Do You Need to Change the Way You Think About Exercise?

Focusing on the wrong details can be detrimental to progress with your fitness goals. When you are tracking the wrong metrics and paying attention to irrelevant data, it can be easy to become disheartened, demotivated and disillusioned with your workout regime. To ensure you stay on track with your fitness goals, it might be time to change the way that you think about exercise.

Just as you carefully choose which exercises to do, what gym equipment to use and how best to fur your body, you also need to consider how you measure your progress. If you want to build muscle, burn fat, increase your flexibility or achieve any other fitness goals, it’s important you track your progress efficiently to stay motivated and on track.

Let’s take a closer look at how you can take the right approach to your exercise program and track your progress properly.

It’s A Marathon Not A Sprint

Of course, we would all love to go to the gym and come home looking like a magazine cover model. The reality is that it takes time to build the body of your dreams. Be patient and be consistent with your workouts. Over time, you will notice significant changes in your body shape, energy levels and physical abilities. Tracking these long-term gains is crucial in staying motivated. Worrying about minor fluctuations from day-to-day is a sure-fire way of becoming disheartened with your training plan.

Focus On Body Composition

When you have a particular goal in mind, it can be easy to become all-consumed with it. One major mistake people make when it comes to their approach to exercise is focusing on the number on the scale. As you work out more regularly, your body composition will change. You will be building more lean muscle, lowering your body fat, which will affect your overall body weight. Ignore the number on the scale and instead take photographs once a month to see the physical changes in your body. Alternatively, you can use a body callipers or tape measure to measure changes in your body composition over time.

Set Tangible Fitness-Orientated Goals

Instead of setting the goal of reaching a certain weight, why not focus on something that will prove that you are getting stronger, fitter and faster. Completing 25 pushups, running a 10km race, or doing 5 pull-ups are great examples of goals that you can set to track your progress. Focusing on these tangible fitness goals will help you to feel your progress and focus on your achievements instead of on the insignificant number on the scale.

Keep A Fitness Journal

Keep a journal to record your progress and look back at it at the end of each month. Record all of your workouts, how much you lifted, your running times, distances and anything else that you complete during the week. Include notes about injuries, any challenges you faced in your workouts and any little wins you have along the way. Looking back at your journal at the end of the month will show you that even though you might not feel that you are getting stronger that truly you are progressing quickly.

Change The Way You Think About Exercise For The Better

Maintaining a regular fitness schedule can be challenging and staying motivated can be difficult. To ensure that you stay on track with your fitness goals, it’s important that you take the right approach to your training. Track your progress and champion your own achievements to stay focused. Paying attention to what’s important will ensure that you keep showing up and work hard to achieve your goals.