What is the one thing as college students we all wish we had more of? Some may say money, others motivation to do school work, and some even the ability to fight the urge of getting food out on a random weeknight. However, the one thing we can all benefit from is time. Like it or not College is designed to keep you constantly on your toes preoccupied with something. While this can be a good and bad thing, the problem is students will use this as an excuse to stop measuring their progress within the gym.
Progress is the key indicator of how you are performing within the gym. From this, we can tell how our body is physically changing, what workouts are best for our bodies, if we’re getting stronger, and even if our mind is improving. Progress is crucial to step up the quality of your gym experience. Let’s dive into a few ways you can optimize the way you measure progress.
Pictures and Videos
Whether you are comfortable with your body or not taking pictures or videos of yourself is a great way to measure progress! There are a few different ways of taking this approach however here are two ways I recommend doing this.
Option 1: Take a picture every day
What you will want to do for this method is simply take a picture of yourself every day for a year. While this seems tedious the end result is extremely satisfying. What you then can do then is compile all those photos into a quick reel and watch your progress unfold! If you are someone like myself who can become impatient you can perform this reel every 3 months but still make sure you complete this total process over the course of a year.
Option 2: Take a posed picture/video every month
If you are someone who tends to be forgetful this is a great way to still measure your progress in a simple way! However, with this method, you will make sure to take time to take pictures/videos once a month but in a series of poses. A simple YouTube search for “how to perform bodybuilding poses” will work just fine! These poses will help you better see how your progress has come and will create a simple routine for you to follow every month.
Journal
Journaling is one of the most forgotten ways of measuring your progress! After each workout, all you have to do is simply list out how your workout went and if there were any parts you felt went well or bad. This is also a great way of keeping your mental state in check too, so you can see if there was anything bothering you that day.
One format I like to use is this:
- How was the workout (1-10)
- How did I feel mentally today (1-10)
- Best exercise of the day?
- Worst exercise of the day?
- Side notes:
Talk to others
One last way to measure your progress is simply to ask those around you! It is always a great feeling to have someone tell you “wow you look so great!” or “you’ve really been hitting the gym it looks like!”. While these are great to hear we can’t always rely on them. Instead, simply ask those who you trust and know will be honest about how they feel your progress has been going. Ask them to most importantly be honest, while this can be hard at times we need the reality even if harsh. Once we open ourselves up to listening to compliments and criticism our ability to progress in the gym will grow exponentially. One quote I always think of when it comes to this is “When your good at something you’ll tell everyone, when you’re great at something they tell you.” ~ Walter Payton.
There is no right or wrong way to measure your progress but there is a right or wrong in whether you measure it. I challenge you and encourage you to try all three of these! While patience is key during this process, remind yourself to enjoy the journey and when the result is ready it will present itself!
Taking pictures of your progress is a great way to see how far you’ve come! I am extremely forgetful when it comes to remembering to do small tasks, so I would more likely lean towards the monthly progress updates personally.
Seeing progress is a great way to continue to be motivated. It can be hard to stick to a strict routine, if you do not feel as though you are seeing the progress you want! I know a lot of us think day-to-day, and when we do not see an instant change, it can be hard not to get down on yourself. I think your idea of taking pictures every couple of months, or even seeing your exercices change in weight can be great progress checkers. This can keep you motivated until your net progress check, and help you gauge what changes are occuring.
I do have to agree with you opening line about motivation. I’m very dedicated when it comes to studying, but even I sometimes struggle to find motivation. As far as the topic of this post, taking pictures is something I never considered when I was working in physical education class in high school and then hitting the weight room my first two years of college.
i feel like a journal would work best- seeing your progress and past struggles can really help you stay motivated if you don’t see an improvement overall in the mirror.
Working so hard at something and not noticing change right away can be super discouraging, but I love the different methods you talked about in order to notice and see the progression!