are your workouts effective? here’s how to tell…

In a world where numbers, stats, and other “measurables” dominate our society in many ways, it’s understandable that people may be confused on what really constitutes a good workout. Le't’s discuss and set the record straight…

WHAT DOESN’T MATTER?

• How much you did or didn’t sweat:

  • Sweating is a homeostatic response by your body to regulate internal temperature, it’s not an indicator of how hard you worked out.

  • Sure, you can have a really solid workout and be super sweaty but you can also have a really solid workout and not be super sweaty. Similarly, you can finish a workout drenched in sweat but your form was horrible, you weren’t pushing yourself appropriately, or you overdid it to the point that you probably won’t feel good enough to workout for days. Sweatiness is an absolutely unreliable measure of an effective workout.

• Maintaining a high heart rate for the entirety of the workout:

  • Your heart rate is a measure of your heart’s exertion in a given moment and is a helpful piece of information in tandem with many other factors. It doesn’t necessarily reflect how hard a muscle is working or the mechanical stress being placed on your body, which is the factor that actually facilitates change.

• Being sore the next day:

  • A little soreness is normal when starting a new workout program that includes new and unfamiliar movement that may require new and unfamiliar muscle recruitment. However, as you progress through a program your body should be growing + adapting to the stress you’ve placed on it and you actually shouldn’t be sore all the time. You certainly shouldn’t be sore for days on end. Extreme, lingering soreness is often a sign of poor recovery or overtraining, which is going to ultimately set you back.

• How many calories your Apple Watch says you’ve burned:

  • First and foremost, Apple Watches and other wearables don’t have the advanced technology necessary to accurately measure your caloric burn. They can be a source of helpful insight but should be taken with a grain of salt and in conjunction with many other factors. There have been hundreds of workouts after which my Apple Watch reports a very low calorie number but my muscles are noodly and I physically can’t do another rep because my muscles are so fatigued from the stress I’ve placed on them through weight training.

• The duration of your workout:

  • You can get a FIRE workout in less than 60 minutes. If you are pushing yourself appropriately and effectively, you really shouldn’t be able to workout for hours on end. Working out for 2 straight hours so you can say you worked out for 2 hours means nothing and is often the result of two possibilities: either you weren’t pushing yourself hard enough OR you pushed yourself TOO HARD and are at risk of overtraining.

WHAT DOES MATTER?

• You’re getting stronger week to week and using progressive overload to track your progress:

  • Our bodies change + grow as a result of adaptation in response to stressors placed on them. Your workouts should be structured in such a way that you can consistently put stress on your body in a strategic, progressive, and trackable way. If you want to learn more about how to structure a workout, check out this post!

• You see improvements in form and overall movement patterns:

  • You’re going to see immensely greater progress by focusing on improving your form, your range of motion, your tempo, your control, and the way you perform certain exercises. If you’re not focusing on those factors, you risk wasting your time performing exercises in an ineffective way and/or injuring yourself as a result of improper movement mechanics.

• Your body is able to recovery appropriately:

  • Efficient recovery is an indication that your body is responding and adapting to the stress you’re placing on it through your workouts.

• You’re becoming more in tune with your body and making improvements with mind-muscle connection:

  • The ability to properly recruit and activate muscles, move efficiently, and understand your body’s biofeedback is crucial for longterm, sustainable, effective results.

• You’re seeing progress in muscle definition, the way your clothes fit, your progress photos, and the way you feel

  • This is, in my opinion, hands down, the BEST measure of progress and success in anyone’s health and fitness journey. This measure of progress is more important than any number of calories, pounds, minutes, etc.