The Training Journal

Abrie Sellers • September 4, 2024

the benefits of tracking your performance

When people think about tracking performance, they might initially think about leaderboards and where they rank in the class, the gym, or in a competition. There’s so much more to it though. Let me give you a little bit of personal history from the athlete's perspective…

I've been tracking my fitness performance for over the last 12 years. I have several hard copy journals with workouts, weightlifting maxes, gymnastics notes, running and rowing splits, and nutrition data (a blog for another day). Early on, since I had a very minimal athletic background, I saw a lot of progress very quickly which was very well documented - both on paper and committed to memory. Because of the effort it took for me to learn new skills, I vowed to never forget where I started. If you’ve ever assumed that double unders or pull-ups came easily to me, guess again.

For the last eight years, I’ve been tracking all of my performance in our gym app, Wodify. The cool thing about this app is that I can see my performance history, max percentages, benchmark workouts, and assess where I am in my fitness journey. In 2016, I would argue that I was at my fittest. I was 32 years old with four years of CrossFit under my belt, training a couple of hours per day at about 5-6 days per week, eating well, sleeping great, and setting lots of PRs - the recorded data reflects my heaviest lifts, fastest miles run and meters rowed, muscle-ups, and so on. I paid a lot of attention to leaderboards and personal records (PRs). My main goal was to be competitive - something I never imagined for myself prior to this time in my life.

Fast forward to the middle of 2017 when I became pregnant with my oldest son, Julian. My goals changed from competitor to expectant mother and so my training changed - sometimes in volume, other times in movements, and eventually scaling down the intensity. Maintaining my health as I grew a human and preparing my body for childbirth were of primary importance to me. Coach Nick helped me find modifications that worked for me during each trimester based largely on the data I had tracked over the years. This allowed me to stay challenged, but safe and healthy. I still tracked my performance during this period.

Upon my postpartum return from each of my children (in 2018 and 2021), I was able to use my previous data as a goal and motivator for myself - although being careful to respect my new body and it’s realistic capabilities in that season (postpartum, nursing, higher body fat, exhausted, etc.). Still tracked performance…

Now it’s 2024, I’m 40 and I have 6 and 3-year-old boys. I’m training more consistently again, sleeping great (most of the time), eating well, focusing on mobility and active recovery more, and still tracking my performance. As a result, I’m hitting lifetime PRs again. It’s exciting to know that I’m becoming fitter at 40 than I was at 32 - and definitely fitter than I was in my 20s. I wouldn’t necessarily know this had I not tracked the data all along - and to be honest, I’d miss out on that reflection, probably not really notice the progress, and struggle with goal-setting.

Tracking my performance over all of these years has truly helped me:

Set and achieve goals: from competitor to expectant mother to postpartum to a busy mom who wants to be able to lift and outrun her kids for a really long time
Help motivate me and hold me accountable with my habits: training, nutrition, sleep, hydration
Evaluate and reflect on my progress: identify weaknesses, check my mindset, and remember where I started!
Prevent injury: see trends in overtraining, lack of sleep, subpar nutrition, etc.
Understand that progress is not linear: there will be good days, bad days and everything in between and that is OK!
Define the data: the number on the scale, the weight on the barbell, the score on the leaderboard… does NOT determine my self-worth
Enjoy the process: comparison can be a big motivator, but also the thief of joy - my journey is my own and will have ups and downs - and your journey is yours!

Performance tracking is not only evidence of consistency, but a testament to your programming and its effectiveness. We encourage our community and anyone who begins a training program (whether in a group or individual) to track performance, pay attention to your data, and utilize it to understand and improve your health and fitness.

As a coach, I want to remind you that as you train, life is always happening. Priorities shift and goals change. Your data helps your coaches address your needs and goals, specifically - which is to your benefit as an athlete. Keep showing up for yourself and tracking your progress!

Stay strong!

Coach Abrie Sellers

Precision Nutrition L1 Coach

Have questions or comments about this topic or would like to meet with a coach? Please reach out to us! If you found this information helpful, please share it with your friends and family.

The information in this article is not intended as medical advice, but for educational purposes - feel free to reference it when consulting with your physician and remember to advocate for your health.

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