How to Tell If Your Workouts Are Actually Building Muscle and Strength
How to Tell If Your Workouts Are Actually Building Muscle and Strength
It’s one of the most common questions I get — and it’s one I had myself when I started strength training in my late 40s:
How do you actually know if your workouts are working?
If you’re lifting weights, sweating, and feeling sore… isn’t that a sign that it’s working?
Not necessarily.
As a woman in post-menopause, I had to unlearn everything I thought I knew about effective workouts. We’ve been raised to associate sweat, calorie burn, and muscle soreness with success. But when it comes to building real strength and muscle, those things are often misleading.
In this post, I’ll walk you through:
Why traditional workout “metrics” like soreness or calorie burn don’t reflect muscle gain
The 5 real signs your workouts are building strength and muscle
Why tracking is essential (and the tools I recommend)
How to spot red flags that your routine may not be working
Let’s dive in.
Signs Your Workouts Are Actually Building Muscle & Strength
1. You’re lifting heavier weights (or doing more reps) over time
The simplest sign that your strength training is working is that you’re lifting heavier weights over time. And for this to happen, you need to be increasing the challenge your putting on your body as your body gets stronger.
This is called progressive overload.
The easiest way to make sure you’re actually making progress is to track it.
➡️ Use a training tracker to record your weights and reps
➡️ Each time you do an exercise, check the weights/reps you did last time, and try to add another rep, or if you’re at the top of your rep range, increase your weights.
➡️ Understand that progress slows over time — it’s normal to only add one rep or a bit of weight every few weeks once you’re more advanced
If you’ve been using the same weights for months (or years) and aren’t adding reps, it’s time to reassess.
2. Your form and control are improving
You’re not just stronger — you move better, too.
✅ You feel more stable and solid during lifts
✅ You’re more confident and controlled
✅ You can do full range of motion with better technique
This is why I recommend taking form videos. I’ve shared my exact method for doing this in Episode 106: How to improve your weight lifting using form videos.
Watching your own lifts over time really helps to hone your form – so you can get more out of each rep, and also avoid injury.
3. Daily life feels easier
One of the most common things that I hear from women in my 10-week Learn to Lift Program is that they notice that they’re stronger in everyday life.
This happens quite quickly and I love hearing it:
"I noticed carrying groceries got easier."
"Walking up stairs isn’t tiring anymore."
"I lifted a 25kg bag of dog food by myself."
These moments are huge. When you’re building real strength, it shows up in real life.
4. Your body composition is changing even if your weight stays the same
Strength training triggers your body to use visceral fat. This was one of the first things that I noticed when I started lifting: though my scale weight stayed the same, my body composition changed: I was putting on muscle, and losing fat.
And my clients have noticed the same thing. And the best part is that it can happen quite quickly – even training 2 days per week at home!
How to track body composition changes
➡️ Use tools like InBody scans or DEXA to measure your body composition at regular intervals (eg. 3 months)
➡️ Take progress photos or videos every 3 months using consistent lighting, clothing, and poses. Here’s a video where I show how that’s done
What If None of These Are Happening?
If you’ve been working out with weights consistently and none of these signs are showing up, it’s time to look closer at your routine.
Ask yourself:
Am I following a real strength training plan — or is it really for muscular endurance?
Do I repeat the same lifts week to week — or constantly change?
Am I tracking weights and aiming to progress — or just showing up and sweating?
Many popular program that call themselves “strength training” and might look like strength training, but they’re not really doing the right things to build muscle and strength.
If your workouts include combo exercises, high-rep classes, feeling the burn, and change every day, they’re probably not real strength training.
If you’re not sure how to tell the difference, listen to Episode 67 – Are You Strength Training or Just Working Out With Weights?
Final Thoughts
Strength training is a very different kind of exercise than the ones that we grew up believing are effective. It’s not about sweat, soreness, or calorie burn.
If your workouts aren’t producing results, don’t blame yourself. You might just need a smarter plan — and I’d love to help.
💪 Want to stop guessing and start building real strength? Learn more about my beginner-friendly Learn to Lift program here.
