Some things are hard to measure, and so it's hard to know if there is progress happening or not, does this mean we shouldn't bother?
Of course not.
It's easy to measure progress in the gym, lifting weights, you had a kg here, a rep there, take 30 seconds off your 5km run, it's all pretty meaureable, and so sometimes that makes it easier to stay motivated.
But I had a lovely message from a client this morning. We've been doing PT for a few years and she does a few group classes a week too.
A while ago she did a DEXA scan. Not sure if you know what this is but it's basically a body scan that tells you al the ins and outs of what's happening from a body composition perspective. Muscle mass, body fat percentage, bone density, water weight and a ton more data.
Now, they're not 100% accurate, but as far as body scans go, a DEXA scan is the top tier in terms of accuracy.
So my client, a while ago got a DEXA scan done, worth while doing to get a baseline of where you are at and whats happening. And I don't know the specific results so unfortunately I can't go into specifics, but she was a little worried about done density. As you start to age, this is something that falls of and without strong bones as you get older there is a real risk that if you fall, your bones are brittle and you break your hip.
For a lot of women this can be a pretty tragic event that can lead to never regaining full function or even worse, but let's not get too doom and gloom.
So she was pretty nervous when going in for a second scan. How are we to know that the strength training work we've been doing has done anything. Not exactly something that is easily measurable. What if it's still in decline? I can imagine how daunting it can feel.
But then the message came through last night. 'It's official - I'm aging backwards, at least my bones are. All scores improved or stayed the same'
I mean that's a massive win if ever I saw one.
I was so happy, the consistency of showing up week after week. Bones are stronger than before, proof we're doing the right things.
Anyway, i guess my point is, that your win, your results are not alwasy going to be so obvious as more numbers on the bar, sometimes, it's happening internally, slowly, and without us realising. Giving us a way to be strong, capable and bad-ass way into the future.
Anyway, just know, that if you keep showing up, we're future proofing ourselves.
Lawrence x