How I Recommend My Clients Track Their Progress

There are many ways of tracking our progress. It is important not to rely solely on one method of measuring progress as it can be multi-factorial. Despite what we may think, progress requires consistency, patience and effort… and most important, enjoy what we do.

Tracking your progress can be very motivating, but if some key considerations are not taken into account, it can also be the exact reason you are left questioning if what you have been doing is even working! 

Bodyweight

The amount you weigh on the scale. This will not be a true representation of muscle mass gained, and day-to-day not an indicator of fat loss.

Tracking your weight as it appears on the scale is not required whatsoever. We can also use the scales as a tool to weigh daily, once per month, or even every few months. Please avoid weighing yourself once a week, you will read more later.

However, if you understand that the scales can be a tool and should not be used as a true reflection of progress on a day-to-day basis, here's an example of how the scale weight could be used to track progress:

Record the weight as shown on the scale every day. Simply write this down and move on with your day. The number that day is based not only on your body weight but is also reflective of bowel movements, food digestion, stress, inflammation the day after a heavy training session, fluids, etc. And expect inflammation to even show an increase in the scales for the few weeks of training if it is new!

I use a spreadsheet where my clients can see their weekly average and their lowest weight, much easier to see real progress that worrying about daily fluctuations.

Over time you will see the trend when looking at the weekly averages.

I also recommend to not weigh yourself only once per week. That day’s measurement is rarely reflective of your average…and our average is what we should have in our heads when weighing our body weight. And often, we can place too much emphasis on that once-a-week reading when really the weight it would have said in previous days could have been higher or lower. I would recommend either every day to take the average over the week or once every 4-6 weeks or not at all.

I just want to stress the importance of not paying attention to the daily numbers on the scale. If you weigh 1gk heavier, for example, one day, unless you over-ate by 7000 calories on top of your normal food intake, you have not gained 1kg of body fat in 24 hours. Likewise, if you ‘lose’ 1kg on the scale compared to the previous day, this doesn’t mean you lost 1kg of body fat.

If your goal is to lose a significant amount of stored body fat, the goal should still be to lose body fat, not muscle mass. Resistance training and protein will help mitigate the loss of muscle and increase the ratio of body fat loss. 

If the goal is to reduce body fat percentage but to a smaller amount, it is possibly more important not to rely on the day-to-day numbers on the scale. The scale can literally mask progress when relating to fat loss, but over time, it can be a marker. If you are resistance training, you may be experiencing losses in body fat and increases in muscle, and the scales may not reflect this.

There can be a big difference in body composition between performing lots of cardio solely and not fuelling your body sufficiently (sending the message to the body we don’t need to keep the muscle we have and so weight loss is reflected in a higher degree on the scales due to both body fat and muscle loss) and resistance training, daily step goal, prioritising protein (sending the message to the body that we need to keep or build muscle in order to keep up with the demands placed on the body, which means a greater proportion of body fat is lost and muscle mass maintained/gained). If you are using the scales to track your weight, don’t forget that the goal is fat loss, not necessarily just weight loss on the scale.

The number on the scale may not change to any large degree if muscle mass is gained and body fat is reduced if you have a smaller body fat percentage, to begin with…but the changes to your body recomposition will speak for itself.

It is also important to highlight the following in order to ensure what the scales tell us does not distract us from what is actually occurring and the progress being made:

If you eat a meal that is particularly high in salt, such as a restaurant meal, your weight on the scales may increase anywhere from 0.5-2.5kgs overnight. Acknowledge that this is completely normal, then ignore it and allow for a few days for a more indicative number on the scale. 

Our daily scale weight will often mask weight loss, and so this is why recording the number, putting it to the back of your mind and moving on with your day is paramount.

Women, in particular, experience weight fluctuations relative to their cycle. This varies between women, but it also differs from month to month. You will likely be able to look back on previous scale readings and see a trend where this occurs every 3-4 weeks. You can expect it to a degree and account for it.

You may weigh more on the scales the day after an intense training session, especially lower body! This can be attributable to acute inflammation (a positive outcome that brings adaptations) or water retention.

Even a glass of wine the night prior could cause slight dehydration…leading to an acute increase in body weight.

If you have eaten late the night before, you might still be digesting your meal the next morning. The volume of our blood increases to help digestion and this alone can show on the scales.

Weigh your body weight at the same time each day as we can fluctuate greatly throughout the day! 

Muscle, when compared to fat of the same weight, takes up ‘less space’ due to being denser. 2 people can be the exact same weight, but one person might have 25% body fat, whereas the other person could be 35% body fat; therefore, a difference in body composition. 

If you have a goal of a certain weight on the scales to reach, it may be more conducive to change this to a range as the increase in muscle mass, for example, may likely mean that the initial goal weight is no longer the endpoint.

If you are standing on the scales of the first week of a caloric deficit, I would recommend almost ignoring these numbers; you are likely to experience reductions in water weight stored in the body, glycogen in the muscles, and even food in your stomach! Certainly, don't expect the same 'rate of loss' the next week or any week thereafter.

If you tend to change your dietary habits at the weekend, such as a glass of wine, a takeaway or eating out in restaurants, you should expect your scale weight to be higher for the next few days following; this will mostly be water weight. Try not to let this correlate with thinking that you have gained body fat and, keep ticking those boxes, and allow your weight to reduce over a few days.

Look to your training for building muscle and not fat loss. Yes, resistance training requires energy, but it is our nutrition and/or daily movement, such as steps, that really move the needle when fat loss is the goal; resistance training and protein help ensure more fat loss occurs and not just weight loss! I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to understand this concept.

Resistance training is the same whether you want to increase your body weight, reduce body fat or stay at maintenance. You do not need to lift solely lighter weights/higher reps/sweat more to reduce body fat.

And if you are not overweight and new to training, you may notice very little change in body weight despite simultaneous reductions in body fat and muscle growth; this is where progress pictures and keeping an eye on your gym performance can really help.

Over time, you might realise that the weight, as shown on the scale, becomes less important as you begin to feel changes in how you feel, look, and lift.

The scales ‘can’ be a tool but can be the reason why someone might think they are not making progress. But when you learn that the scale weight you are on that day is not reflecting your progress, rather it is the trend over time, they can be used alongside other markers to reaffirm you are progressing.

If you stand on the scale one day and have ‘lost’ 1kg, this doesn’t mean your body used an ‘extra’ 7,000 calories the day before!

In fact, if the number on the scale impacts your optimism, mood, productivity or belief in what you are doing, this is an indicator that you don't understand how the scales should be used. The scales are just a data point of that data to record if used to track progress.

If the goal is fat loss, there will also be many times when there are no changes on the scale for even 1- 2 weeks and that this is normal. If after 2-3 weeks of average weight not trending in the intended direction, making small tweaks can ‘move the needle’…rarely is there any need for any extreme changes. 

Understanding this is imperative to prevent your scale weight distracting you from doing what is planned or to even doubt themselves or the process! 

As you can see, it is far from linear! How many times can you see the scales increasing from one day to the next over the course of months? Too many to highlight!  This is to be completely expected! Along with periods where the scales may not even show a decrease over a whole week.  This is where we should continue ticking the boxes we know will move us towards our goals, and allow up to 2 weeks where, if not a downward trend, then make ‘small’ adjustments such as incremental increase to steps or reduce calorie intake but in a way that is easiest and minimal hassle!

The number of 3,500 kcal, which is widely used in order to reduce body fat by 0.5kg, lowering daily caloric intake by 500kcal per day will therefore lead to a 0.5kg fat reduction over the week; this has been found to overestimate fat loss in reality.

Photos

Similar to using measurements, a suggestion could be to take progress pictures once per month or every six weeks (or the same number of days after the first day of menstruation) due to many variables that can impact how your body looks each day.

Try to standardise the lighting (ideally natural light), same time of day, same posture, same clothes, same background and from multiple angles (ideally three angles: front, back and side).

Taking progress pictures daily or weekly is very unlikely to show any meaningful progress in regard to composition. Weekly photos is really in the realm of professional bodybuilding.

How your clothes fit

Reiterating the point above when we discussed the scale weight, our body goes through fluctuations day to day. We may have more or less water retention. We may be experiencing inflammation in our legs after lunges or having enjoyed a meal out the night before….but generally speaking, if building muscle, you may notice changes in your body composition and how your clothes fit: a smaller waist circumference, more roundness to your shoulders reflected in tops you wear, jeans fitting tighter or looser in certain places. 

For clients with a fat loss goal, I suggest choosing a piece of clothing that is just slightly too small to try on once every two weeks or so. If wearing the clothes in your wardrobe is a goal, then it can be very empowering when they start to fit better.

Measurements

I would recommend measuring no more than once a month, ideally the time of day and the same date each month (or the same number of days after the first day of menstruation).

I suggest taking the measurement yourself as opposed to someone else in order to ensure consistency of the person (i.e. you) placing the tape.

Some suggestions of areas to measure would include:

Chest - right under armpits or to nipple.

Stomach - level with belly button. Stand tall and brace (imagine bracing for impact to the tummy).

Glutes - the widest point

Thighs - midway or to help gauge the same distance each time; thumb to index finger length away from the top of the knee; or any method to pinpoint the same distal point. Tensed or not tensed... but either way, make sure to record which one you did!

Arms - you can tense (like showing off your biceps pose) or not tense... but either way, make sure to record which one you did! Measure the largest width!

There are many other points on the body you measure, such as hips, multiple points on the abdomen and even upper thigh.

We can have reductions in body fat in different areas of the body at different rates; women tend to store more body fat in the lower body, often the top of the abdomen shows reductions before the lower abdomen; of course, this is not the case for everyone but generally speaking, for most people, we should expect different rates and not become hyper focused on certain areas.

If you are relatively new to training and you have a greater amount of stored body fat you want to lose, where the scales may not be reflective of fat loss and muscle gain, measurements, along with progress pictures, can help provide reassurance what you are doing is working!

Getting Stronger!

There are many ways to overload progressively, not just the weight written on the dumbbell/barbell! Including increasing the load, the reps within a set, the number of sets per session, per week, number of sessions per week, reducing rest periods, increasing ROM, the power (speed x load), same load x reps at a lighter bodyweight, better mind to muscle connection to essentially 'get more out of each rep', stricter technique and ability to recruit less other muscles to assist through experience, more tension to target muscle, different variations of the exercise... and many more!

If we solely focus on increasing the weight or reps and nothing else, there are considerations such as general wear and tear on the joints and a higher risk of injury. I am a big advocate of increasing the intensity and tension on the muscles through a variety of methods and techniques so that I can keep doing what I love for a very long time! There is also the consideration of perhaps unintentionally using different techniques, a slightly shorter range of movement or even more of a stretch reflex in order to keep progressing on paper, so this is also something just to keep an eye on!

Tracking your progress in relation to sets and reps can provide structure and something fun to aim for but it also can have the potential to 'mask' your progress if you look solely at the increases, especially as this progress will not be apparent on paper each week and even for some exercises longer.

There are many people, perhaps even most people, who have trained for years and do not have a log book to track their reps/sets... and even go into their training knowing that it is leg day, learn to include the staple compounds, but the session can vary depending on how they feel that day, equipment available, different rep ranges etc! So long as the sufficient volume is there, the muscle is trained primarily through its full ROM to a sufficient degree of tension, close to failure, enough stimulus to the target muscle, and an environment outside of training to support muscle growth, we have a HUGE variety in how we can approach our training! Pretty cool, right!?

As you become more advanced with resistance training, or even running as another example, your rate of progress, as in kg lifted or time running that 10km, will slow down significantly, and it is completely normal not to see progress week on week… fact, it can slow way down! This is completely normal every so often, and even more so on the lifts where we typically use lighter loads such as lateral raises! 

I think an area of confusion is often associating higher reps and lighter loads with fat loss. Once you learn to differentiate fat loss from building muscle, you don’t need to change your training whether you are aiming to lose body fat, increase body fat or maintain your body weight.

Building muscle can be accomplished using different rep ranges (approximately 5-30 reps, so long as close to failure). Still, we should avoid thinking we need to ‘sweat’ or be out of breath to lose body fat ('sweat is fat crying' is one common use of words that I think has unfortunately been engrained and that I think has led to us thinking we must sweat in order to reduce body fat); strive to maintain or build muscle whilst your caloric intake and/or daily movement such as steps (and cardio to compliment but not used to dictate as it often is small amount of energy utilised anyway) being the greatest impact to overall energy balance.

When lifting, training doesn't automatically need to change if just embarking on an energy deficit!

We should always approach our training as ‘practice’… we are always trying to make the load feel heavier to apply more tension to the muscle; this is different to strength training, where the aim is to make the load feel as light as possible in order to move it from point A to point B. 

Biofeedback

We should always be self-regulating based on our own feedback, such as energy levels, sleep, appetite, satiety, DOMs, libido, hydration, mood, and eagerness to exercise and move.

’Trust the process’ is a term that I believe is representative of what we should keep at the forefront! 

Final Thoughts

Building muscle is a slow process…particularly the longer you have been lifting! And in fact, it is almost negligible if I were to try to measure my muscle gain in a year, never mind a month! I actually will be gaining approximately 0.5kg per year... if that! 

No one gets ‘jacked’ overnight! Far from it…it takes years to build muscle, with a large proportion of this being built in the first 1-3 years, and that is with all the important variables in line to support that growth… from there, it tends to slow way, way down so enjoy those newbie gains if relatively new!

This point perhaps reiterates why it is important to enjoy whatever your volume, split, cycles, etc.

We might see people such as in roles for movies gain x lbs of muscle mass in weeks but realistically, when we consider natural bodybuilders as an example, it takes years. 

Perhaps due to social media, the lines can become blurred between those who train naturally and those who use performance-enhancing supplements…..there is actually a huge difference when comparing someone who could be considered genetically gifted to gaining muscle naturally and people who are also genetically gifted to gaining muscle naturally that also respond well to supplementation of performance enhancers. I look very different compared to another female who has been using performance-enhancing supplementation…I would have significantly less muscle mass in comparison. 

I think this is important to highlight as we should have realistic expectations in order to not be constantly striving for something that may not come to fruition or that may leave you feeling like you are doing something wrong. 

But if you are relatively new to lifting, you can look forward to lots of newbie gains over the first 1- 2 years, depending on consistency, intensity, recovery, protein intake, etc! Or if you have been training over a longer period but have not been consistent, training within a close proximity to failure, or your nutrition has not been supporting your training, making changes can also lead to greater rates of growth. Even if someone who primarily focuses on strength training with reps between 1-5 begins incorporating higher reps, this can also bring hypertrophic outcomes, so it’s not only ’newbies’ who can gain at a slightly faster rate.

Fat loss also slows down over time. If you experience an initial fat loss, it is important to understand this will slow down and even appear to stall, but allow for a number of weeks before making any changes. Also, the beginning tends to be easier…as time progresses, it may be more important to keep ticking those boxes, knowing that flexibility will be needed.

And if so, use the scales as a tool, but not understanding that daily fluctuations and stopping what we are doing every time the scales increase, progress will never occur. If you track every day, those numbers mean nothing….take a note each week, take the average and then allow perhaps two weeks to evaluate…from there, make small tweaks to nutrition, daily steps, etc. 

Also, weight loss does not necessarily mean fat loss. It is possible to lose weight on the scale and still have the same body fat percentage. Continuing to strive to build muscle makes this difference and encourages fat loss. Changing from weight loss to a fat loss mindset will help with keeping or building muscle, improved body composition and all of the many health benefits associated with increased muscle mass.

Tracking our progress can look different for each of us. Understand the limitations, the fluctuations and the subjectivity of some of these techniques, and you will enjoy the journey much more! 

Perhaps involve a holistic approach by combining two or more of the above methods if you prefer! We can see that scale weight, more often than not, will reflect progress; photos can be variable depending on sodium the day before, rest, menstrual cycle, etc, and progressive overload is not linear, week on week; by understanding that progress takes many forms can help remove hyper fixating on one method!

However, having said all of the above, if we have a certain goal, such as reducing body fat, gaining muscle or to reduce your waist circumference, it may be beneficial to place our attention on the actual process-orientated goals that will actually contribute to the outcome we want; examples include eating 20g of protein at each meal, prioritising those 8 hours of sleep, training a movement through its full range of movement and not rushing any rep. These are often those small behaviours we repeat daily that, even though they appear small, actually compound to have a significant impact over time.

Consistency! But imperfect consistency is the most important factor! Why? Because life happens! And we need to go with the flow sometimes!

You can use a combination of progress markers, but either way, just remember that progress will not be evident on a day-to-day basis. Expect progress to not be linear, and in fact, there will be times when little progress measurably is evident…but sometimes it requires just keeping your head down, remaining focused, and doing what you know you need to do in a way that you can manage and enjoy x