When you start an exercise routine for the first time or begin a new workout program to amp up your gains, the first thing you notice might be how you “feel.” You feel stronger—or, let's be honest, also sorer—and more confident that you could do more reps, take less rest, or grab heavier weights. 

But without setting a benchmark for where you started, how can you truly know just how far you’ve come? That’s where strength benchmarks come in. While you can do this with essentially any class or workout that you perform on repeat, Peloton’s collection of strategically designed benchmark classes makes tracking your progress super simple, so you can very quickly see how you’ve improved…and humble brag to your friends. Here’s more about what they are, how to utilize them in your training schedule, and why benchmarks are something you’ll want to keep in your fitness arsenal forever. 

What Are Strength Benchmarks?

Benchmarks, generally, are a way to keep an eye on where you started and how you’re progressing toward where you ultimately want to go. Companies use them to stay on top of revenue goals or someone’s performance, for example, and the same can be applied to your workouts. 

Peloton’s Strength Benchmark Classes are designed the same way—asking you to take note of reps or weight or time at the beginning of a program and reassessing along the way. These classes give “members the opportunity to test their current fitness capabilities against specific criteria, such as the number of reps they can do in a given amount of time, or which weights they are comfortable using,” says Peloton instructor Adrian Williams. 

Why Benchmark Your Fitness Progress?

“It’s important to use Strength Benchmark Classes to track your progress from week to week,” says Adrian. ”By tracking your progress, you're able to lift heavier weights or do more reps.” 

If you’re saying to yourself, ‘I’ll be able to tell when it’s time to move to the next level,’ you’d be surprised how often exercisers (beginners and veterans alike) reach for the same set of weights time and again to perform certain exercises. When a Peloton instructor cues a circuit and tells you to grab heavy dumbbells, if the weight of those heavy bells never changes, neither will your progress. 

Peloton’s Strength Benchmark Classes

Each of Peloton’s Strength Benchmark Classes will ask you to follow the same guidelines. The first time you take a class is meant to act as a baseline, so you can understand your current strength level. Don’t worry, your instructor will lay out exactly what measures you should track—whether that’s time, weight, reps, or a mix.

You’ll continue to repeat the same class (as part of your overall workout routine) consistently during the next six weeks. At the end of that period, you’ll take the class a final time, making sure to record the same measurements (time, reps, weight) and compare those numbers to the initial figures. 

Why six weeks? This is generally when significant progress can be measured, says Adrian. This ensures you have enough time under your belt to walk away with some satisfying achievements that keep you coming back for more. 

How to Do a Fitness Test or Strength Benchmark 

Each Peloton Strength Benchmark Class will test you differently. You’ll find upper body, lower body, core, full body, and bodyweight strength benchmark classes, so no matter your goal, you’ll find a program for you. Try them all for a complete look into your strength level in each of these key areas. 

Examples of tests you could perform in a strength benchmark class are:

Again, you’ll record your reps, weight, or time during the first class, take them repeatedly over the next six weeks, and retest your strength at the end, says Adrian.  

Benchmarking Reps vs. Time

Both reps and time are strength benchmarks that highlight your muscular endurance. Time under tension, such as how long you can remain in a squat, asks you to recruit muscle fibers associated with stamina. Similarly, measuring how many reps you can do using a certain amount of weight or within a specific time frame will gauge how long you can keep going under this load.

Benchmarking Weight vs. Bodyweight

Using external load through dumbbells, for example, as well as your own bodyweight is a great way to test your overall strength. Both ask you to see how much weight you can safely lift for a set time or number of reps. This is a useful measurement if you’re looking to increase your one-rep max or what your “heavy” weight is to you for a particular exercise. 

How to Set Goals and Understand Progress

The key to setting any goal—in your workouts, or life—is to make them measurable and realistic. Consider what you’re after when it comes to your strength: Do you want to increase your endurance and stamina? Do you want to be able to lift heavier? Then try to make these even more specific: Do you want to be able to hold a 60-second plank without dropping to your knees or use 40-pound dumbbells for your deadlifts? 

Once you have a goal in mind, make sure it feels realistic for your current fitness level and schedule. If you’re totally new to exercise, start with a 20-second plank, then work your way up, for example. 

Over time, you will start to lift heavier weights or be able to do more reps, explains Adrian. And be sure to “pay attention to how you feel,” he adds. “Exercises that were challenging may start to feel easier or you may be able to recover from sets more quickly.” In fact, “one of the biggest indications of leveling up is needing less rest.” 

Takeaway

Whether you are looking for a motivation boost or just your next fitness challenge, strength benchmarks are a great tool to validate all that hard work in clear, measurable terms. Pick a Peloton Strength Benchmark Class to tackle first (this Collection is a good place to start!), and get ready to be seriously impressed with yourself a little more than a month from now.