Maintaining your enthusiasm for a long-term fitness goal is challenging for any exerciser. Whether you are hoping to run a marathon or do your first pull-up this year, you need a plan to get there. That means setting up a series of benchmarks, like how many push-ups you can do, with assessments along the way to track your progress.
“I like to think of a benchmark as a snapshot of your fitness at a specific time,” said Dr. Tamanna Singh, co-director of the Cleveland Clinic Sports Cardiology Center. “Having an objective measure of current strength and cardiovascular health is key to building a safe exercise program.”
But the first step is knowing and accepting your starting point, she said. It’s easy to overestimate.
Plan to track progress, and adjust accordingly. Albert Matheny, a strength and conditioning specialist and co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab in New York, said a good timeline to retest your benchmarks is every four to eight weeks.
How quickly you progress depends on your current fitness level and how often you work out, but it often takes six to 10 workouts to see lasting improvement, Mr. Matheny said. So if you train three times a week, you could see improvement in just two weeks.
It isn’t always a steady progression though; jumps and plateaus are normal. “It’s a waste of time if you aren’t pushing your body,” Dr. Singh said. “Discomfort is where we grow.”
