I'm always curious as to why people train? Are they seeking a body transformation? More lean mass? Less fat mass? Are they looking to address an injured or painful joint? Maybe they would like to increase their performance in sport? Or maybe extend a professional career?Obviously there are lots of reasons to train. And they to achieve success in each of these would be different.But there is something that is in common with all of these different training goals. And that is the value of testing. And maybe the appropriate term these days would be 'monitoring'.So that is the question to anyone who trains...what are you doing to test or monitor your training?Do you wear a heart rate monitor? Do you use a training journal? Do you weigh yourself before or after training to check water losses? You you keep a clock on yourself to keep track of rest breaks and total duration?Besides what we do during a training session we can also measure our workouts outside of the gym as well. We can use an HRV device for recovery, we can measure our heart rate in the morning and journal our nutrition.So why even monitor or test in the first place? I mean you can usually test if something is working or not without testing right? And for athletes shouldn't the goal be success in the sport anyways?You could answer yes to both of these. It is possible to see improvement in the early stages of training without testing. And athletes may see little benefit and potential injury if testing is not appropriate.But that doesn't outweigh all of the benefits of testing or monitoring. Here are a few.1. AccountabilityI know I am competing in Tough Mudder on June 20 in Whistler. This race will be tough (pun intended) and will...