Pre-workout shouldn’t be the first thing that comes to mind when you think about leveling up your workouts. Here are five metrics to track for better performance in your workouts.
Progression
It’s no secret that you should track how you progress in your workouts. Progress can be tracked many ways, but increases in weight and reps are two of the easiest metrics to follow. While you may not be able to increase each week, you want to see an upward trend in weight or rep progression over time. Even if you can’t add five more pounds, you might be able to add one more rep!
Volume
As you increase reps or sets of your lifts, it’s important to track your overall load throughout the week. If you feel yourself dragging, you might be doing too much! A study by Baz-Valle et al. (2022) shows that 12-20 sets per muscle group per week is ideal for muscle growth (study conducted on men: further research indicated for generalizability for women and other groups). If you find yourself doing more than that, you may be inhibiting growth and recovery.
Sleep
Speaking about recovery, sleep is an important metric to be tracking. Sleep promotes muscle protein synthesis and hormonal regulation (Lamon et al., 2021). Healthy adults should aim for at least 7 hours of sleep per night, some individuals benefitting from up to nine hours.
Protein
To aid in muscle protein synthesis that takes place during rest and sleep, dietary protein intake is another metric to track. A general rule of thumb is to get 0.8g/lb of body weight (or desired body weight, if you have more than 20 pounds to lose to be a healthy weight). As I tell my clients, without the materials, you can’t build a house. Give your body the materials to build muscle by getting sufficient protein.
Carbs
Although protein is having its moment, carbohydrates are important for having enough energy for workouts. Depending on activity level, 5-7g/kg of body weight is ideal for moderately active individuals, whereas 8-12g/kg is ideal for heavy exercisers (Kanter, 2018).
If you aren’t tracking these five metrics, give them a try and see how your workouts change!
References
Baz-Valle, E., Balsalobre-Fernández, C., Alix-Fages, C., & Santos-Concejero, J. (2022). A systematic review of the effects of different resistance training volumes on muscle hypertrophy. Journal of human kinetics, 81, 199–210. https://doi.org/10.2478/hukin-2022-0017
Kanter M. (2018). High-quality carbohydrates and physical performance: Expert panel report. Nutrition today, 53(1), 35–39. https://doi.org/10.1097/NT.0000000000000238
Lamon, S., Morabito, A., Arentson-Lantz, E., Knowles, O., Vincent, G. E., Condo, D., Alexander, S. E., Garnham, A., Paddon-Jones, D., & Aisbett, B. (2021). The effect of acute sleep deprivation on skeletal muscle protein synthesis and the hormonal environment. Physiological reports, 9(1), e14660. https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.14660
