Looking for the ‘receipts’ on cardio progress
I’m a geophysicist, so I’m used to dealing with tangible data seismic readings, magnetic anomalies, stuff you can plot on a graph. That mindset has me a bit stumped with my cardio routine. I can run or cycle and feel like it’s working, but I’m hunting for that clearer ‘paper trail’ beyond just the scale or how my jeans fit.
What are the less obvious metrics you’ve found reliable? I’m curious about things like resting heart rate trends over time, or how quickly your heart rate recovers after a hard effort. Are there any specific benchmarks or personal data points that finally made you think, “Okay, the evidence is in, this is definitely working”?