Regular exercise has many benefits. You already know that consistently exercising is the key to improving your fitness. So, you’re working hard and exercising more. But how can you tell if you’re becoming fitter? Let’s look at ways to determine if you’re improving your fitness.
You’ll Feel Different As Your Fitness Improves
Physical activity can be challenging and not fun when you first start exercising. However, after a few weeks, your workouts should feel easier. In fact, you’ll feel like you’re not working as hard to achieve the same results. That’s because your body is adapting, and your fitness is improving. You may start to feel enjoyment from exercise instead of suffering through your workouts.
Outside of how your workouts feel, you’ll notice other things. Your energy level will improve as your fitness improves, and you’ll feel less tired throughout the day. You may also feel less stressed, more optimistic, and in a better mood. You may be more productive and able to take on more. Your sleep will improve, and you may feel more rested because of better quality sleep.
However, you won’t see these benefits if you’re overdoing it. If you notice these improvements but they start to drop off, you may be exercising too much and should add rest days to recover. Taking a day or two to recover will not erase all your hard work. If you don’t take time to recover, you will increase your risk of becoming injured.
On the other hand, if you find a routine that works for you and you’re consistently following it, these feelings will become your new normal. If this is your goal, then congratulations! Now, all you have to do is maintain it. But if you want to push further, what other observations can you make to indicate if your fitness is improving?
Your Performance Improves As Your Fitness Improves
You’re working hard on your fitness goals and feeling great, but you want to keep going and need other indicators to show that your fitness is improving. Breaking personal records, such as running a particular distance faster or lifting more weight with less effort, are obvious examples.
Other indicators, such as improvements in your technique, indicate you’re getting stronger, more coordinated, and exercising more efficiently. Another sign is that you can occasionally handle more than usual, whether greater volume or intensity, without completely sapping your energy for the rest of the day.
You’ll need to add more workload to your routine to continue making gains, such as going farther, longer, or harder. However, doing too much too quickly is a recipe for disaster. Instead, slowly introduce more exercise into your routine and give your mind and body time to adapt.
You might have a hard time determining whether your fitness is improving when you don’t feel like you’re making any gains and you’re no longer breaking any personal records. That’s when you can use technology to give you insight into whether your fitness is improving.
Using Technology To See Fitness Improvements
No matter where you are in your fitness journey, data can tell you a lot about where you were and where you are now. Whether you’re just starting or have consistently exercised for years, there are hidden indicators that your fitness is improving, provided you can measure it.
Before fitness trackers, smart scales, and other health-related devices, you would work with someone with access to expensive equipment to measure your progress beyond recording your workouts, weight, and calories. However, today’s affordable fitness trackers and smart scales can collect a lot of the same data about your fitness and health.
VO2 Max
VO2 max is the maximum (max) amount (V) of oxygen (O2) your body can use during exercise. The more oxygen your body can use, the more fit you are. Oxygen enters the body through breathing. Then, the lungs absorb the oxygen and convert it to energy. Factors like your age and genetics can affect your VO2 max. Regardless, you can improve yours with regular exercise. As it improves, it’s a good indicator that your fitness is too.
The most accurate way to measure your VO2 max is in a laboratory with a specialist, although most modern fitness trackers can do a good enough job estimating it. The higher your VO2 max, the more fit you are. Unfortunately, your VO2 max naturally decreases as you get older, but you can still monitor it and strive to reach the highest VO2 max for your age and gender.
Heart Rate Variability
Let’s say your heart beats 60 times per minute. That doesn’t mean it beats exactly one beat every second. In fact, your heart beats slightly irregularly, which is perfectly normal. HRV measures the time between your heartbeats.
Heart rate variability (HRV) can provide insight into whether you’re recovering from an illness, injury, or exercise. It can also track your levels of physical and emotional stress. Each person’s HRV is unique, so someone’s normal could be abnormal for you. That means you should only compare your HRV to your averages and avoid comparing yourself to others.
Aerobic fitness can impact your HRV since regular aerobic exercise improves cardiovascular function and health. Generally, higher heart rate variability correlates with higher aerobic fitness. Like VO2 max, most modern fitness trackers can measure your HRV. So, your averages over time can help indicate whether your fitness is improving. However, if it’s trending lower, it may indicate it’s time to take a day or two off to recover.
Resting Heart Rate
Your resting heart rate is when you are relaxing, such as lying down awake and not after recently exerting yourself. An adult’s typical resting heart rate is between 60 and 80 beats per minute. A higher resting heart rate may suggest your heart is working harder than it should, possibly due to poor fitness, stress, dehydration, or other health issues. On the other hand, it is not unusual for people who regularly exercise to have a resting heart rate below 50 beats per minute.
Regardless, everyone’s heart rate is different, and no ideal resting heart rate exists. However, a lower resting heart rate usually means you’re more fit. Like VO2 max and HRV, you can use a heart rate monitor or fitness tracker to monitor your resting heart rate.
Blood Pressure
Regular exercise can help stabilize or improve your blood pressure. It strengthens your heart, allowing it to pump blood more efficiently with less effort. Exercise also makes your blood vessels flexible, allowing them to dilate more easily, thereby reducing resistance to blood flow.
Regularly checking your blood pressure is essential to watch for any changes over time. Not only will you see your progress, but you may also see early indicators of trouble, which will let you make adjustments sooner rather than later so you can nudge yourself in the right direction.
Sleep Quality
Regular exercise can improve your sleep quality significantly. Regular moderate to vigorous activity can increase the amount of deep sleep you get. Deep sleep is critical for recovery and cognitive functions. You can slip into a predictable sleep pattern, which means you wake up and go to bed at roughly the same times every day, including the weekend. When you’re well rested, you’ll have more awake time alertness and a more natural feeling of tiredness in the evening.
You might have to experiment to determine the best time of day to exercise. Also, the effects of exercise on your sleep may not be immediate. But once you’re exercising consistently, you should start to notice if your sleep quality improves. On the other hand, if you’re finding it harder to stay asleep and are more restless during the night, you could be exercising too much.
You can use a fitness tracker to monitor your sleep. It’s important not to focus on one particular night but on the amount of sleep you’re averaging over time.
Changes in Body Composition
Exercise helps burn extra calories, which can help reduce excess weight. As your fitness improves, exercise can also increase your lean muscle mass. Just because the number on the scale isn’t meeting your expectations doesn’t mean you’re not improving.
Muscles are denser and take up less space than fat, so you may not see changes in the mirror immediately, but you may replace fatty tissue with lean muscle mass. In fact, you can put two people of the same height and weight together, but they look very different if one has more muscle mass than the other.
Most modern smart scales can measure more than your weight. However, losing sight of your goal is easy when the number doesn’t match your expectations. So, weighing yourself is useful to monitor your progress. Your body is more than just fat and muscle. There is water, bones, and other organic material, too. Regardless of your weight, when you become more fit, you’ll generally see an increase in muscle mass and a decrease in fat mass.
Tracking Your Progress
Tracking your progress can help show how your fitness is improving over time. It lets you know where you were and where you are now, which is essential for making better decisions. You can find patterns to help you adjust your behavior to keep you moving toward your goals instead of away. It’s hard to know what’s working and not working unless you track and monitor yourself.
However, tracking too much data or focusing on the wrong thing is an easy trap to fall into. No matter what the numbers say, always listen to your body. Never push yourself to make your numbers look better. One weigh-in or workout doesn’t mean anything about your progress. Instead, look at your results over time, which is the actual indicator of progress.
The Takeaway
Regular exercise can improve your fitness. Yet, it may be difficult to determine if your workout routine is working. But you can see changes such as better sleep, more energy, and a better outlook on life. You may also notice you can do more while exercising and in life more easily.
Furthermore, there are less obvious ways to measure your gains, such as using a fitness tracker to monitor your VO2 max, HRV, sleep, and resting heart rate. However, try not to overdo it. Regardless of what any number says or if you have a planned workout for the day, listen to your body. If it’s telling you to take a day off, then take a day off to rest and recover.
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Disclaimer: No content on this site should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
