Have you ever felt like you are treading in place and getting nowhere?  It seems no matter how hard you work, and you can’t tell if you are making progress in your fitness goals. 

It’s easy to get disheartened when you feel like you have been taking all the right steps – eating healthy foods and following an exercise plan that is suited to your body and needs – but you’re just not seeing the results you hoped for.

So How Do You Know If You’re Hitting Your Fitness Progress Targets?

Tracking your fitness progress is a great way to find out what works and what doesn’t when it comes to your fitness goals, whatever they might be: losing weight, getting fitter, toning up, or shedding the extra holiday weight you gained!

Recognizing your success helps you to build confidence in yourself and your ability to attain goals. This makes it much more likely that you will stick to your healthier, fitter lifestyle long-term. And let’s face it, who doesn’t want to feel great about themselves?

Aside from celebrating your wins, my blog post on how to gain confidence in fitness might be just what you need to help you start tracking your progress. 

So let me share with you 5 easy ways to measure your fitness progress that won’t leave you questioning your methods or the point of the whole effort.

5 Easy Ways to Measure Your Fitness Progress 

1. Use Your Clothes As A Guide

I don’t know what your closet looks like, but mine has my ‘going out so need to look smart clothes’, my comfortable ‘for at home only’ clothes, my workout clothes and then lurking in the back of the closet is my ‘will I ever wear you?’ outfit that I just can’t let go of. For me, it’s a pair of really nice-fitting jeans that make my butt look great, and I feel amazing in them, but they only fit me when I’ve been particularly vigilant with my fitness and nutrition routines; otherwise, they are just a little too tight and uncomfortable. 

Perhaps you have a little black dress that you are determined to squeeze into for a special occasion? Or your favorite outfit that you are holding onto in the hopes of getting back into it one day? 

Whatever it is, we all have something that could fit us a bit better, and how they fit can be a guide that the mirror doesn’t show. Trying them on once a month will give you a clear indication of whether you have toned up, slimmed down, lost a little around your thighs, or your tummy. Use the comfort and fit of them to measure your progress. 

2. Measure Your Hydration

It’s essential to be well-hydrated, not only when you exercise but when you want to lose weight. Water plays a vital role in all body functions and processes, and it’s the simplest way to keep hydrated without adding empty calories to your diet. Track your water intake with myfitnesspal or another program to make sure you are getting at least 16 oz or 8 glasses of water a day. 

If you have trouble drinking enough water, you can eat your water too! (Yes, really. I’m not crazy!) Check out this blog I wrote on how to do that –  How to stay hydrated when you have trouble drinking water. 

3. Use A Tape Measure

Literally measuring your fitness progress is a great way to see what changes are taking place and to allow you to set goals and make insightful judgments about what is or isn’t working for you. All you need is a tape measure, usually made from soft plastic or fabric. If you have someone around to help you make more accurate measurements, then you can measure your arms, calves, or neck. But when you are alone, the easiest and most effective body parts to measure are your waist, hips, bust, and thighs.

To make sure that your measurements are an accurate reflection of your fitness progress, remember these steps when measuring – 

• Take measurements before a workout/exercise, not after
• Relax your muscles and stand up straight
• Measure in front of a mirror to help you see the tape is positioned correctly – keep the tape tight against your skin and straight, not at an angle
• Measure both sides of the body for accuracy and symmetry
• Always measure on bare skin – not over clothing!
• Be consistent! Measure under the same conditions every time 

Put the data you collected on a spreadsheet and measure ONCE a month, NOT every week because progress takes time. 

4. Take Progress Pictures

Everywhere you look on social media or advertising boards there are pictures of women in bikinis or bras to promote a diet or fitness routine. You may have seen them and scoffed, thinking you would never do that. Is that because you don’t feel confident about sharing your fitness journey? You don’t have to share the photos with anyone but I encourage you to take them, they do work! 

Wear what you think is the tightest of workout clothing and take a photo from the front, side, and, if you can manage, the back. 

Make sure you set up some good lighting because it makes a lot of difference in how truly representative the photos will be. Even supermodels don’t look good in poor lighting. Save that photo on your phone, lock it in a drawer, or hang it up with that little black dress you’ll be trying on again next month. 

Take another picture of your body one month later and notice the difference from the earlier photo. The differences should only be on your body as you’ll have taken the photo in the same place and lighting every time. 

Keep up the progress until you reach your goal. Remember, progress takes time. So be patient.

5. Track Your Workouts 

Tracking your workouts is a fantastic way to measure your fitness progress over time because it allows you to see how your stamina and energy levels increase as your fitness improves. As well as this, it really gives you some accountability and helps keep you on track with your workouts and fitness journey.

You can use myfitnesspal or a spreadsheet on your computer or the note app on your phone to track your workouts. 

I recommend recording the rest days, cardio days (walking, running, spin class), as well as the strength training days (pilates counts as strength), and how much time you spend doing each activity. 

Should I Never Weigh Myself?

Now that you know those 5 easy ways to track your fitness progress, you’ll see that it’s really not necessary to weigh yourself on the scales to understand how far you’ve come toward achieving your goals. 

Whilst I don’t recommend making a regular habit of it, it is OK to use the scales now and again if you want to. As it doesn’t indicate what is happening in terms of body composition, it is not an accurate representation of your achievements so far, so use them alongside some of the other methods I’ve offered here. 

Like everything else, ONCE A MONTH is enough. There’s no need to put pressure on yourself or get in the addictive habit of checking all the time. This kind of pressure can harm your mental health and overall commitment to your fitness progress and healthier lifestyle. 

The most important factor in this whole journey is building your confidence, so focus on how you feel over time and be consistent. 

What’s Next? 

It’s time to take action, but I want you to pick ONLY two or three of the measurement tools I offered you today to track your fitness progress. Choosing too many can cause overwhelm, and this will hinder your fitness journey and progress. So please keep it simple and track the same ones over several months to get a clearer picture of how your strategy works for you.

Celebrate your fitness progress and embrace the journey!  Not sure where to start? Then grab my free guide to thrive right here!