Stronger or Just Sweating? Why Tracking Your Baseline Matters

It was 2017, I’d been training in the gym consistently following the same bodybuilding plan for the last 6 months. At that point, I’d memorized the routine in my head and would take notes in a tiny dollar store notebook so I could flip back and see my progress.

But after a while, the effort I brought to the plan in the beginning started to fade. I felt like I was running in a hamster wheel—showing up, but not really sure if I was getting closer to my goal. I would look in the mirror daily and see no visual changes. My strength would go up, then go down depending on the day, last night’s sleep, or the time of the session.

It was a good thing I was tracking my strength and repetitions, because after being lulled to sleep by my routine, it made me really consider… am I actually making progress? Am I getting closer to the goal I set out, which was to eventually compete in men’s physique?

That’s when I decided to take a more objective look at results instead of going based off how I “felt.”

I started taking progress photos, videos, and tracking my weight in a spreadsheet that would automatically average my weekly weight. Once I did that, I became so much more engaged with my progress. I trained harder when I knew my effort was yielding results. And when it wasn’t yielding results, it gave me insights—sometimes I was missing something, and sometimes I was simply doing too much.

I always joke with my clients who are accountants or business owners…I say the dreaded A-word: Audit.
Tracking your measures is like doing an audit. It forces you to get brutally honest with reality.

In this post, I want to share with you the most important metrics to track—beyond just weigh-ins and progress photos. These markers go deeper, and they tell you the truth about your health, longevity, and performance.

Metrics That Actually Matter

1. Power

Strength gains is more than just output on a lift. Instead, track metrics on how that strength can translate into explosiveness:

• Vertical Jump: How high can you take-off into the air. To test this, you’ll need a Jump Mat or a Force Plate.

• Reactive Strength Index (RSI): How quickly you can brake, absorb force, and then re-accelerate. For this test, you’ll need a force plate or software that can measure time spent on the floor followed by how high you can jump.

• 10-Yard Dash: Think about accelerating from 0–100 on a highway. Everyone can eventually hit 100, but who gets there fastest? For this, you can use laser gates or have a friend time you.

These metrics don’t just matter for athletes—they help keep you athletic as you age.

2. Aerobic Capacity & Recovery

When I first focused on aerobic training, it was humbling. Strength and muscle were easy to measure, but endurance? That was a whole new game.

Here are the key markers I use and recommend:

• VO₂ Max: How well your body uses oxygen to fuel movement. Higher = better efficiency and conditioning.

• Resting Heart Rate (RHR): A strong, efficient heart pumps more blood per beat. A lower RHR generally means better fitness and recovery ability.

• Anaerobic Threshold: The point at which your body can no longer clear the “burn” of lactate.

The above will require some lab gear but here are some simple methods you can use instead:

• A 1000m row test (for anaerobic & alactic ability).

• A 5km run time (for aerobic capacity, especially if you play sports that last ~20 minutes).

These numbers don’t just tell you about endurance. They give you insight into your energy, your ability to recover between hard sets, and your long-term health.

3. Body Composition

This one gets all the attention, but it’s worth clarifying how to measure it properly.

• Weight: Don’t obsess over daily weigh-ins. Track your 7-day average and look at week-to-week changes.

• Progress Photos: Frequency should match your level of adherence. Crushing your diet? Take them weekly. Struggling? Save the photos until you’re consistent.

• Muscle Mass % & Body Fat %: These are useful but don’t rely on cheap bathroom scales too much—they have big variance. Test monthly or every other month, under consistent conditions (morning, fasted, same hydration).

The biggest mistake? People panic at small daily fluctuations. Remember, one weigh-in is a data point. A trendline is what matters.

Why This All Matters

In my 20s, it was all about abs. Now, in my mid-30s, my goals are bigger: living longer, staying athletic, and being able to outlift my younger athletes while still holding my own in volleyball or badminton. More importantly, life as an adult just has more responsibilities along with things I’d rather do other than being in the gym. If I can train smarter and get more out of my limited time so I can enjoy life, to me that’s worth it.

Tracking these measures isn’t about perfection. It’s about awareness. When you know your numbers, you know what’s working. And when something isn’t working, you can fix it instead of spinning your wheels.

That’s how you build a body that performs, lasts, and still shocks people years down the road.