How do you guys gauge your progress?

[carverelli]

I realize some of you have different goals, but mostly I hear add muscle and lose fat.
When Ive come off an extended hiatus, my goals are generally the same as I've mentioned. Invariably, within a month or so I start gauging my progress by lifting more weight for reps. I guess I do this because it's easy to count the lbs on the bar. Looking at the mirror can be objective, and the scale doesn't tell the whole story either. Fitting into pants I've stored years earlier can be an ego boost, but is it really any closer to my goals.

In other words, what keeps you motivated to persevere? Just kind of curious because I'm starting to lose my focus

 

[halfwit]

1. First and foremost: How I feel about myself when I look in the mirror. I know most of us have a body image disorder, but sometimes you just have to take a look and say, "god damn I am looking good."

2. I too (we shouldn't, as it can lead to injury if not careful) look at the ease in which I am able to move those ten reps. If it gets too easy, I opt for an extra set with more weight. I think it's just part of our nature to see what we can do with our bodies.

3. The caliber of women I attract. I'm married, but it definitely feeds the ego to have national bikini champs and fitness models flirt with me when I head to the gym or other public places. Granted, I'm probably a little more sensitive to this kind of attention as I was a fatty mcfat fat for quite a long time and am just now getting back (and beyond) where I was in my "prime".

4. Measurements. I HATE the effing scale, but the tape measure is my friend. A mirror can lie as water retention can make us look puffy or even flat, but the tale of the tape is pretty consistent. I can thank 3J for that one.

5. Intensity. I know I'm progressing when I'm smashing the weights, and they're not smashing ME. I have always had 100% intensity and focus, but some days I swear I'm a fire-breathing monster. I think some of the others believe so too, as they tend to clear out of my area LOL.

That's pretty much the best I can sum it into words. I fell in love with the gym at the age of 13, and 25 years later, I'm still madly in love. The body is a piece of clay, and with the proper tools we can sculpt our bodies into whatever image we deem fit. Sure, we must acknowledge certain limitations, as I'll never be as gigantic as any of the Olympians (6'7" Mr O? LOL) - but I can bring about the best version of ME (read: YOU) with this fire inside me that burns like a nuclear reactor.

We all lose focus from time to time, I find it to be the champions that are able to pick it back up and regain it with more intensity.

My .02c

 

[carverelli]

Quite the dissertation(sp?) half!!! I almost always enjoy your posts. This one is very good. Honest and truthful and exactly what I was after. Never even thought about the tape measure progress. For me it's hard to know if my tape is in the same place is was the last time I measured lol

I like the snug(sore) feeling 36 hours after a good back or chest workout

I have relatively weak tendons and connective tissue so I would have to call myself a bodybuilder, yet I've never competed. My body fat has always been relatively high, yet I seem reluctant to lose size for cuts. Maybe cuz I hate being hungry lol. For a guy 5-09 250lbs I'm not overly strong. 3x315x8 squats to parallel. 3x 275x 6,5,5 bench press.

Just fishing for motivational tips from you all to do what if takes to get the "look"

 

[tbonexl]

Pussy motivates me. Seriously..

 

[GOTGrowth]

THE MIRROR . The scale doesn't say much other than what weight class you fit in! Its all about being filled out, lean and making those muscles pop.

 

[jozifp103]

I myself have body image issues. I'm not depressed about the way I look by any means. But I always feel like I need to be bigger, and I see people who are half my size and think they are bigger than me. It keep me always hungry for more gains. I cannot gauge my own progress very well because in my eyes i'm always small. I let other people tell me I look good. Currently my girlfriend is my best critic. She is really good at telling me where i'm improving and where i need work. If i'm getting fat, you better believe she's gonna tease me about it lol.

 

[bigben66]

Fuck Halfwit... you really do have a knack of saying exactly what's on MY mind!

Yeah, OP.... erm..... just what he said ^^^^^^

 

[halfwit]

Quite the dissertation(sp?) half!!! I almost always enjoy your posts. This one is very good. Honest and truthful and exactly what I was after. Never even thought about the tape measure progress. For me it's hard to know if my tape is in the same place is was the last time I measured lol

I like the snug(sore) feeling 36 hours after a good back or chest workout

I have relatively weak tendons and connective tissue so I would have to call myself a bodybuilder, yet I've never competed. My body fat has always been relatively high, yet I seem reluctant to lose size for cuts. Maybe cuz I hate being hungry lol. For a guy 5-09 250lbs I'm not overly strong. 3x315x8 squats to parallel. 3x 275x 6,5,5 bench press.

Just fishing for motivational tips from you all to do what if takes to get the "look"

If you haven't consulted with 3J yet, he can definitely help guide you. I paid very careful attention to what he said and took his advice to heart. I'm on a full ketogenic diet right now, and while I don't get hungry - it was a battle of willpower to ONLY eat turkey/olives/greens for Thanksgiving, while the family gorged themselves on pie and stuffing/potatoes/yams and other foods we crave this time of year.

The one thing that I have learned in my transition from almost 50% body fat to nearing my goal is that consistency and patience are crucial. There are days that I'm tired and sore, but I still man up and hit that gym with everything I've got. If I can do it, anyone can.

Thanks for the kind words guys. We're all in this together.

 

[hiram1st]

During this body recomp I'm doing I've realized I must have a body image issue.

As halfwit said 3j s use of the use of a tape was and is a real eye opener. I'm losing weight, inches and bf having to by new clothes, feeling and looking great getting lots of compliments and female attention but it's not good enough. I feel like I should be doing better.

If my weight goes up a lb I get really bent out of shape and feel like I'm failing

 

[Bigboss12]

its a hard thing to swallow as body image issues have gotten a bad name. mostly from the female side of it. for men especially ones into working out and most people on ology. we don't stop eating or do things harmful to our bodies because of how we look it just pushes us to be greater tomorrow then we are today. i know for myself and probably a lot of people if i got to the point that i looked exactly how i wanted to it would be hard to stay motivated and set goals. this is why for me motivation is all perception and what i desire from myself. of course like most i do have body image problems as i feel smaller then guys who in fact i am bigger then. for me thats just my mind motivating me to push harder. in this case for me and probably a lot of you i don't think that body image problems are problems at all. because from what we think, that is how hard we push ourselves and are motivated. i just think us wanting to look the best we can shouldn't be qualified as a problem or issue but rather us striving to be our best.

 

[cybrsage]

If my weight goes up a lb I get really bent out of shape and feel like I'm failing

Ha! I just did this very thing!

 

[ELicit23]

The compliments and random people asking for advice motivates me to keep doing what I do.
Also, start wearing nice fitted clothing that show off your boobs and biceps... like a tight black V-Neck. Youll be like holy shiiiiit I look good and I want to keep on looking good so im gonna either get better or maintain !
Nothing is more discouraging to me than loose sleeves on a shirt and my clothes fitting me big and loose.

I wear V-Neck sweaters so tight that my bicep and forearm veins poke right through and the ladies love itttttttttt

 

[m314]

Take notes with every workout. I use my phone these days instead of pen and paper. It's easy to see improvements over time when you keep track of every workout.

Take progress pics at least once or twice a month. You might notice changes in the mirror, but progress is easier to see as a series of pictures over time.

 

[Milton]

I nominate this thread for a stickie of the month as its a very important question stated by Carverelli, anyone care to second it?

 

[tbonexl]

I nominate this thread for a stickie of the month as its a very important question stated by Carverelli, anyone care to second it?

Secondedededed lol

 

[Cheph]

I myself have body image issues. I'm not depressed about the way I look by any means. But I always feel like I need to be bigger, and I see people who are half my size and think they are bigger than me. It keep me always hungry for more gains. I cannot gauge my own progress very well because in my eyes i'm always small. I let other people tell me I look good. Currently my girlfriend is my best critic. She is really good at telling me where i'm improving and where i need work. If i'm getting fat, you better believe she's gonna tease me about it lol.

I have the same issue. Always think im small but in reality I'm quite the opposite. My wife told me the other day I'm getting a little too big. I told her too bad, because I just started a new cycle and am going to get a lot bigger

 

[carverelli]

Interesting replies here. I'd say most human beings yearn for the approbation of others in our endeavors. Sometimes it doesn't even matter where that approval comes from. When a complete stranger sees us and comments, "you must work out" , those words may even mean more than hearing it from an aquaitance because s stranger might be more sincere or clearly hasn't any hidden agenda for blowing sunshine up our ass.

Some of us, I'm thinking the minority, would continue to train hard and heavy even though we were the last ones on earth, so there wouldn't anyone around to admire our efforts.

Overall, a lot of good responses though

 

[trekrider215]

There are a lot of things that keep me going.
1) i simply love the way lifting weights makes me feel. Its just damn fun

2) i love the fact that i stand out from about 99 percent of the population. Im not buy any means huge, but basically wherever i go i get compliments and people asking for advice. I never want that to end. I love attention.
3)i love challenging my body and mind. Deep down whether its in the gym or the kitchen, i love when i get to that point to where i pause for a second and say fuck can i keep doing this? I make myself recognize that im at that point and smile and say yes i sure fucking can.
4)having something that i can call my own. Also im the type of person who likes to dedicate their entire life to something. It makes me feel like i truely have a reason to live. I put every waking second into training. Willing to sacrifice anything.

Im one of the type of people who just try to stay uber motivated and positive about things. Things might not always work out in my favor but i do my best to keep the dream alive.

This might not be the type of responsr you were looking for, but i tried.

 

[carverelli]

There are a lot of things that keep me going.
1) i simply love the way lifting weights makes me feel. Its just damn fun

2) i love the fact that i stand out from about 99 percent of the population. Im not buy any means huge, but basically wherever i go i get compliments and people asking for advice. I never want that to end. I love attention.
3)i love challenging my body and mind. Deep down whether its in the gym or the kitchen, i love when i get to that point to where i pause for a second and say fuck can i keep doing this? I make myself recognize that im at that point and smile and say yes i sure fucking can.
4)having something that i can call my own. Also im the type of person who likes to dedicate their entire life to something. It makes me feel like i truely have a reason to live. I put every waking second into training. Willing to sacrifice anything.

Im one of the type of people who just try to stay uber motivated and positive about things. Things might not always work out in my favor but i do my best to keep the dream alive.

This might not be the type of responsr you were looking for, but i tried.

there is no right or wrong answer to the OP, just how YOU personally monitor YOUR progress and what keeps you busting your ass to achieve YOUR goals. I'm really liking the honesty and variety of the answers on this thread

 

[Caution]

Not sure how many of you actually compete but I spend half my time in the dam mirror and as stated by Halfwit, I (like most) have an image issue. lol! I get over that though with weekly photos every Saturday morning in quarter turns. It'll be hard for you to gauge results as you see yourself everyday but when you start looking at photos its a ton easier to see where you're gaining as well as your lagging parts - photos don't lie Homie. For me, to keep focused I set smaller goals and never nothing that's way out there years out so I don't get discouraged. Depends on what your goals are too... if your goal is strength and you're benching 225 don't set a goal of 525 in 6 months. Probably not gonna happen ... instead shoot for say 275, break that goal and set another. When dieting down and its show time or you're leaning out don't play the numbers game and stay off the scale. The scale is the biggest mind fuck ever and I know plenty of competitors that stay on every chance they get :/ - Shoot for 2 pounds a week and use the measuring tape ... once you get to 10% it'll be harder to lose from there because well ... there isn't too much too lose at that point. Overall I ALWAYS hit my goals so it keeps me motivated to make new ones and keep pressing on