Introduction
We all know that we should track our macros or our calorie intake, we know this because it is a proven way to shred fat or gain muscle. Whatever your goal is! When measuring your macros/calories you can know exactly what you are eating and if you are not getting the results you wanted then you make adjustments as you see fits. Well, what if I told you that you should be doing this for everything to do with your workouts! Let me explain.
I was once told that only things that are measured change, the famous quote is “Only what gets measured can be improved.” That is true. How can you expect to get better if you don’t know where you are starting from. In this article we will not only explain why you should measure various other things but also when and how to do so. So let us get started.
The Basics: Where to start
Let us start by saying that everyone always thinks it’s a hassle to measure, write down and track your progress, and it might be, to start with. Once you get in the flow it doesn’t take very time or effort at all. Plus when you start seeing those number go up (or down) it can be really rewarding. So let us start with the why, why should you measure everything to do with your workout? Quite simply, to help you improve and hit targets. Let us say you wanted to get better at a certain lift, you can’t just guess each week if you are making progress you have to know and have a kind of plan.
So let us use Squats for an example. Say you wanted to improve your squats. You would start with a base measurement, you would go into the gym and just squat, except after each set you would write down how man reps and how much weight you squatted. This would give you a benchmark. So next time you go into the gym you would either hit more reps or more weight or even another set, then write this down. You keep doing and you will be able to see your improvements and what you can lift. Each day, Week or Month slowly improving over your other lift. We will do a whole other blog post about calculate Workout volume and increasing it over time.
Continued…
When you boil it down to the very basics, all you are doing is writing down your volume for that exercise then the next time you come to do that exercise you will beat that number, by 20kg, 10kg or even 1.25kg, keep adding weight, week after week and it will soon start adding up, and because you have it all written down you will be able to see exactly how much you have improved. For example, if you increase your bench press by 2.5kg every week. In one month you would have added 10kg to your bench press.
The best way to think about it is like a big hike. You know where your start point is….because you are already there, but if you don’t know where your destination is then all you are going to do is wander around aimlessly looking for the finish and hopefully, you might make a bit of progress towards the finish. Whereas if you had a known finish point and a plan of action, let us say a map then you know that this way goes to the finish line, I got to get to this point, then this point then this point and so on till I hit my goal!
Everything or one thing: What should I track
Now you may be asking yourself, do I have to track everything in my workout? and the simple answer is, no! What you track is completely up to you, personally, I have done a wide range of tracking, from tracking every part of my workout, every lift, run and rest all the way to just tracking the big compound movements.
So what do we recommend you do? all depends on your workout routine, remember if you are going to be tracking every exercise in your workout then you will have to do the same workout week after week, and if you are a fan of mixing things up, this might not be the best thing for you. Luckily for you people, you can just measure the big lifts or the “compound” lifts. It all depends on your workout routines. You could just start off with tracking the Big 4. Squat, Bench, Shoulder Press and Deadlift.
Home use: What about home workouts?
If you are doing home workouts, for starts you should be using our amazing application, which you can download here! Filled with amazing home workouts that anyone and everyone can do! Simple, easy and effective. If you are doing home workouts the same thing applies, you got to keep track of how well you are doing, how many push-ups can you do, how many sit-ups or how long you just skipped for! This was you can see your improvement, understand your weaker points and focus on them more to bring them up. Just because you aren’t using equipment doesn’t mean you don’t have to track.
When doing home workouts, I tend to do timed sets over reps. So I track how long I perform an exercise for. Say, I do Burpee’s for 30 seconds, then the next time I do burpee’s I will extend this amount. Or you can go the other way and track your rests and bring them down over the weeks. Start at 60 seconds rest and every week drop it by 5 seconds to increase intensity.
Tips and Ticks: Things to remember and things to help
When tracking your compound lifts only, we would strongly recommend doing these lifts first, after a warm-up, you can use the sets and reps app to find the perfect warm-up routine. After you warm up, you do you main compound life, write it down and then move on with the rest of your workout. So if it was chest day, you would warm up, then do your main compound. Bench press, Dumbbell press, something along those lines. Record the biggest weight then carry on with the rest of your workout.
Remember fatigue will kick in if you keep increasing the reps or weight. You may either have to have a short break, extra rest day or go on a de-load period. This is a period of time where you pull the weight back and lift lighter to allow your body to fully recover.
Conclusion
So in conclusion, if you want to see huge improvements, understand your body and muscles a bit more then we suggest tracking your workouts, writing down your weights, sets and your reps to see yourself improving! Get a notebook and start writing down your goals, your target and then track until you reach them!
Track your calories, track you workouts and watch the results flood in! Don’t end up wandering around without a map, Grab a sat nav and reach your goal sooner!!!
What parts of your workouts do you track? Let us know over on Instagram.
Written by Kieran Blacker
Kieran is the CEO and Founder of Sets & Reps. He decided to make an application that helped people get a gym workout when not at the gym. He designed, Coded and built the application himself.