Sticking to the plan

My partner and friend Chris Grayson burned something on my brain, "What gets measured gets improved". Now that may not have any meaning to you so let me explain. At PowR Performance we have 2 types of clients. Private 1 on 1 and I allow a few people to have memberships meaning they can come and go as they please. In a private setting, sticking to an individual plan is easy. As the client you pay a trainer to get you closer to your goals. As the trainer you have to get people closer to their goals so you can, well, get paid and get referrals. The best way to get a person to their goals is by logging each and every repetition, weight, rest interval and exercise selection in the gym. From there you analyze the data then choose the next path to take to elevate the clients performance. NOW HERE IS THE PROBLEM....

My scenario:

I have been fortunate to be surrounded by very dedicated lifters. Most have become or are becoming advanced. As they develop athletically and have more experience, training designs must follow suit. That's when we add new loading parameters like bands, boards, chains..etc. So as much as I believe in following MY plan in the gym, if I walk in on some people doing chain squats or max effort bench, I throw my program out the window and jump in. I mean come on, your boys are screaming and yelling and I am scheduled to do lunges???

Basically we need to set objectives first than create the path we feel gives us the best chance to get there. If we don't know where we have been, how do we know where to go. Log your training and stick to the plan. What gets measured gets improved.