Guest Post: Why Measure When You're Exploring Fitness?

This is the fourth in a series of guest posts by Susan Alexander.

Quick recap: The first, second, and third posts were about Mindset, Motion, and Mastery, the first three principles of the model I created to empower any change you want to make in your life - whether it's exploring fitness, learning to eat sensibly, remaking yourself in some way, or any other change.

This post is about Measurement, the model's fourth principle. Measurement, in this context, means tracking what we're doing in the change process so we can know, in real time, whether our efforts are working. By "tracking," I mean assigning metrics to our efforts. As I'll show you, it's a mega-force that amps up the entire change process.

Evolutionary fitness is a great example of effective use of metrics. Its purpose is to improve fitness on an ongoing basis over time. It's also a learning process - an unending one. How do we know if we're improving and learning? We can estimate and guess, but we can't really know if these things are happening (and by how much) unless we track our progress.

If you read Darryl's blog, you probably know that his workouts are measured primarily in time, rounds, reps, and weight. These metrics align well with the general purpose of evolutionary fitness. This is just what we want - metrics aligned with purpose.

Keep in mind that with any self-chosen change, you'll need to be clear on why you're doing it, what you're trying to accomplish, and how you're going about it. Look to these 3 factors to determine your metrics. You can use standard ones, or you can be creative about it.

The top 3 reasons to use measurement

1) Perseverance. Well designed metrics give us relevant feedback on our efforts, which is a big contributor to what we all want: perseverance. When we have relevant feedback, and we're stretching ourselves reasonably and appropriately for our skill level, the body and mind work in harmony with each other. What we're doing feels worth it for its own sake. We get into a state of full involvement known as flow, which is a likable feeling even when what we're doing is very difficult. It's what keeps us coming back to stretch ourselves more and continue improving.

2) Truth. We humans are intelligent, but we're also very biased. That's another way of saying that we have the cognitive power to find support for whatever we want to believe. In all areas of life (including fitness), we tend to make a lot of unfounded assumptions, come up with findings based on inadequate evidence, and draw conclusions based on too few observations. To reign ourselves in, we need metrics and numbers. They're the perfect antidote to vagueness and self-delusion. The famous words "what can be measured can be managed" tell us a lot. If we really want to manage ourselves and what we're doing, we'll avail ourselves of the benefits of measurement.

3) Accuracy. It's useful to view evolutionary fitness as a big experiment we're doing with ourselves. The workouts constantly change, as do the numbers assigned to the moves (time, rounds, reps, weight, etc.). It's simply not possible to remember what we've done, how many, and the results. For clarity, learning, and comparison, the best course is to write everything down. Buy a journal and use it to play research scientist with yourself. Don't rely on erasable boards. Our memories aren't as good as we think they are. Keep writing and referring to what you've written. Great learning comes from this process. And it contributes to perseverance, by making our cumulative effort tangible and illuminating the areas where we need more of it.

The takeaway: There are about as many ways to measure as there are changes being made (and people making them). Be creative with your metrics, or use standard ones. What matters is that they align with your why, what, and how. Adding measurement to the change process amps up all components of it. It leads to perseverance and keeps us truthful and accurate. It also lends clarity and substance to what we're doing.

Over to you: Do you use measurement in fitness, or in anything else you do? If so, how does it help you? If you're not using measurement now, is it something you'll consider trying? Let's talk in the comments.

Susan Alexander blogs at gooddisruptivechange.com

You can follow her on Twitter at @SusanRPM4

NOTES & FURTHER READING

Mihalyi Cskikszentmihalyi, The Evolving Self at 31-33.

Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow at 4.

Michael R. Canfield, Field Notes on Science & Nature at 260-74.

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Testimonial: Focus on Health

My Testimony:

I am in my early thirties.   I have been on endless diets since my early twenties.  Some of these diets included the Cabbage Soup, Japanese Diet, Full-Moon diet, Rice-Chicken-Apple diet, Montignac diet, various low-fat diet, low-carb diets, low-protein diets and of course not forgetting the 'not eating' diet.   All of these gave short term success - I usually lost around 6-10lbs (3-5kg).  I was happy for a few weeks but inevitably the weight piled back on and I went on another diet. I was always fairly slim but never toned and not happy with the way I looked.  There was always one area I would seek to try and improve.  Why was this process so difficult?     

I went to the gym 4-5 times a week for 2 hours at a time doing lots of cardio, lifting 1.5kg dumbbells and sometimes starved myself to 'stay in shape'.  I was also a smoker.  I had always said one day I would give up smoking, but in my own time and in my own way.  But deep down I realise I didn't care about the harmful effects of smoking very much as it didn't increase my weight. 

What was the key? 

Nine months ago Darryl told me there was one thing missing from my lifestyle regime.  A focus on my HEALTH.  He told me I did not look full of life and vitality.  He told me my body was deficient in certain nutrients.  My hair, skin and nails were his visual confirmation.  As a very proud individual I questioned this.   I was sure things were not THAT bad.  But he insisted I challenge him and to do my own research.  Did it feel right to feel hungry all the time, to be punishing myself, to suffer from a permanent lack of energy?

One thing that really struck a chord was being told even though I was slim I was still storing a large amount of body fat.  Apparently in his opinion I was a skinny fat individual.  Well 'skinny' sounds ok -  but fat?  As a trainer he was different - he didn't focus on how I looked but on what I could and couldn't do functionally and what my underlying health was and was likely to be in future.

He told me I didn't have to lose weight but that I should focus on healthy fat loss and try to maintain a healthy body composition.  He told me I had body image issues and until I focused on my health I would never be happy. 

I didn't believe his comments about being 'skinny fat' or about the poor quality of my food intake but then I had a body fat measurement test with a result of 32% so something definitely wasn't right.  A few percentage points away from being clinically obese?  Surely not!

Well I decided I needed to get back on track I would give it 30 days to see if there would be any improvements.

First things first:

He told me before anything else the most important thing was to cut out smoking.  I had a medical background.  I knew about all of the dangers of smoking.  But yet the most difficult thing was to give up smoking.   I thought it would be impossible.  A chain-smoker since my mid-teens, how would I manage this?  

Well after talking with you Darryl - one conversation was enough to change my mind. You said so many things, the right things which made me think about what was I doing to myself?      

I gave up smoking in a couple of days.  In a few weeks I noticed that I was able to take stairs to the 6th floor at work without getting breathless - all the exercise I was doing before just couldn't overcome the harmful effects of smoking.

What else did I change?

Food:  

Well I realised the so-called healthy foods I was consuming were not so healthy, those low calorie cereal bars, skimmed milk and other foods that rob the body of nutrients.  Now I eat more real food, eat more fat, drink less alcohol (in fact I now drink once in a blue moon).  I have learnt more about foods that are nutritious rather than counting calories.  I am happy to say 'I am not on a diet' this time.  My eating habits have just changed for the better.  Eating foods we were designed to eat.  I don't feel hungry all the time, my energy levels are better and I feel less guilty about food.  My skin, nails and hair are in better condition.  

I am eating healthy and tasty food and amazingly I don't feel like I am punishing myself.

Exercise: 

From gym workouts 4 to 5 times a week trying different types-from step to pilates, from bodysculpt to yoga.  I didn't get the result I wanted.  I now exercise a fraction of the time that I used to, but I feel much fitter.  Now I can do a proper press-up and squats that go to proper depth (not bar stool in height!).  Doesn't sound like much - but I now perform many more physical challenges then I ever thought possible, (I also realise that lifting heavier than my 1.5kg dumbells won't make me get bulky) :-)  I used to feel lethargic and without energy very often, now I can't remember the last time I didn't have the power to move.  I gave up my gym membership, work out at home and play out in the park.

Movement is now fun.

In terms of health: 

No backache (I suffered from chronic back pain since I was 18), no (almost daily) headache, no digestive system problems, no smoker's cough.

On Darryl's advice I also had cortisol (stress hormone) and other blood tests done.  My cortisol was elevated and he suggested changes to my lifestyle to get this under control.  Life is much better, I am more relaxed, and I can actually get a good night's restful sleep at 10.30pm rather than 1am, I am now down to just under 25% body fat.

9 months later - I look and feel better and most importantly I am healthier.

-Adele