Guest Post by Jen Sinkler
“What gets
measured gets improved.” It may be clichéd to quote leadership expert Robin
Sharma in yet another fitness post, but you know why clichés are a thing? Because they’re based in reality. And
this quote nails it.
We’re flush in
an age where tracking your fitness is fashionable. From Garmins to Fitbits to
Apple Watches, collecting and measuring data has never been easier. But is
there something they’re missing?
When clients and
gym members ask how to measure progress, it usually turns into a discussion
revisiting what exactly they’d like to achieve. If their method of tracking isn't measuring what they actually want to improve, I’m wasting their
precious time.
At The Movement
Minneapolis, the gym I co-own with my husband, David Dellanave, we use
custom-built tracking software to measure every workout. In the context of
strength, we make it easy for members to see if they’ve loaded more on the bar
or if they’ve become able to perform a few more reps week by week. They
periodically test their strength in the way of five-, three-, or (for some
clients) one-rep max attempts, keeping the intensity appropriate for their
lifting experience.
As I mentioned
earlier, for a test to be valid, it needs to measure what you’d like to
improve. Another key piece of the puzzle is finding a reliable test. Meaning, you’re able to reproduce it so that you can
compare each data point objectively and learn if you’re headed in the right
direction or not. As we say at the gym, “better questions lead to better
answers.”
Measuring
strength is pretty simple — achieving the same range of motion, can you lift
more than the previous week or max attempt? Cardiovascular endurance is also
straightforward — assuming you’re running the same distance each time, are
your times increasing or decreasing?
But how do we effectively measure athletic qualities?
The plot thickens, and I’m
so glad you asked. (Or that I pretended that you did, rather.)
Enter the Broad
Jump, 10- and 40-Yard Dash and Pro Agility tests. I like these tests for several reasons:
- They measure
qualities that are applicable to training goals involving speed, agility, and
explosive power.
- Their simplicity
allows for reliable results, allowing me to know for certain if I’m moving the
needle in the direction I want to go, or if I need to make adjustments in my
training.
- They’re easy to
do with minimal equipment. You need only a little space, a tape measure, and a
stopwatch.
If you’re
interested in measuring your current athleticism in this manner, try the tests
below.