An old phrase used in the fitness industry is “if you ain’t measuring you’re guessing” to basically say you need to be taking note of some measurables to enable your success. There are so many and I have discussed some of these in previous posts and in this post I will explain key data points and give a real-world example from a client.
So firstly this does not mean apps. I have constantly found apps to be a waste of time for a variety of reasons. They offer too many irrelevant measurements which can have the effect of moving focus away from the more important ones. Quite often these apps don’t accurately measure what they say they are and therefore can be misleading.
Your time is better spent focussing on relevant numbers based on your specific outcomes and the challenges you face as an individual. Furthermore your training is also unique to you so capturing that relevant data is also important.
Most importantly you need to be able to read and interpret the data, this providing you with an accurate overview of what’s working and what’s not in your training process.
It’s not only training that needs keeping track of there’s food and sleep as well, plus, in my mind we need to be tracking our mental game, breathwork and meditation most importantly. I am of the belief, a belief built from years of trial and error that we need to silence our minds frequently and by doing so, enable much better clarity of thought.
These are my “big 4” being training, sleep, food and mental fitness and we need to track certain data around these.
In the data I’m presenting below my client Mike made great initial progress and then after 5-6 months the results tapered and began reversing. He and I are constantly communicating and I’m always trying to keep him focussed on the important parts of our collaboration. On several occasions we’ve had honest, courageous discussions where I’ve had to point out trends in data related to trends in behaviour.
It’s important to note that when it comes to the big 4, there’s usually lifelong habits that can be very hard to redress. Communication of messages designed to rectify such habits and behaviours has to be thought out and designed for maximum effect. Quite often the messaging is longitudinal, which I mean to be frequent and over a long period! A friend once remarked that certain people needed the keyboard communication technique to which I replied, “you mean emailing them” and he said no, “you have to punch it in”.
I’m sure you would expect I don’t use the keyboard approach, I use a variety of techniques all designed of course to get the my client the best outcome.
My most recent review with Mike had me suggesting he was most definitely using excuses for some of his behaviours and his feedback to me since correcting them and achieving the gains he has was to thank me for my forthrightness.
You can see from his results that there are some significant correlations around stress (resting heart rate and blood pressure) and weightloss. Plus look at the intermittent fasting average daily hours in June compared to previous months. Also look at the average daily gains in muscle mass and water in June, both significant markers of health. We collect daily numbers that take him a few minutes every day to upload and as you can see we have built an impressive amount of quality data specifically designed to help Mike achieve his goals.
There’s a lot to gain from tracking program-specific data. I use this remotely with clients and have weekly online fact to face reviews where we deep dive into relevant topics. This enables me to tweak the programming to maintain its effectiveness and keep my clients on track.
If my clients aren’t progressing they lose momentum, this being a symptom of poor oversight on my part. If you need accountability, are time challenged and don’t necessarily want to be exercising in a gym and want a world-class fitness solution that addresses all areas of your lifestyle feel free to reach out! If you would like to download my free eBook you can do so right HERE
