Progress You Don't See In The Mirror...

This topic will touch a lot of people, as I know between myself and all that I have coached so far have had these thoughts and concerns at some point in their journey. How do we know if we are making progress when the scale isn't going down or what we see looking back at us isn't the image we desire?

(*skip bold areas to get to the meat of the lesson...)

Progress comes in many shapes and forms, and most importantly it comes in different stages. Not all forms of change happen immediately, nor do they all occur over the course of a long time. To put your mind at ease here's a quick list of common 'changes' and their respective time till noticeable change.

Weight loss:

Can occur rapidly in the short term dependent on input and output (calories). But can also seem stagnant when the body retains water as you lose fat tissue. You may very well be losing the type of weight you desire, but the body is counterbalancing it by holding on to water weight. Best course of action is coupling a strict training routine with a manageable calorie deficit. Increase sleep, water intake, and overall activity throughout the day.

Typical range: 2-4 weeks

Muscle Gain:

Coupling a strict training routine with the right amount of nutrients building muscle is quite straight forward, but once again, requires a strict approach. Changes will likely occur on the scale before they do in the mirror, depending if you are building on a 'bulk' , 'maintenance' or 'cut'.

Typical range: 4-8 weeks

SIX-PACK definition:

As the saying goes 'abs are made in the kitchen', this is true. In order to see your six-pack, you'll need to drop your body fat significantly. So your priority shouldn't be more crunches, but more focus on maintaining a calorie deficit and maintaining muscle mass through prioritized protein consumption and the moderation of carbs and fats based on total allowable calories. Continue to train core as this builds the density of the muscle, making it more prominent. However, regardless of what you do, the only way to see your six pack is at a low enough body fat %. 4-14% depending on the person.

Typical range (current body fat % dependent): 2-52 weeks

^For the average person sitting at 20-25% BF, 4-8weeks.

Strength / speed / Power:

These each have their own range but fall within the same category as they are dictated by the individuals input into their programming. Intensity, volume, and frequency will impact the outcome of these three metrics primarily. If you have a well designed program designed to induce physiological change via goal centred progressions, then it will be easier to see improvements. Training tenure plays a significant role as well, you'll see younger less experienced trainees make significant jumps in their lifts as a result of the layman's term 'newbie gains'. The body is quickly adapting to a new stimulus and thus has leaps and bounds towards its genetic potential within the first 2-4 years of lifting. As the lifter gets older and more experienced, increasing strength, maximal force output, and acute power slows, does not necessarily stop, but the potential for adding as much weight is minimized significantly.

Typical ranges:

Strength: 4-12+ weeks

Speed: 2-6+ weeks

Power: 4-12 +weeks

Now that we are aware of the ranges of time it takes to see results, let's quickly remember this is the time it takes to just start seeing results, not necessarily full results, Let's dive into how we can see progress outside of the scale and mirror.

I've come to find that the majority of people striving for a goal are unaware of their respective goal's grandeur. What I mean by this is that they fail to understand the goal in its entirety, disregarding all of its components. Let's look at weight loss, as it is the most common fitness related goal. People interpret weight loss as two things; shedding a specific number of pounds or looking shredded. Where the final product does leave many people in these two categories, we are failing to see all that this process truly brings to our bodies.

Let's look at weight loss.

When done correctly of course, within the first 1-2 weeks of a weight loss journey the body begins adapting to the new internal environment. Your metabolism is kicked up, your gut biome is reconfiguring to the new, typically healthier, food, and you begin adopting a slight repression for hunger at times. From weeks 2-4 you body has adopted to the new internal requirements (caloric intake) and is prioritizing the burning of fat, coupled with a resistance training routine ideally. Caloric manipulation occurs in weeks 4-6 to further lower or increase calories depending on speed of weight loss. By now you will start to feel more energized, fogginess in the head and headaches subside, you've built healthier habits of drinking water, eating healthy, and going to bed early (as these three have the largest effect on weight loss), and lastly you've begin losing weight*, feeling slimmer, and are regaining confidence.

All these things cannot be measured by a scale or the mirror, but by feeling. If we take the approach that weight loss is a result and not a journey then we are destined to fail. Understanding that weight loss provides a host of other miraculous life changing impacts is crucial. If you want to look good, you must first feel good, treat yourself well, and understand the process over the end result.

*This goes for any and all fitness related goals

A few times when someone has started a program with me, within the first week or two i'll get the classic question or comment regarding why their arms aren't toned yet or how come they don't have a six pack. My first reaction, as a coach at least, is to explain the importance of the journey and how intensity, frequency, volume, and a dash of heart dictates the rapidity of results, along with starting point and training tenure. This same client 4-6 weeks down the road may see slight changes but ask the same question. What they fail to see however is their increase in capacity. Workouts or exercises that they once struggled with have now become easy for them. Where they were once doing 3 sets of 8 reps, they are now doing 5 sets of 12 reps. Capacity is a passive metric, it may seem like nothing has changed, but in reality things certainly have, and all for the better.

It's important to take a step back and realize that the end result should not be the focus, but the week to week changes in how we feel, our increase in capacity, and the physiological changes, no matter how small, we see on and off the scale. When adopting a lifestyle change, think of it as such, a change in your lifestyle. If you can see the impact the change has made on your life more than just a number on a scale than you can fully grasp the importance and necessity for that change. You'll empower yourself knowing all the changes you've made and be happier for it.

Progression is built through consistency and tested by passion...

....how far are you willing to go?

JB