"One method exercise gurus recommend to stay on track is to keep a workout log. But I take it one step further and turn the log into a motivating scoreboard!"

Lift, Bike, Run... Score!

A new twist on tracking your workouts to score your way to a healthier, stronger body... and stay more motivated than ever before...

By Ransom Stephens

Do you like to win? Of course, right? But how do you know when you've won? How do you keep score? Especially when your goals are a bit more long term, such as improving your health parameters or even losing over 10 lbs of fat?

Let's take a quick look at health parameters, for example. Is your resting pulse below 60? How 'bout your blood pressure—is it better than 120/80? HDL/LDL cholesterol, somewhere in the ballpark of 100/60?

The thing is, we can't jump in the pool, swim 50 laps, and knock 6 off our LDL. Or spend 30 minutes in the weight room and knock off ten pounds, no matter how intensely we work out.

So the resting pulse, BP, HDL/LDL, while all are vitally important when it comes to health, these numbers aren't "the score." And neither is the body composition goal. Rather, they're the win/loss record.

Keeping Score

"Say you bicycled 15 miles this morning. Fifteen miles riding hard? Nice work. Go ahead and put 20 points on the board."

One method exercise gurus recommend to stay on track is to keep a workout log. But I take it one step further and turn the log into a motivating scoreboard!

Here's how it works... Say you bicycled 15 miles this morning. You know it's good for you, but how good? Fifteen miles riding hard? Nice work. Go ahead and put 20 points on the board. You earned it.

The idea is that one exercise point is roughly as good for you as another—to use another sports analogy, field goals go on the same scoreboard as touchdowns. The points are loosely correlated to the number of calories you burn. Loosely, because the number of calories you burn at rest increases with muscle mass, as you likely already know from reading Real Solutions. So since muscle mass increases faster by lifting weights than by running, you get more points per calorie burned for strength exercises than for cardio.

But you can't win in this league without a balanced attack. If all you do is lift weights, your blood pressure, heart rate, and so forth may not fall in line.

Here's a general rundown for how to keep score:

Activity              Point Breakdown              Example
Brisk walking     1 point per 10 minutes         hour walk: 8 points
Running             5 points per 10 minutes       half-hour run: 15 points
Bicycling             3 points per 10 minutes       hour bike ride: 18 points
Weight lifting     1 point per set                     10 rep's, 30-lb curls: 1 point
Calisthenics       1 point per set                     50 crunches: 1 point

A "set," whether weight lifting or calisthenics, should be close to the maximum number of repetitions you can do. This way your "set" automatically scales as you get in better shape. So if at first you can barely do ten rep's at 20 pounds and a month later you're doing a set of ten at 30 pounds, the score board is the same, but you've moved up to a bigger league.

So now that your exercise log is now your scoreboard, write down all the exercises you do each day—including walking around the mall, doing chores, or whatever (as of publication, beer can curls still don't count, not even if you're curling the 40-oz to freedom can)—then add up your points. But, just like the number of points put up in one quarter doesn't declare the winner, you need to add them up each week to see how you're doing.

An Example Scoreboard

"Since muscle mass increases faster by lifting weights than by running, you get more points per calorie burned for strength exercises than for cardio."

To give you an example, here's my scorecard from last week:

Monday:
hour bike ride: 18 points
20 minutes walking around town: 2 points
Day's total: 20

Tuesday:
5 minutes stretching: 1 pt
three sets 30-lb curls: 3 pt
three sets of 50 crunches: 3 pt
three sets 120-lb deadlifts: 3 pt
three sets 15-lb triceps extensions: 3 pt
three sets 25 pushups: 3 pt
30 minutes walking around town: 3 pts
Day's total: 19

Wednesday:
4 mile jog: 20 points
20 minutes walking around town: 2 points
Day's total: 22

Thursday:
5 minutes stretching: 1 pt
three sets 20-lb preacher curls: 3 pt
three sets of 50 crunches: 3 pt
three sets 100-lb presses: 3 pt
three sets 110-lb rows: 3 pt
three sets of 10 pull ups: 3 pt
20 minutes walking around town: 3 pt
Day's total: 18

"By watching where you fall each week, you'll truly know if you're winning the game of exercise."

Friday:
45 minutes swimming laps: 21 points
20 minutes walking around town: 2 points
Day's total: 23

Saturday:
30 minutes moseying around the mall with kid: 2 points
mowed lawn, pulled weeds, fixed screen door: 5 points
60 minutes dancing with girlfriend: 6 points
Day's total: 13

Sunday:
9 hours lying on couch watching football: 0 points
Day's total: 0

Total for the week: 115 points

What's Your Score?

To get in awesome shape, put in over 150 points a week. For good shape, then 100 points a week will do the trick. If you just want to keep those other numbers under control, you can slide down to 70, and you'll still be in the game.

By watching where you fall each week, you'll truly know if you're winning the game of exercise. And… have a lot of fun in the process.

Status: Seven day total
Superhero: over 200 points
Conqueror: 150 to 200
Champion: 100 to 150
Player: 50 to 100
Wuss: less than 50

About the author:

Ransom Stephens is a writer, physicist, and public speaker, who averages over 100 points a week—except when you're looking. Then he cheats. Visit him at www.ransomstephens.com.

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