Episode 144 – 2 oldschool tricks to measure your fitness
There’s been a rise in fitness based technology in the market.
Wearable sensor technology such as Fitbit and Bonejaw or even basics like the old school heart rate monitor play a beneficial role in keeping health enthusiasts up to date with live statistics and data on what their bodies are doing. This is often referred to as the quantified self – a detailed awareness of self through technology and data – that highlights your actions and physiology to a conscious level.
While access to this technology is quite attractive to own and operate – they are not essential for staying healthy – in fact, most of the health and fitness stuff on the market isn’t essential. To be honest, all it takes is a little bit of thinking and planning ahead.
So how do you measure your fitness without technology?
1. Be self aware
Pay attention to yourself and what your body, mind and environmental conditions are telling you.
If it’s a hot day, you’ll be working harder than normal – as with running up hills vs a road run and the same with exercising under fatigue versus a fresh and energised you. What will this mean? Your breathing and heart rate will be much higher and your intensity and workload will also hit “boiling point” faster than usual. Pay attend to cues like these.
2. Monitor key physiology
Breathing and heart rate as well as body temperature, stress levels and mindset need to be taken and assessed against benchmarks to ensure you’re “in the zone.” Record your key physiology markers on paper before and directly after the training session to document your experience to future reference.
Want to learn more about the quantified self? Read on below.
3. Self-talk
Tap into self-talk to assess your overall energy levels and how you’re doing moment to moment and over the course of a week. Write those down.
For example you might ask yourself, “How much more energy do we have in reserve and is it enough to get me through the next 10-20 or 30 minutes?”
This is extremely easy to do and quite effective in assessing your performance potential.
4. Performance Records
Create and maintain a reflective performance journal to record week-to-week, monthly or even year-to-year observations and assessments.
For example, how many kilometres or, reps and sets you did today? How long did it take to reach your personal best? What did you do to reach your personal best? And so on.
Measure your fitness
The rise in fitness based technology on the market has lead to wonderful advances in the pursuit of the quantified self.
While wearable sensor technology do play a beneficial role in keeping health enthusiasts up to date with a detailed awareness of self through technology and data – they are not essential for staying healthy – all it takes is a little bit of thinking and planning ahead.
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Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash
Chris Everingham lives and breathes health & fitness.
Hi, I’m Chris Everingham.
I’m sharing the holistic performance secrets that I both personally used to overcome racial scrutiny, escape poverty and depression, AND taught others so that they too could bring proven success and happiness into their lives.
Learn more about my time competing in international sports, in front of media and speaking with live audiences of thousands of people to discover my high performance secrets. Click here to grow your mindset, rewire your habits and transform your life.
