5 Ways to Track and Optimize Your Fitness Progress

This is the first part of a 2-week series we're I'm going to cover some of what we do in our weekly client check-ins to help them get results faster, more efficiently, and most importantly, in the healthiest way possible.

Read time:?3.5 minutes

---

As an executive or business owner, tracking metrics and data is likely part of your job - at least if you want to maximize your business's success.

Tracking sales numbers, conversions, newsletter sign-ups, employee productivity, and customer retention...there are any number of valuable metrics that help you run a more productive business.

Health and fitness is no different.

And with clients in our?Executive Life Transformation program, we measure many different forms of both tangible and intangible data; to help them achieve the success they're looking for.

This data is what allows us to make strategic adjustments to their plan so we can get progress quickly, efficiently, and most importantly, in the healthiest way possible.

Without this data, we'd just be stumbling around in the dark, throwing crap at the wall and hoping it sticks.

And in order to get the most out of YOUR health and fitness program, you need to do the same.

You need to treat your body like you do your business?- at least if you want to achieve the same level of success.

So this week, I'm going to cover the 5 different tangible metrics you can track regularly, and how you can use them to tweak your program and improve progress...

1) Weight

This is probably an obvious one, but a lot of people aren't aware just how much you can learn by tracking your weight.

It can tell you if you're losing fat or gaining muscle, yes. But just because the scale is moving one direction or another, it's not always a 1:1 correlation.

Our weight reacts to many different things:?From stress levels and poor sleep, to bloating and digestive issues, hard workouts, hydration, or bowel movement frequency.

All these affect what the scale says day to day, and why we never look at any one weigh-in to judge progress.

When judging scale progress, the best thing to do is weigh yourself daily, and then judge your progress on weekly averages.

2) Progress Pics

Pictures tell us what the scale doesn't. Often times you may not be seeing progress on the scale, but visually getting results.

Pictures also can give indications on if your body is stressed, inflamed, or not recovering as well as it should be. All of which will affect the rate of progress.

Using weight and pics together is the best way to measure physical changes in your body.

3) Resting Heart Rate

RHR is a very strong indicator of what your future progress may look like.

A high RHR is a sign of an over-active sympathetic nervous system. The more our sympathetic nervous system is activated, the more stress our body is under. And this translates to a higher resting heart rate.

Stress affects our body's ability to?recover properly, regulate hormones, burn fat, build muscle, produce energy, and think clearly.?All of which will hinder your ability to get in shape and improve your health.

If your RHR heart rate is above 60-65 - especially when you first wake up - that's a sign your body is under more stress than it should be, and steps need to be taken to bring that down.

4) Blood Pressure

Much like RHR, blood pressure can be a sign of elevated stress, because it's measuring how hard your heart is working to pump blood throughout your body.

The common "normal" reading referenced is 120/80, but optimal readings are a bit lower than that, around 110-115/70-75.

If you have elevated blood pressure, one of the things you can do right away to bring that down is steady-state cardio. Often times if we have clients with severely elevated BP readings, we'll add in more cardio to start, to help bring down that and RHR.

5) Macros/Calories

The last important tangible metric you can track to help improve progress is monitoring your calories and macros.

If your goal is to lose weight and get in better shape, you have to be in a calorie deficit to lose fat. And the only way to all but guarantee that is to track your calories.

Going a step further, tracking your macros allows you to ensure your body is getting the right balance of protein, carbs, and fat.

Our bodies need each of these to perform different functions optimally, and monitoring your intake of each of these is the best way to understand exactly what and how much you're eating, while also optimizing your progress

---

There you have 5 metrics to monitor to help you better understand what's going on in your body, and why you may be seeing the progress you're seeing.

In next week's issue of?ELS, we're going to talk more about the intangible metrics we track each week, how we use that to adjust client plans so they are getting the best progress possible, and how you can use them as well.

Any questions on this week's issue? Hit 'Reply' and let me know

Coach Jorden

Whenever you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:

1.?Follow me on LinkedIn ?and turn on post notifications so you never miss more helpful advice.

2. Join our?free coaching group on Slack .

3.?Schedule a free 10-minute Discovery Call ?to inquire more about working 1-on-1 with us to improve your health and fitness for good.