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Just as speed isn't the only metric for progress in running, adding more weight to the bar isn't the only way to track improvement in lifting. There are various ways to assess your journey toward becoming stronger and fitter—let’s explore a few benchmarks you can use to measure your progress along the way.
Lift More Weight in Proportion to Your Body Size
If you're on the smaller side, or losing weight as you train, focusing solely on the amount of weight you're lifting might not be the most accurate measure of strength. Smaller individuals generally lift less weight, which is why most strength sports have weight categories to ensure fairness.
Imagine a 100-pound person and a 200-pound person training together. If the lighter individual can squat 150 pounds, and the heavier one can squat 200, who is stronger? The larger person is stronger in an absolute sense, as they lifted 200 pounds versus 150. However, the smaller person is stronger in a relative sense, having squatted 1.5 times their body weight, while the larger person only squatted 1.0 times theirs.
If you're on the smaller side, don't feel discouraged if your larger gym buddies are lifting more than you. No matter your size, as you progress in strength training, aim to set benchmarks for relative strength. You'll likely deadlift your body weight before squatting it, and eventually work toward bench pressing your body weight. Meanwhile, your deadlift will gradually increase to 1.5x, then 2.0x your body weight, and beyond.
These milestones are not only exciting to achieve, but they also help track progress, especially if you're losing weight. For instance, if you could squat 200 pounds at a body weight of 200 pounds, but after months of training you can squat 225 pounds, you might feel underwhelmed. However, if you've lost weight and now weigh 175 pounds, that means you've gone from squatting 1.0x your body weight to 1.29x, which is significant progress.
Lift the Same Weight for More Repetitions
While adding more weight to the bar is one way to progress, another option is to lift the same weight more times, challenging your endurance and strength.
In strongman competitions, athletes often compete with the same weights, and the winner is determined by who can lift that weight the most times (usually with a time limit of about a minute). If I can deadlift a car three times and you can manage it ten times, you're the stronger one. Similarly, consider the bench press test in the NFL combine, where players are asked to bench press 225 pounds as many times as possible, with higher scores going to those who can perform more reps.
When you're training in the gym and feel ready to set a personal record (PR), try aiming for a max rep PR instead of focusing only on maximum weight. Can you squat a specific weight for 20 reps? Can you do 100 push-ups in a row without resting?
As an added benefit, enduring longer and tougher sets also strengthens your mental toughness. You might feel like quitting, but is your body really giving up? Developing the ability to push through pain or boredom can serve as a mental training breakthrough as well.
Complete the Same Work in Less Time
Just like runners become faster at covering the same distance as they improve, you can lift more weight in less time as your strength and conditioning increase.
If you're someone who usually spends ten minutes scrolling Instagram between squat sets, try setting a timer and limiting your rest to five minutes. Once that feels manageable, reduce the timer to three or four minutes.
You can choose to make progress in this way without changing the weight, similar to the Deep Water lifting program, which reduces rest time as the weeks pass, or the Crossfit benchmark workouts, which expect that as your fitness improves, you can complete the same amount of work in less time.
Alternatively, you can simply pay attention to your rest periods while still increasing the weight and understand that you're improving both your work capacity and strength at the same time.
Add New Exercises to Your Routine
If you only perform the same three or five exercises, you limit your ability to become a well-rounded athlete. By introducing new movements into your regimen, you'll become someone who can lift just about anything or perform impressive party tricks without prior experience. For instance, if you typically work with barbells, try adding sandbag carries or tire flips to your routine.
Even if your gym lacks a wide range of equipment, you can still explore fresh variations of classic exercises. For example, try focusing on front squats instead of the usual back squats, or take it up a notch by incorporating zercher squats into your routine.
Every time you introduce a new exercise, you open the door to the possibility of setting new personal records, whether that means adding weight, increasing reps, or measuring progress in other ways. This variety will help you establish a solid foundation of strength over time and might even enhance your performance when you return to your standard exercises.
