days each week, every week” or “I’m going to go for a 10 minute walk every day.” Continuing to complete that goal helps you build a habit. Once again, we’re focusing on the effort and not just the end outcome. But those measurable numbers help!
- Accountability: Tracking your progress keeps you accountable. If you set a goal to do 2 workouts per week and you can look back and see a few weeks that you weren’t doing it, you know where you can make changes. Look at how you can build accountability in from there. That may mean you want to join a group training program so you can pay, sign up and attend 2 times per week (instead of trying to just find the motivation on your own).
- Identify patterns: By tracking your progress, you can identify patterns and trends in your performance. For example, you may notice that you always struggle with a particular exercise or that you perform better at a certain time of day.
- Celebrate successes: Finally, tracking your progress allows you to celebrate your successes. Whether it’s lifting a heavier weight or running a faster pace, acknowledging your progress and celebrating your successes can help you stay motivated and committed to the long haul. Fitness never ends. We want to build this in to part of your life and it becomes just the thing that you do. That means showing up consistently and forever. Noticing the wins along the way is critical to help you keep going.