How to Track Fitness Progress?

You may have heard that muscle is heavier than fat – this isn’t true – a pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle. The difference is that muscle is denser than fat, so it takes up less space, which has an impact on how your body looks.

When it comes to weight, if you are looking to reduce your overall fat content or if you are looking to increase mass and increase your weight, you simply need to step on the scales and record the number.

If you are aiming to lose weight you need to remember that the more you work out the more muscle you will gain, which will affect how much weight you are losing – but remember this isn’t a bad thing.

When it comes to losing weight, you want to lose fat and keep your lean mass, water and muscle. Muscle is the engine that burns the fat. When you want to lose fat you need to find out how much you have.

If you are solely going off the bathroom scales you could be losing muscle and water and not fat, meaning you could be going in the wrong direction!

Due to the limitations of simply tracking your weight, we always recommend that you carry out body composition testing.

Simply stepping on a scale will not tell you if you've gained muscle or lost fat. Body composition testing will give you an accurate measurement of what your body is made up of.

Ways to test body compostion

• The cheapest method, completed by taking measurements of skin folds at various parts of the body.
• Bio Impedance Analysis, measurements are taken by passing an electrical signal through the body. What we use at S3 Fitness.
• Hydrostatic weighing. The old gold standard to determine body fat, how much do you weigh on land and then under water?

Other ways to make sure you’re moving in the right direction, how do your clothes fit? Can you see more definition? Are your energy levels and sleep improving?

It is a good idea to measure your body composition every 2-4 weeks. The more you measure the better it is to help you to see if you are making progress, identify areas for improvement and help you make more informed decisions when it comes to training and nutrition.

Make an appointment with your doctor to get a physical and have your blood tests done every year!

We always love hearing from our clients how after a year of working with us their doctor can't believe how much their blood tests have improved to become so much healthier decreasing their risk of diseases long term! 

When you are working out it is important to track your progress. If you are using a personal trainer, they should be tracking your performance for you. If you are training alone, then select the best method for you.

You will need to measure how consistent you've been (one of the most important things to track!), your volume and intensity in your workouts and how much stronger you've become!

Over time the more data you have the more you can analyse and gauge your improvements and how much progress you've made! 

On final way to track your progress of how fit you are is to sign up for an annual or bi-annual race or event to test yourself whether it's a 5K, a Spartan or we just had our Tactical Strength Challenge this past week.  Pick out a date or event to put your body to the test and see what you got!