The Ups (and Downs!) of Tracking Fitness Metrics
As a fitness coach, I love digging into the wealth of knowledge that’s available on the subject of human health and performance. From sleep patterns to body composition make-ups, to workout time improvements and new strength accomplishments, if it can be measured and it plays a role in adding to our potential capabilities, I’m into it.
The advances in technology over even just the past 10 years have made it possible to examine how we’re eating, sleeping, breathing, and everything in between in ways that would have previously seemed like far-fetched science fiction. Not only are we now able to find out more than ever about how our bodies function, but access to these metrics is constantly available by simply opening an app. For all that I love in what’s measurable (and for the gym/health nerd in me, that’s a lot), I’ve also noticed a switch in how I feel about tracking my personal data points as apps that seemingly know more about us than we do have become so prevalent.
On one hand, tracking our numbers (body fat percentage, weight, workout times, strength benchmarks, etc.) is the way for us to see that the hard work we’re putting in is working! Without knowing where you are when you begin, how are you going to know when you make strides in a positive direction? In this instance, measuring and tracking are among the top of our recommendations for new members. These metrics are not just interesting data points; they also play an important role in realizing the fruits of our labor and keeping our eyes looking forward to what could possibly come next.
At the same time, tracking the intricacies of our bodies in every way possible can also become overwhelming. What if setting goals and tracking them down just isn’t your thing? What if you’ve been working out for a while now and are more interested in being confident in your body and abilities than stressing about your back squat numbers not going up anymore? Or, what if just getting to the gym is a hurdle to get over in itself and any measurement beyond that is just too much to think about? These are instances where I see the pressure to perform created by constantly examining our metrics working against us more than it helps us excel. I’ve even seen some people move away from all the potential benefits of coming to class because they noticed a regression in a few of their numbers over the years. Talk about missing the forest for the trees!
If you’re like me and love exploring every bit of data to eke out efficiency and track progress, here a few high-level ideas I try to keep in mind when balancing the positives of technology and tracking with becoming overwhelmed by more data than is necessary:
Progress isn’t always linear. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that for all of us, right? Just because we can measure our progress doesn’t mean we’re completely off the path when the results temporarily head in a different direction than planned. If your projection is that strength numbers will continually trend upward forever, or that your run times will always follow a downward trajectory, you’re setting yourself up for certain defeat. As in life, the ups and downs of fitness are a guarantee, not an “if.” As you track your progress, keep the big picture in mind, and don’t get lost in the daily details. There will be ups and downs along the way!
Technology is a tool. While all the metrics we have access to can be illuminating, they can also be way more than is necessary. The number of steps you take in a day, the patterns of last night’s sleep, the macronutrient profile of our afternoon snack, or the fluctuations in our body fat percentage are all very informative, but that doesn’t mean that we need to examine them every time we pick up our phone. We see the doctor for a physical on a yearly basis, not every day or week, so we have a high-level view of the trends. Whatever the frequency of your fitness data check-ins are for you, try to keep a similar relationship in place so you don’t over fixate on what isn’t worth creating unneeded stress over.
Observe the numbers, but listen to your body. All quantifiable data aside, how do you feel? Now more than ever, this is the main benchmark I’m trying to pay attention to. Instead of using data from our technology as a constantly-monitored crutch, the true win is in using these metrics to tell us what’s going on with our bodies so that we’re even more in tune with the signals we’re getting from within! While an app may be able to highlight issues we’re dealing with in a way that we can’t instantly pick up, there’s a lot that we can work to improve if we stop for a second, slow down, and listen to what our body is telling us.
At the end of the day, what works best for you is what works best for you. My hope is that—whether it be by stretching, lifting weights, getting through a workout faster than we did last time, or just getting to the gym at all—all our hard work is about making us happier, not just grinding the gears or hitting some target number. Know what you value in your time at the gym and use it to learn about your capacity and potential, and to understand that no matter the technology we use to guide us when necessary, there’s seldom a substitute for listening to our bodies and doing the work.