Should you ditch the fitness tracking?

Let’s figure that out. If you should, there’s also a step by step at the end.

It’s not unusual for me to ask my clients “But how did you feel?”.

I’m a PT so I’m fully aware of how beneficial it can be to track fitness metrics. I’m also just a human so I’m aware of how impactful it can be to focus on feeling rather than numbers when it comes to training and nutrition. 

Let me tell you what I’m not saying: We should ditch tracking and just do everything based on how it makes us feel because feeling is more important than the numbers. Great, let’s get into it. 

Fitness tracking has a place. It can help you understand what needs changing in terms of nutrition, or it might give you that healthy push to up your weights in the gym. It gives us something tangible that has nothing to do with how we look, and honestly, it feels pretty awesome to see numbers change when you’ve been putting in the work. Whether those numbers are from protein intake, measurements, scales, weights, VO2 max, whatever!

But fitness is full of ebbs and flows, and sometimes ditching the numbers can give us the fresh start we need. If you’ve been diligently tracking your journey and are feeling disheartened by what you’re seeing, you might be a good candidate for a tracking detox (God, I hate that word). Taking a few weeks to do things based on how you’re feeling is a great way to get a fresh perspective on how/why you’re training and eating the way you do.

Let me give you a scenario that I witness at least once every couple of weeks: 

“I haven’t lost weight. I’ve walked X number of kms, X number of times. I’m eating X number of calories everyday and the weights I’m lifting are heavier than ever. I’m doing something wrong.” My response is always “Aside from the numbers, how are you actually feeling?”

They are always feeling amazing. Instead of remembering why their fitness journey started in the first place, they become so focused on the numbers that they forget to check in with how good they’re feeling.

Again, tracking… amazing, I love tracking. But shit man, you’re overlooking how much you have changed your everyday life just because a few numbers that you don’t really understand don’t look the way you thought they would. 

“Oh I only went for 3 walks last week.” MATE THAT’S THREE MORE THAN YOU HAD DONE IN THE SIX MONTHS PRIOR?!

Leaving the numbers behind for a few weeks can also help you push past some barriers with training. Instead of doing a certain weight because that’s what you think you should do, try increasing your weight and training closer to failure. You’ll pleasantly surprise yourself with the weight increases you see, and rep increases as well.

At the end of the day, fitness is for life. A month without tracking likely won’t set you back, and I really believe it could propel you forward into months of greater gains. What a huge win to say you’re not sure how your progress looks on paper, but you’re feeling incredible and pushing yourself harder than before? 

When I feel like I need a break from tracking, here’s exactly what I do. 

1. Pinpoint what is making me feel disheartened or drained (not seeing weight increases, cardio distances are feeling harder, scales aren’t changing, I feel like I’m doing things to tick a box rather than for enjoyment).

2. Say it’s my cardio habits that I’m obsessing over. I’m going to ditch any form of tracking for two weeks at a minimum. 

3. Instead of planning when I’ll do my cardio at the start of the week, I’m going to set myself a small (easily achievable) goal to get those positive feelings flowing again.

4. Alright so my goal is to cycle once by Wednesday and a second time by Sunday. I’m going to leave the time and distance to the day. Maybe on Tuesday I’ll have 10 minutes for a quick ride? I’ll get some sun, unwind mentally and achieve part of my goal.

When I go right back to the basics, I find myself: training harder, doing cardio for longer, making better nutritional choices. This is because I’m doing things based on how I’m feeling, and how I’m going to feel afterwards. A run is no longer a run that I have to do because my schedule says so. A run is a chance for me to go out for as long as I want, get some sun on my face, get my heart rate up and release some endorphins. 

If you’ve been feeling disheartened, ditch the tracking. You won’t go backwards. If anything you’ll come out the other side feeling refreshed. 

Your coach & friend,

Maddy