STOP WORSHIPPING THE SCALE AND START MEASURING
YOUR BODY COMPOSITION
By measuring your body fat, you take the guesswork out
of your health and fitness plan and you get an accurate
picture of what's really happening in your body as a result
of your diet and exercise program.
Instead of worrying about whether you are losing muscle,
or wondering if you are losing fat, you can measure it and
KNOW for sure. (I always get a good chuckle when someone
tells me they're worried about losing muscle when they don't
even measure how much muscle they have!)
Instead of being confused by all the "opinions"
from weight loss and exercise "experts" who are
all telling you something different, you can MEASURE your
body composition and based on the results, you can KNOW
for sure whether your program is working.
A very wise man once said,
"A single measurement is worth a thousand opinions."
So, how do you measure body fat?
There are many ways. Thanks to technology, there are some
methods today that are so accurate, they can tell you whether
your left pinky has more fat than your right pinky!
Unfortunately, many of them are either too expensive or
they are inaccessible, being found only in hospitals or
research facilities
If you want to learn a LOT about various body fat testing
methods, refer to chapter 3 in my e-book, Burn
The Fat, Feed The Muscle.
Instead of re-hashing it all, let me give you three quick
and easy, practical suggestions:
Suggestion 1: Have a trainer or fitness professional measure
you, if this service is available at your local health club.
Sometimes, there's a charge - usually $15 - $25, although
some clubs offer the service for free to all their members
(we do at our club)
Suggestion 2: Purchase an Accu-measure
skinfold caliper or a digital
fat caliper.
The Accumeasure was designed to allow you to measure your
own body fat in the privacy of your own home (you don't
need someone else to measure you)
Some people wonder if this is really accurate. Truth is,
it's not quite as accurate as a multi site skinfold test
from an experienced tester, but it's better than nothing.
Besides, what's most important is not the "accuracy"
per se, but the reliablity and consistency of your measurements
so you can track your progress. Skinfold calipers in general
are not accurate or inaccurate, it's the person doing the
test that is accurate or inaccurate.
Suggestion 3: If you have a spouse, roomate, or friend
who can measure your body fat, you can purchase a Slim Guide
body fat caliper from Creative Health Products: www.chponline.com
The Slimguide is the best inexpensive caliper available
(About $20), but it wasn't designed for you to measure your
own body fat. You'll need someone to measure you with this
caliper. Other models of body fat calipers (if you want
to splurge), range from $150 to $450. (At our health clubs,
I use the electronic "SKYNDEX" caliper with the
4-site "Durnin formula.")
The calipers come with instructions, or you can use these
formulas, which I have used and found to be very accurate:
4 Site formula for men (abdomen, suprailiac, thigh, tricep)
% fat = .29288(sum of 4 skinfolds) - 0.0005(sum of four
skinfolds squared) + 0.15845(age) - 5.76377
4-Site Formula for women (abdomen, suprailiac, thigh, tricep)
% Fat = (.29669)(sum of 4 skinfolds) - (.00043)(Sum of
four skinfolds squared) + .02963(age) + 1.4072
Source: Jackson A S, Pollock, M (1985) Practical assessment
of body composition. Physician Sport Med. 13: 76-90.
Body fat percentages vary based on age and gender, but
20-25% body fat is average for women (15-19% is ideal),
while 15-20% is average for men (10-14% is ideal). I have
detailed charts for body fat charts in my e-book if you're
interested.
Once you know your body fat percentage, then weigh yourself
and record your weight and body fat on a progress chart
such as the one found in my Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle
Program (a fat loss program, not a weight loss program).
This chart is how you will track your progress and "keep
score."
You can calculate your lean body mass (muscle and other
fat free tissue) very easily just by crunching some numbers:
For example, if you weigh 200 pounds and you have 10% body
fat then you have 20 pounds of fat (10% of 200 = 20). That
means you have a lean body mass (LBM) of 180 pounds.
Now we're talking! With this data, you can get a really
clear picture of how your exercise and nutrition program
are affecting your physique.
Losing weight is very easy. Losing fat - and keeping it
off without losing muscle - is a much bigger challenge.
If you simply wanted to lose weight, we could just chop
off your leg.
Or... (slightly less painful)... I could show you how to
drop 10 - 15 pounds over the weekend just by dehydrating
yourself and using natural herbal diuretics. Bodybuilders
and wrestlers do it all the time to make a weight class.
But what good would that do if it’s almost all water
and you’re just going to gain it all back within days?
You don't have to "throw away your scale" like
many "experts" tell you to. By all means, keep
using the scale, the tape measure and even photographs and
the mirror - the more feedback the better, but body fat
is where it's at.
By the way, I recently bought a chain saw and a shiny new
axe from Home Depot, and I've been practicing my "American
Psycho" and Jack Nicholson, "The Shining"
impersonations... so if you want to come to my office any
time soon for personal consultation, you'd better have the
right answer to my question, "What do you want?"
One last thing - If you found this information useful,
then you'll want to know that I wrote an entire new e-book
on body fat testing, called "How to Measure Your Body
Fat In the Privacy Of Your Own Home." Normally the
retail price is $19.95, but I'm still offering it for FREE
here with the purchase of my fat loss ebook, Burn The
Fat, Feed The Muscle (BFFM). Won't be available much longer.
(note: BFFM is a FAT LOSS program, not a WEIGHT LOSS program!)
>>
Click here for Tom's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program
About the Author
Tom Venuto is an NSCA-certified personal trainer, certified
strength and conditioning specialist, lifetime natural bodybuilder,
and author of the #1 best-selling e-book "Burn the
Fat, Feed The Muscle" (BFFM). Tom has written over
170 articles and has been featured in IRONMAN Magazine,
Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Muscle-Zine,
Olympian’s News (in Italian), Exercise for Men and
Men’s Exercise. For information on Tom's "Burn
The Fa Feed the Musclet" e-book, click
here.
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