Tracking Performance

Tracking performance is a requisite to improving the body through desirable and purposeful adaptations. New exercisers experience notable improvements in a shorter period of time compared to their trained counterparts due to neural improvements as the body develops greater efficiency. It is not uncommon to see double digit percentile improvements in each of the first two months. During this phase, even subpar personal trainers will generate results as the body rapidly adjusts to physical activity. Once the body has made its initial adjustments to the routine stress and reached its early tissue potential physiological adaptations begin to slow down. This is when competent trainers begin to shine. Due to the rapid adaptations and the psychological impact of seeing improvement - it is a smart idea to identify these changes for progressive adjustments as well as client motivation. This demonstrates the relevance of recording data during each workout the client performs so that forward thinking and preparations reflect the physical state of the individual. This should be obvious as premeditated programs built on the principles of specificity and progressive overload are characteristic of requisite personal trainer activity; but unfortunately some personal trainers fail to record workout data.

Tracking data allows for the identification of improvement, the rate of improvement, areas responding to the training versus areas lagging behind in linear comparisons of each measured component, as well as the overall effectiveness of training. To ensure optimal psychological outcomes in the first month it is wise to teach to the evaluation criteria as well. For instance, if push-ups are a quantified measure of upper body muscular fitness, then they should be employed in the program. Realize fat loss does not occur at the same rate as neuromuscular adaptations; therefore emphasizing those systems that demonstrate the most rapid improvements early on in the program makes sense to demonstrate programmatic effectiveness. People are motivated by improvements and as such those improvements should be identified to create positive reinforcement for the effort.

Once the initial changes have taken place, a 2-5% progression rate per week is appropriate to reflect the rate of realistic physiological adaptations in trained tissue. The progression can be applied using any stress that corresponds to the goals, albeit specific to resistance in a set, weekly volume, or other neuromuscular challenges. Consider the following training work sets for the squat exercise. The example represents an experienced exerciser in a strength phase of the training cycle.

Week One:

Week Two:

As is demonstrated by the example, a variation in the rep schemes can still be reflected by the total work. Analyzing the amount of effort placed in the work there is a 3% increase in the percentage of maximal effort between week 1 and week 2. By consciously programming at a rate that is perceived as a new stress and realistic for the body to adapt to, continuous improvements can be made. Routinely tracking defined repetition performance will identify if the appropriate rate of change is being applied or not. If a client reaches volitional failure prior to attaining the assigned rep range the effort can be reduced; to the contrary, if a client is exceeding performance expectations the progression may be conservatively increased using reps, loading, or other stress such as load-asymmetry or changes in the stability requirements.

To identify how to calculate 1RM from multi-rep assessment or performance in the workout or to determine the appropriate resistance over different rep schemes - use the Trainer’s calculators in the NCSF Trainer’s Tools™ available under the membership section of the website.