How to Know You’re Making Progress (And What It Feels Like in Your Body)
Hi, I’m Grace — Pilates Instructor, Stretch Therapist, and Personal Trainer based in the South Bay. This week I would love to talk to you about progress.
What it can look and feel like and how to know if you are moving in the right direction.
Progress is often presented as something very linear.
In a fitness context, it’s commonly measured by lifting heavier weights, losing body fat, or running faster and further.
While those markers can absolutely matter, they are not the full picture.
From my personal and professional experience, progress is often found in the quieter shifts. The small, incremental changes that tend to go unnoticed unless we pause long enough to feel them.
Progress is not always loud or obvious. And it is rarely perfectly linear.
More often, it asks us to take a step back and notice what has and is changing in our day-to-day experience of living in our body.
As a personal trainer working with clients across a wide range of goals and starting points, I’ve learned that progress looks different for everyone.
Over the years, here are some of the ways I’ve seen progress show up:
Standing up from a chair with ease — unassisted, steady, and strong.
Getting out of bed in the morning without feeling sore, tight, or braced against the day.
Noticing less background tension in the body during everyday tasks like walking, driving, or standing in line.
A shift in mindset — choosing the stairs instead of the elevator, or parking a little further away, not out of obligation but because movement feels more accessible.
Increased weekly movement simply because recovery times are quicker and the body feels more resilient.
Feeling energised after movement rather than depleted by it.
Feeling inspired by the thought of moving — committing to a pre-workday workout or a short mobility session because it sets a positive tone for the day, not because you “should.”
Sometimes progress looks like less pain.
Sometimes it looks like less fear around movement.
Sometimes it’s increased confidence, trust, and curiosity in what your body can do.
These changes may not show up on a scale or a tracker, but they matter deeply.
They influence how you move through your day, how you relate to your body, and how sustainable your movement practice becomes over time.
If you’re unsure whether you’re “making progress,” consider asking yourself:
Does daily movement feel easier than it used to?
Do I recover more quickly after activity?
Am I less tense, less guarded, less reactive in my body?
Do I feel more willing to move, rather than forcing myself to?
If the answer is yes, even occasionally, you are likely moving in the right direction.
Progress doesn’t always demand more.
Sometimes it simply asks for consistency, awareness, and patience.
And often, it’s already happening, quietly, beneath the surface!
Health and Happiness,
Grace Coler
Move with Grace
