Our brains are funny things, and what we measure we assign a higher value to. This is why it’s so important to track your workouts. In doing so, you’ll move the needle towards your goals faster than if you “just” show up and do the workout.
You’ll start to notice patterns that you can improve, like being able to move from an 8lb wall ball to a 14lb wall ball.
Posting your scores publicly can also motivate and inspire your team mates, especially if it’s modified. Someone who can’t do a rope climb can see that you did a ring row and still got a great workout, or someone can be inspired by you getting your first Toes to Bar (Thanks Pam!)
The biggest area where tracking will make a difference is at the base of the hierarchy – Nutrition. We’ve all fallen into the idea that “my diet is pretty good” but it’s only through accurately tracking will we see areas for improvement.
We recommend MyFitnessPal, which is a free app. It takes about 5 minutes to set up and from there you can start tracking.
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- Track your nutrition for 2 weeks! This will be a pain and it will feel awkward and time consuming. After two weeks you will see massive areas for improvement and by that time 99% of what you eat will be saved for you, making tracking easier.
- Aim for consistent calories across 7 days of the week! A lot of us are prone to being really good Monday-Thursday then Pizza on Friday, Beers on Saturday, and comfort food on Sunday! Your body responds best to consistency.
- After you’ve gotten consistent start working on getting adequate protein. A rough guide is 1g of protein for every pound of bodyweight (sorry to mix metric and imperial units!) or 30-35% of your daily nutrients.