How To Know If Your Workout Is Working (Not The Mirror)

00:00 The mirror is the wrong instrument 00:31 What moves first 01:05 Why the scale is noise 01:42 Even the lab tool has error bars 02:17 The logbook is the instrument 02:50 Which instrument to believe How do you know if your workout is actually working? Most people answer in a mirror, and the mirror is a poor instrument for that job: it changes with light, with the hour, and you see it every day, which hides slow change. Measurable change and visible change run on different clocks, and the measurable one moves first. Reviews of strength adaptation put the early gains largely in the nervous system, with muscle size changing later. The scale is not much better: researchers tracked what two weeks of weight change was actually made of, and very little of it was fat. Even the lab scanners used in research are sensitive to hydration, gut contents and time of day. What is left is the cheapest instrument there is. Write down the exercise, the weight and the reps. If either the weight or the reps went up, the training worked. Sources: Folland JP and Williams AG, Sports Medicine 2007 (37:2, 145-168); Bhutani S, Kahn E, Tasali E and Schoeller DA, Physiological Reports 2017 (5:13, e13336); Nana A, Slater GJ, Stewart AD and Burke LM, International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 2015 (25:2, 198-215); ACSM Position Stand on Progression Models in Resistance Training, Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 2009 (41:3, 687-708); Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition, 2018. Not medical advice. Talk to your doctor about your own situation. #gymmyths #progressiveoverload #traininglog #fitnessmyths #beginner Give the logbook somewhere it will not get lost: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ForrestFind... 🏋 Gym myths, checked. New one every day. 📒 Progressive Overload Tracker — 6-week printable workout log (PDF): https://wealthywellness0.gumroad.com/... 🛒 Same tracker on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/45558900... 🔗 Everything we make: https://fscholtesdowd.github.io/forre... Stock footage and photos: Pexels (pexels.com), used under the Pexels License.