Posted on March 12, 2011 by Dave W

There are many ways we can monitor our fitness and this is essential for a number of reasons.

For most people the biggest benefit they will get from monitoring their fitness will be the encouragement they will get from seeing the progress from their efforts.

There is nothing more inspiring for someone trying to lose weight than to get on the scales and find that they have shed several pounds since the last time they were weighed.

Or for a bodybuilder to measure their muscles to find that they have gained an inch or two here or there.

This measured progress can increase energy levels more than a bucket full of vitamins.

The mind is a powerful tool in fitness training and by feeding it positive information that can actually be measured will ensure continued enthusiasm for maintaining a fitness regime.

One thing that everyone should be aware of however is to leave sufficient time between measuring progress to ensure that the body has had time to make some progress.

It is not a good policy to weight yourself everyday, as there will be fluctuations where you could appear to gain weight slightly from one day to the next.

It is also not good to measure your muscles every day either as they take time to grow and big increases will not be seen overnight.

This can be discouraging if you are constantly looking for measures of progress and not getting them soon enough.

Sometimes measurements can be deceiving as with resistance training and weight loss.

While we are burning fat with a resistance training program we will also be building muscle so although the weight might not be changing when we stand on the scales, the fat to muscle ratio might have changed quite considerably and our body might be leaner, yet still weigh the same.

This is where taking photos of our body once a month will show a better picture of progress and offer an alternative measure of our success.

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