Measuring Fitness Progress
What others are reading:
Keeping track of your progress can be a great motivator to achieve your fitness goals. The most common ways people judge fitness progress is by their weight, body fat percentage and BMI.
Weight is the most common number people track, but it is often the least accurate and most discouraging. Your weight fluctuates throughout the day, depending on a lot of factors: when and how much you’ve eaten, when you had and what you had to drink, the time of day, etc. The number you see on the scale can change so much it will drive you crazy. Also, your weight doesn’t take into account the quality of your body mass. If you are exercising, you are building muscle, which weighs more than fat, so even if you are replacing fat with muscle and dropping inches, your scale may not move.
BMI (Body Mass Index) is a number based on your height and weight that places you into a health category: Obese, overweight, normal, or below normal. This equation also does not take the quality of your body mass into account. A fit, muscular man that is 5′ 7″ and weighs 210 pounds will have the same BMI as an overweight, sedentary 5′7″ man weighing 210 pounds. Obviously, these people are at very different place health-wise, yet they receive the same classification.
Body Fat is the best way to measure all of your hard work. The best way to explain body fat is by using an example:
Let’s say you’ve been working out a month. You initially weighed 160 pounds. This morning you stepped on the scale and it said 157 pounds. The scale says you lost 3 pounds. You are frustrated. You then test your body fat and based on the reading, you have lost 8 pounds of fat and gained 5 pounds of muscle: thus the 3 pound scale loss, BUT the quality of your body mass is better. You’re more toned and have lost inches all over. Now, you are proud and remotivated.
Body fat percentage gives you the most accurate picture of your overall body composition. However, instead of focusing solely on numbers, you should also pay attention to how you feel. Working out helps relieve stress, helps you sleep better, gives you more energy and puts you in a better mood, which should be motivation enough to keep on exercising.