Ben Carpenter, Personal Fitness Trainer
www.bcpersonaltraining.co.uk
Fat loss, toning and muscle building (physique changes) have become one of the industry standard responses to the question “why do you exercise?” It isn’t surprising either when you look at the facts. Obesity is consistently on the rise and the average level of body fat is shooting up. It seems inevitable that you would want to change your physique- especially when our nation is moving further and further away from healthy levels.
So, you want to lose fat, build muscle or tone up. How do you know you are on the right track? It is a critical question you must be able to answer if you don’t want to waste your time and money exercising and getting nowhere. It is no good looking back on six months worth of training and realising you look the same as you did back then.
You have to measure it. Seems simple? Well, yes and no. Most people step on the scales and judge their achievements on whether they have lost weight or put weight on. This is their yardstick to judge the progress they make. It seems logical? Weigh yourself weekly and see if you are moving in the right direction. You must keep in mind that weight on its own is a very poor way of telling how successful your regime is.
You want to lose fat and tone up your stomach? Great! How much of your weight loss is fat loss? You need to know this! If you are losing muscle you are setting yourself up for a weight rebound. The more muscle you have the higher your metabolism is. If you lose muscle then your metabolism will slow down and the chance of you putting the fat back on is very high.
Alternatively, you want to build muscle? Great! How much of your current weight gain is actually lean mass? I assume you don’t want to get fat in the process.
Let’s face it. Very few people actually care what their weight is. Would you prefer to look in the mirror and see your ideal physique staring back at you or reach what you thought was your ideal weight, look in the mirror and still be unhappy with what you see?
You cannot rely on weight alone to judge your progress- there are too many other factors involved. If you want to lose a couple of pounds quickly- take a laxative. If you want to become lean and toned you must lose fat- not weight.
When your body fat percentage is low- you will have more muscle definition and your flabby bits will definitely decrease. There is no way around this. When your weight goes down you can still have fat covering your muscles up.
If you get your body fat measured regularly you will be able to work out how much fat you have lost and how much muscle you have put on, this enables you to assess how well you are doing and alter your programme to make it even more effective. Weight alone tells you neither of these things and fluctuates throughout the day depending on food intake, what you drink and bathroom habits.
As a female you can reach a size 6 and still have relatively high levels of fat therefore having no visible muscle tone, you could still be unhappy with your physique and want to drop more weight. As a male you can lose a lot of weight and still have no obvious six-pack.
With body fat there is no room for error. If you lower your fat percentage you will look more defined and your abs will look more toned. It is inevitable.
So, go and get your body fat measured and do so periodically to make sure you are actually getting the results you want. It will save you guesswork, time and expense.
