Do you go through a weekly workout routine without giving it much thought?  Hey – not judging…I’ve been guilty of this as well. What type of exercises we do, whether cardio or strength training, are many times chosen based on our schedules and how much time we have available for a workout. Personally, I tend to lean toward cardio workouts, and find I have to work strength training into my weekly schedule, else it would get pushed aside.  Regardless of what you choose to do on a regular basis, the real question is:  How do you know if what you’re doing is helping you reach your fitness goals?

5  Simple Ways to Gauge Progress…

1.  First, if you are just starting out with a regular schedule, give yourself 6-8 weeks, (preferably, 12), before assessing your progress. Changing too much too soon can hinder progress. (Still waiting for results? Keep at it, and have patience)

2.  If your goal is weight loss, don’t weigh in everyday, but don’t avoid the scale either. I recommend weighing in about once per week, and on the same day each week. Any more, and you may become frustrated by daily fluctuations. If you are not losing weight despite regular workouts and healthier eating, then perhaps you need to add longer cardio sessions, add strength training twice per week (if you aren’t strength training at all) , or jump into interval training.

3.  If your goal is to increase strength, a simple check to see if your routine is working is to ask yourself this question: Is your last repetition easier than it was a week or two ago? If so , you are getting stronger. Or, if  you can easily perform more repetitions, then your routine is working and it is time to increase your load. (Strength training progression)

4.  Are your clothes fitting differently? Sometimes body shape changes before there are changes on the scale.

5.  Are you able to workout longer during your cardio workouts, and without as much huffing and puffing? If yes, then it is time to increase distance, speed, or incline so that changes continue to take place. (How to build endurance)

Most importantly, be consistent. What you do every day matters more than what you do once in awhile, so give your body time to adapt to the changes you’re striving for. (Get past road blocks to find your path to fitness)

Earth Day is nearing, and I’m in the mood to recycle, reuse, etc. (Also, I’m really busy this week and out of original ideas to write about.) BUT, as luck would have it – I’ve unearthed some of my articles from waaaay back, and will be posting them all week long. Recycle, reuse, re-purpose…call it what you will, in honor of the upcoming Earth Day (drum roll please)...THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF-MONITORING!

Self-Monitoring is essentially the process of recording various aspects of behavior and progress toward your health and fitness goals. The act of logging your daily journey toward improved health allows you to clearly see where you started, where you are now, and where you are headed. It is a motivational tool seldom taken advantage of, yet it can yield tremendous results when implemented correctly.

What do you log?

• Food intake
• Workout details (what you did, how long you did it, or why you didn’t exercise on a particular day, how it felt, etc.)
• Changes to your routine

By logging your food/exercise habits, you can:

• Measure your progress
• Evaluate inconsistencies in your routine
• Identify problematic foods and eating patterns
• Make connections between various emotions and eating behavior
• Discover reasons why you do/don’t exercise on certain days
• Decide if it is time to make changes to your routine

The process of tracking your progress enables you to modify your behaviors on the fly. For example, by tracking your workouts and food intake, you may discover that you do great during the workweek, but free fall out of control on the weekends, overeating and putting off exercise. Or, you may find that fatigue in the evenings prevents you from working out consistently. In this case, switching to morning workouts may be the solution that leads to lasting success.

Research confirms that the practice of self-monitoring increases success.

Often, we overlook progress and choose to focus on “all-or-nothing” thinking. When this happens, those little setbacks or changes in your schedule can derail your efforts for days, weeks, or permanently. By monitoring yourself on a consistent basis, you can evaluate what is working and what isn’t, where your weaknesses lie, and gain an overall picture of the changes taking place. This lessons the likelihood for failure by a large degree.

Follow these tips to get the most out of your exercise / nutrition-tracking system:

• Do get in the habit of focusing on your successes.
• Don’t give yourself a bad grade when you slip up.
• Do evaluate your strategies often to notice what is working and what is not.
• Do focus on what you can control: workout length, workout intensity, type of exercise, and what you eat, rather than focusing on what you can’t control (blood pressure, body fat, medical needs, losing “x” number of pounds today).
• Do record your thoughts/feelings associated with exercising and eating and the beliefs you need to work on changing.
• Do tweak your routines and diet when you aren’t noticing progress. Small changes can bring big results.
• Do keep a positive attitude at all times.