Week 3: Too much information?

TO track or not track? That is the question.

We live in a highly technological age where gadgets abound. It is estimated that by 2018 there will be in the region of 250 million tracking devices in circulation globally. Some are more sophisticated than others. But are they beneficial or not?

There are positives and negatives, of course. Take, for example, Stacey, who has now completed three weeks of the Amazing 12 Chichester at the Core Results Gym – her second journey through the transformation program.

She weighs herself weekly, though sometimes more frequently. Before she started the program, she took body measurements and she will do so again at the end to measure any change.

When we track, we are gathering information. Her scales tell her about her weight and body fat percentage. When it goes up, she is likely to feel disappointed and when it goes down, she is delighted or feels she is moving in the right direction or what she is doing is working.

Similarly, Rich, also on the 12-week program, does his own tracking. Every Friday, he weighs himself and tests for body fat, muscle mass and water retention. With each workout, he checks his heartrate. Daily, he logs his steps. The data is useful for charting progress and can also be motivating. For example, I notice that Rich pushes himself hard in training to see if he can take his heartrate to certain levels. You could say then that his monitoring improves his physical output if nothing else. It all makes for interesting feedback.

Gathering information for the sake of it is pointless, though. It’s what we do with it that matters.

My concern is that sometimes it can get in the way – that all the information can, if you allow it to, play with your mind and interfere with the experience.

With data overload we can end up over-analysing and in training we need to make space for our intuition. The more time we spend in our heads, the less we use our intuition, which is the ability to feel what is right and what isn’t.

When I did the Amazing 12 several years ago, I never weighed myself once. I took no measurements at all. Never stepped on a scale. All I did was train, eat and notice how I looked in a mirror and, if not more importantly, felt in my body.

In the absence of all the figures, maybe I had less to be anxious about and my ability to sense what was working and not working improved. I didn’t have statistics that could, potentially, derail my focus and cause any highs and lows.

So, really, the answer to my initial question of whether tracking or not tracking is worthwhile comes down to the individual and what type of person you are. It also depends on what you are doing and attempting to achieve.

Rich, for example, has an enquiring mind. He wants to know the answer to most things. So the information, to some degree, keeps him satisfied.

Stacey, however, has a tendency to worry. I know from experience that if I put a weight on a bar and tell her to lift it, she is more likely to succeed not knowing how much she is lifting than if I were to tell her. Yet she still wants to know.

Therefore, the question to ask is if the tracking works to your advantage or disadvantage. If you know you do better without, then surely it makes sense to not track.

One thing we should be aware of when it comes to tracking is that what matters is the pattern over the long haul and not a matter of days. Our bodyweight, for instance, can shift from day to day and even during the course of a day. If you’re going to weigh yourself, do it on the same scales, at the same time and on the same day of the week. But not every day and multiple times on the same day!

More important is knowing what are we tracking and why? If your objective is to become stronger, knowing your bodyweight isn’t necessarily important. If part of your goal requires you to perform at a certain weight – like a fighter – checking the scales and controlling what you eat and drink is key. If you’re an athlete who needs to improve his recovery, checking your heartrate becomes almost vital. And if you are a top level athlete and looking to fractionally improve performance, the information from tracking can often be the difference between winning and losing.

Recognise that progress isn’t always linear, though. The path to change is full of ups and downs and plateaus, therefore, someone who monitors their performance closely and frequently or obsessively can easily become demoralised as they ride the roller coaster towards completing their objective.

Compare this approach with a more intuitive one that is to turn up, do your work, enjoy the experience, give your best each time, feel what is effective and not worry so much about the outcome. The latter, for me, has an essence of adventure that can be lost when too much emphasis is placed on details and numbers. But there’s a balance between the two approaches that works best. 

As a coach, I record the details of every workout on the Amazing 12 and it’s essential for guiding an individual through the program safely as well as charting progress. However, I also rely on my experience and knowledge to know how to encourage progress.

Often you can just sense when something is working and when it is not without even having to refer to the data.

After three weeks on the Amazing 12, Rich commented to Stacey, “you’re looking a lot leaner,” and she replied, “I feel much leaner.”

Stacey said to Rich – and not out of politeness either – “you’re looking more hench,” and Rich admitted he was experiencing and seeing physical changes even though his body fat measurements were not necessarily budging much. And, as we joke, how on earth can he put on muscle when eating only a vegan diet? 

Without seeing any numbers, I can see clearly how Rich is recovering so well from workout to workout – despite putting in a good shift every day. It’s something he had struggled with when I worked with him several years ago.

Sometimes, though, what we see and feel can be undermined by what is shown on the scales or whatever apps we may be using.

Understand that there will always be good weeks – and we should enjoy them – and tougher weeks – and we should appreciate them, too. Why? Because it’s often during our setbacks and when we are being challenged and feel as if we are struggling that the potential for change can be greatest.

As a coach, managing these moments is critical to progress – ensuring the overload is just right makes all the difference.

This week was especially tough on Rich, whose mother sadly and unexpectedly passed away. He had to miss a day of training and will have to skip more next week, but he wanted to get back in the gym. Under the circumstances, he did tremendously well.

For Stacey, who is still struggling to consistently get restful sleep, her body is not recovering as well as it could. She’s getting lasting aches and pains. Therefore, she needs to make sleep a priority.

There are apps that can assist with sleep and assessing how well we sleep, too. The same rule should apply: if they help, use them. If they don’t, ditch them. But try to avoid relying on them.

If you’re interested in the next wave of the Amazing 12 (starting January 2018), some personal training in small groups or 1:1, women’s weight-lifting or women’s boxing for fitness, send me a message at Claude@intelligentstrength.co.uk. I don’t bite, but I am dedicated towards producing results. 

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