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How will you know that you are making progress? You have to recognize indicators of progress on the way to your goal. Measurements can be quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative numbers are easier to measure, but they don’t always measure soft skills learned along the way to your goal.

Quantitative measures. A quantitative approach might involve a weight management goal such as a body fat percentage you want to reach, or maybe a performance goal such as climbing a particular grade or summiting a specific peak.

ATHLETIC TESTS

As a way to measure progress and know whether your current nutrition and training strategies are working for you, it’s worth doing some testing that is specific to what you want to improve. Do your test of choice at the beginning of your experimentation, then again a few months later to see if what you are doing is working. For the more expensive tests, budget and plan ahead; make them part of your training and self-care expenses. Consult the Resources section at the end of the book for links to further information.

Aerobic endurance can be tested by doing a VO₂ max test, which tests the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise. If you are an avid endurance athlete who is looking to improve your personal best, we recommend getting this test done by an exercise physiologist. They can tell you how much fat you are using for energy compared to carbohydrates and can also can help you interpret the results and plan your nutrition and training accordingly. You can also test your aerobic endurance yourself by taking the Cooper test, which is a 12-minute run. (See Resources for the website with information on doing this test.) You can do the test every six weeks or at the end of each phase of training to evaluate your progress.

Most blood work done as part of a physical checkup will test your thyroid levels. If it doesn’t, check out the online lab kit at Lab Tests Online. Because the thyroid plays a major role in metabolic function, it’s important to test this annually. And if you are experimenting with intermittent fasting, keep a closer eye on your thyroid levels.

A full vitamin and mineral panel will tell you what you are deficient in before starting a new diet or if you are looking to take supplements. It’s also a good idea to take this test if you have symptoms of consistent digestive distress or fatigue; this test could highlight potential causes. It’s best to get it done every six months to a year. This test isn’t always included in the blood work you get as part of a physical. You can get a full panel at Lab Tests Online.

A doctor can take your blood pressure, or you can get your own blood pressure cuff. Normal blood pressure is 120/80. Blood pressure can tell you a lot about your stress levels and whether you are hypertensive. Higher blood pressure is more prevalent in power athletes compared to endurance and intermittent-activity sports, so if you lift or just focus on bouldering training, it could be worth checking your blood pressure. If you are hypertensive, you can adjust your training to incorporate more cardio and work with your doctor on other approaches as well.

Blood sugar levels involve blood drawn while you are in a fasting state and can be performed by your doctor, or you can test them with Lab Tests Online annually or daily using a glucometer. Understanding your blood sugar levels throughout the day is crucial to your training and performance. The test results can also tell you if you are at risk for diabetes.

If you’d like to know how well you recover from your sessions, or if you are ready to do another hard workout, you can test your heart rate variability (HRV). We recommend two HRV apps, Elite HRV and Morpheus. The Morpheus HRV wearable and app work reasonably well; the system lets you know how hard to train and where your heart rate should be for each training session. The app has you “training” every day, just at different intensities, such as a recovery mode day. Do some reading on this product before jumping in (see the Resources section).

You can test your anaerobic power by testing your lactate threshold, which is done by an exercise physiologist and measures the point at which lactate builds up faster than it is removed. Often endurance athletes need this test more than other types of athletes, but if you are trying to push yourself to your peak, it could be good information to have. An exercise physiologist can then help you design a program to increase this lactate threshold for increased performance.

If you have ongoing digestive issues, I highly recommend asking your doctor for a fecal test to see if you have a parasite, an infection, or are just lacking essential bacteria in your gut. Your doctor will tell you how many tests you will need based on the results, and then recommend medications or diet changes.

Test your body fat percentage to find out your current body fat composition. This is easy to do with an inexpensive caliper, or you can get a DEXA scan, which also measures bone density. See chapter 9, Advanced Nutrition Strategies, for more on this test. Body fat testing is often a better measure of body composition than weighing yourself. A scale doesn’t paint a big enough picture about what’s actually happening to your body. If you are wanting to change your body composition, it’s best to test every two to four weeks to make sure you are heading in the direction you desire.

To meet those bigger goals, you need to see incremental progress to know whether you are heading in the right direction. Progress indicators could look like taking photos of your body every two weeks, periodically measuring your maximum grip strength, or recording speed and distance climbed at an incline over time. Progress will look different to everyone, but here is a list of some helpful measures:

•Blood profiles (minerals and hormones)

•Body composition

•Consistency

•Fecal tests

•Menstrual cycle (flow, length, ovulation dates, and any correlations to performance or emotions)

•Power

•Reaction time

•Recovery (resting heart rate or heart rate variability [HRV])

•Sleep (length and quality—create your own scale for this)

•Speed

•Strength (grip strength or contact strength)

•VO₂ max (maximum oxygen uptake)

•Work capacity (strength and endurance)

Qualitative measures. A qualitative measure could involve using a scale from 1 to 5 to describe pain or technique. That way you can still assign numbers and see progress. You can also measure consistency, which is helpful since it is the secret to overall improvement. Other measures are:

•Cravings (how strong, what sort, and when)

•Digestion (good, bad, consistent, irritable)

•Energy (high energy, lethargy, or sleepiness)

•Mood (happy, depressed, anxious)

•Motivation

•Pain (where in your body, what type, how intense)

•Stress (overwhelmed, feeling good, or in need of recovery time)

Some folks live and die by numbers. Yes, numbers help you understand ability level and keep you pushing forward, but athletes often fantasize about these numbers. Do your best to remember that numbers are a guide, signposts to let you know how you are doing. In the end, it’s the path you create—and how deep it is—that matters most. A well-worn path will be easy to find again if you happen to wander off. Habit building allows you to clearly establish your path.

“Objects in motion tend to stay in motion.”

—Newton’s First Law of Motion