How to Take Body Measurements

You hear of a lot of incredible stories about people making phenomenal changes to their bodies. How do they really do it?

I have shared quite a few transformational tales myself regarding how people mapped some of the biggest and the most incredible changes in their body.

What separates the successful from the failures? Today we’ll find out.

Do you know how to take body measurements? How about how to accurately measure body fat percentage? In the course of few months, you can radically alter your body, if you have the drive to do so.

When it comes to making changes, and keeping them, there are a number of pitfalls of which you should be aware. Today we’ll talk about what works, what doesn’t and how you can really make changes.

Some people work solely on building muscle mass and strength and there are others who solely focus on losing body fat. Wondering how to reduce body fat without losing muscle?

At the end of the day, different approaches serve different goals. However, one method stands true for achieving every fitness and weight loss goal.

Do you know what it is?

Tracking Your Progress

When you seriously want to bring the change to your life, you need to have an efficient workout tracker. You may have questions about how to take body measurements, Don’t worry, we’ll go over all of that.

First of all; make a commitment that you are going to write down everything you do and eat. This can be done with a journal or an app on your smartphone or tablet.

Knowing how to take body measurements as well as accurately keeping track of your food intake will help you see what’s really affecting your body and where.

If you can just commit to tracking your exercise and eating, the accountability that you cultivate will change your life.

If you can just commit to tracking your exercise and eating, the accountability that you cultivate will change your life.
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The choices you make in how you approach fitness will have a major impact on your success. Luckily, we’re here to help. We’ve already made all the mistakes for you, and are here to share what really works.

So, are you all set to make the big change in your life?

How a Workout Tracker Could Change Your Whole Routine

You may be wondering as to why you need to have a workout tracker. Well not everyone does. For some people, keeping general diet and exercise principles is enough. For others, especially those with a tendency to cheat the rules of their eating and fitness goals… A workout tracker or food tracking app can be a game changer. Let me present the ideal scenario to you.

When you track your food, it also gives you the opportunity to make up for mistakes or missed marks over the course of the day.

For example:

Let’s say you really blew it at breakfast and ate a doughnut with your morning coffee. Without a workout a tracker, you might be likely to just call the whole day a wash, eat junk food and start over tomorrow.

With a meal tracker, you can visibly see where you need to be with the rest of the day’s food to get your calorie goals back in line. The day is not lost.

Also, if you want to supercharge that morning coffee, check out our feature on Bulletproof Coffee.

This is why we believe in measuring the things so that you can quantify how your accomplishments. Have you been stuck in a rut and now want to blast through diet and training plateau? This is why you should consider a workout tracker. Some of the main reasons include:

• Scales Are Deceptive: Remember that scales only tell part of the story. When you’re training, your muscle mass is displacing the unwanted fat in your body. A raw number on a scale is not the whole picture of your progress.
• Take Your Measurements: If you are not measuring your changes, how will you know whether you are making progress or not?
• Track Your Eating: When you know how to take your measurements and measure your food intake, you’ll find it much easier to hone your approach.
• Awareness Brings Improvement: tracking your food and activity will encourage you to act more positively.

Real awareness of your food intake, exercise and body measurements drives progress by keeping you focused on your goals.

Real awareness of your food intake, exercise and body measurements drives progress by keeping you focused on your goals.
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Are these enough reasons to prove that a workout tracker is an absolute must for you? What are you waiting for? Now that you have enough incentive to track your progress, we’ll tell you how to take body measurements.

Wondering How to Take Body Measurements Correctly?

You’re not defined by your weight. Remember when you choose strength training, your muscles are growing. This means the scale may not reflect your real positive changes.

When you compare crash dieting (which experts don’t recommend) and heavy cardio, these might bring you greater loss of weight in plain numbers. However, your objective should be to reduce your body fat percentage and build your muscles for a healthier look.

Surprise: it turns out that steady cardio fails you when it comes to fat loss.

When you are tracking your body weight at regular intervals, you will have a precise idea of the things that are working and those that are not. When you see that you have not lost weight for quite a lot of time, it reflects that you need to make adjustments.

Before you learn the dynamics of how to take body measurements, you need to first set down a ground rule for yourself. Don’t judge yourself harshly just because one week you don’t improve. Your body is perhaps one of the most complex machines you will ever see. Fluctuations are normal and should not discourage you.

Positive change is always possible.

Take measurements weekly or two days a week and note down the details following a schedule. Here are some ideas:

• Take Pictures: this is one of the best methods. Using photos throughout your journey will help you see how far you’ve come. This is a much more useful measure than a scale!
• Take the Right Measurements: Head to the store or shop online and grab a cheap Body Tape Measure. You should always take measurements before a workout. At the same time, be sure that you know how to take body measurements of the right parts. An Advanced Body Tape Measure will retract to make it easier to measure certain areas and display measurements digitally. Use these spots for the best results:
  • Neck
  • Shoulders
  • Chest
  • Hips
  • Thigh
  • Waist
  • Biceps
• Measure Your Body Fat Percentage Accurately: depending on the resources you have, this can be a little tricky. Getting an accurate measure of your actual body fat percentage is key. Knowing how to take body measurements also includes some more complex tactics. We strongly suggest investing in a simple Body Fat Caliper for highly accurate readings on your body fat. If you are looking for even more accuracy, you could choose a Bod Pod location because it will be an even better choice for you.

Remember that when you are tracking body fat, none of the tests are 100% accurate.

Track Your Food to Succeed

Are you looking for a way to stay true to your diet without a partner? An app might be your new best fitness friend.

We strongly recommend that you track your food using a journal or more conveniently a smart phone app. The best app we’ve found for tracking your meals is:

Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal

The best news? It’s free.

Alright, so, here are the things you need to know when you are tracking your body.

Do you have an idea of the number of calories you are eating regularly?

You only lose weight when you create a calorie deficit. There’s no simpler way to know if you’re achieving this goal, than tracking your food using an app.

This is another important thing to keep in mind. The amount of food you eat and the frequency at which you are eating are extremely important factors and you should make it a point to measure each of them diligently.

Food tracking apps will also help you reach the protein goals you need for muscle growth. Tracking not only your calories but your macronutrients will keep you aimed at the target.

You’ll find that most of the foods you eat are contained on food tracking apps. Also, you can often log entire meals that you’ve had before. As you save more and more of the foods that you’re commonly tracking, the app will take less and less time to use.

One of the biggest benefits to tracking your food is honesty. If you really keep track of everything you eat, you’ll actually want to eat better. It’s like getting a good grade on a report card.

Track Your Workouts and Your Food to Grow

When you are exercising, you have to note how much you work and what you do.

Are you getting stronger? What weight did you squat last week before you changed your diet this week. Do you know how to train your body to burn fat? And how to tell if it’s working?

These types of analysis become possible when you have the data you need to identify fluctuations.

This data will turn to be useful in helping you push yourself. Knowing what works means knowing what doesn’t. Further, it will be an indication of how strong you are now, and if you’re improving.

When you are recording your workout, you will know how much you have accomplished. Then the next week, your goal should be to push yourself further—maybe add 5 pounds to your lifts.

Conclusion

Now you know how to measure your body fat. When you make use of all these tips, you can succeed by knowing how efficient you have been in training and eating.

Initially, you may find it a little tiring and even frustrating; however, over a period of time; when you continue tracking and measuring, it will become second nature.

Once you build up the data you need to see your progress, you’ll really see how useful this practice is.

Knowing how to take body measurements, progress photos, and tracking your activity and food intake will shed major light on the holes in your plan of attack and change your perspective.

If the numbers and photos are not reflecting positive change, it is time to start something new and make some changes in the right direction.

Knowing what to change comes down to tracking!

So what are you waiting for? Get moving, get eating, get measuring, get tracking. GET FIT.

-Terry Asher