Q&A – How Do I Guage Progress?

Question:

i dont know how to gauge my progress. i mean, looking in the mirror and how my clothes fit i know is a good way, but for competition how do you know?

Answer

You simply guage based on where you were and where you are now and how quickly that change is happening, etc. You seem to have too much of a ‘formualic’ way of thinking and it just does not really work on that kind of predictable scale.

Everyone is different with where they’re starting from, how quick they lose, where they preferentially lose from, etc. You can’t focus too much on information that lacks context as well – bodyfat percentage for example. The biggest problem with this is the accuracy of the measurement. Virtually every test is riddled with error inherently built into the testing methods. So, what if the readout says you’re 15% and yet you’re really 19%? Does that mean that your program requires an overall (although you don’t know if because the readout says you’re 15%?) I see figure girls claiming 8% and they’re lucky if they’re 18. Truth be told, I hate this method of assessing progress. The best body fat test is the mirror – it’ll tell you under no uncertain terms if you’re still too fat.

Same thing with body weight – who cares? Body weight is just information and information without context isn’t of much use to you. It tells you what you weigh, nothing more. Nothing about body composition whatsoever. It’s one piece of information. As I’ve said before focus on fat-loss behaviours, and fat loss and subsequently the numbers, take care of themselves.

If you’re competing, you’re training to LOOK a certain way. Not to see a special number on the scale or a special number on the inconsistent bioelectrical impedance scales or calipers. Sure, use them as tools (along with perhaps key measurements, how your clothes are fitting, what other people are saying, pictures, and … the mirror. But any one piece of information should not get too much focus to the exclusion of the other means of assessing progress. They all may provide information, but it must be looked at as a whole. Look at what you look like relative to what you need to look like in order to be competitive. The difference should be decreasing with time.

You simply start early enough and just go from there, ensuring that you’re progressing on your current set up. If you stall out, you adjust. If you’re getting leaner consistently, what’s to change? Your program is already working.