Your scales are lying to you! Bin them and focus on understanding your body composition.

Skin Fold Tests are a cheap and easy way to map your body composition.

This article focusses on body composition. I have written articles about losing weight or losing fat before (link to article below) but I want to show why we don't need scales.

If I could have my way I would ban scales! They only give us a combination of everything we are made of in one number! Oh and while I am in the banning mood, I would ban those weight charts! They do not look at body composition at all and should be used with caution.

The scales are a blunt instrument and don't tell you the whole truth.

We are all different. Different shapes, heights, hair and skin colour. Some of us have smaller skeletons than others who have thicker bones etc. We are wonderful and varied! We inherited from our parents a recipe that makes us, us. So how can a set of scales tell you how you are doing against your goals? It just can't!

We need to know how we are composed, what we are made of.

Body Composition, what is it and why should I focus on that?

Body composition is the percentages of Fat, Muscle, Bone and Water in our body. Of these "Bones" are almost a fixed amount (you can add a small amount to your bone weight/density, too much detail for here). The others can be changed, increased or reduced.

Our bodies are made up of up to 60% by weight by water so reducing the water in your body can have a dramatic effect on the scales. Some use water manipulation to lose weight quickly. (I do not recommend this at all)! This is mainly used in combat sports like boxing, Judo etc before a weigh in to be within a weight class. The loss of water will mean you weigh less (1 litre of water weighs 1 Kg). But is not going to change your shape if that is what your goal is. As soon as you take a drink your weight will go up. Do you see why relying on the scales is wrong?

So that leaves two things FAT and MUSCLE. To change your shape you need to lose fat and gain muscle. But muscle weighs more than fat right? No, it doesn't, 1 pound of fat weighs exactly the the same as 1 pound of muscle!

But the equivalent weight of Fat takes up much more space than muscle. Look at this picture....reduce fat to reduce size.

Losing 5 pounds of fat and gaining 5 pounds of muscle will change your shape.

Focussing on losing weight only by diet restriction or calorie reduction (think slimming clubs and groups) without resistance training (lifting weights) will reduce both muscle and fat, fact. If we are using more energy than we are eating our bodies will convert fat AND muscle to get the energy it needs. So focus on FAT loss and reducing that whilst maintaining or building muscle. This will reduce your volume (Inches) and change your shape.

Muscle is vital to your success for losing fat. Muscles have these little fat burning powerhouses called mitochondria. Mitochondria are cellular power plants that are responsible for the production of energy. It’s in the mitochondria that fat is metabolised. It stands to reason that the more mitochondria you have, the more the potential you have to burn fat. Don't know how to build muscle? Contact me....(muscle doesn't mean being "bulky").

More muscle requires your body to burn more energy (Energy = Food and/or stored FAT) just to maintain it! So you build more muscle, eat the same and lose even more fat! Great news eh? The opposite is true as well, when you lose muscle you lose these power houses and need LESS energy to maintain that same weight. So lose weight (fat and muscle) from restricting your diet and you have to eat even less just to stay the same weight. Ever heard of the phrase "Skinny Fat"? Maybe I should write another article on that...

There is no such thing as targeting fat loss in specific areas.

You can build and firm muscle here but you can't target fat loss. Fat is lost from the whole body.

Fat is lost all over the body. It is not possible to target fat loss in a specific area (unless you undergo expensive, invasive treatments like liposuction with all of the potential complications). You Can target muscle gain in specific areas, adding more muscle on your upper arms or bottom for example to get the shape you want. That is what I like to do with my clients....

If someone tells you they can reduce the fat specifically on your legs or anywhere else for that matter, walk away. There are hundreds of studies that show that they don't know what they are talking about or worse still, are deliberately lying to you!?

So how do I measure my Body Composition?

There are a number of ways to do this, the main examples are explained below. Your Personal Trainer, GP or Nutritionist can help you or you can look into the more expensive ways... (see below).

All Personal Trainers should do this as standard (if not, why not)? Time for a change?

I ask my clients if I can take their measurements before we start working together. This is all major body parts with a tape measure. I then perform a multi point skin fold measurement with callipers (main picture at start of the article) to determine your body fat %. This is what we measure, this allows me to map your progress (I provide graphs and feedback regularly to show how you are progressing).

The Methods

Skinfold Calipers

The skinfold measurement test is one of the oldest and still most common methods of determining a person's body fat percentage.

This test estimates the percentage of body fat by measuring skinfold thickness at specific locations on the body. The thickness of these folds is a measure of the fat under the skin, called subcutaneous adipose tissue. Skinfold thickness results use formulas that convert these numbers into an estimate of a person's percentage of body fat according to a person's age and gender. They are reasonably accurate and more than sufficient for most people to get their body fat %. It does not measure Visceral fat (the fat stored in the abdominal cavity and around vital organs).

DEXA Scan

A DEXA scan, or dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan, is performed often in a medical setting or University (Leeds Carnegie has one). It is similar to an MRI without the doughnut and noise... think very large paper scanner. It is extremely accurate, measures almost everything including bones and their density. These scans can be expensive.

Bod Pod

Uses air displacement to measure body composition. Users sit in the BodPod chamber for two short readings , while the volume of air displaced by the body is measured. This, together with an accurate weight reading is used to calculate body fat percentage. Less accurate than a DEXA scan but reasonably priced in comparison. Hydrostatic uses the same principles as the Bod Pod but uses water....yes you have to be submerged in a tank! Accurate but if you can sit in a pod why would you be dunked?

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA)

These are appearing more and more on the high street. They are effectively a set of scales that sends a weak electrical current through your body and based upon the time it takes to travel through your body estimates your body fat. They are very expensive scales (we don't need scales right!) and accuracy varies widely with hydration and time of day.... not for me.

Aim to lose fat, not weight!

I hope this was informative? As you can see, you don't need a set of scales. You just need me as your Personal Trainer!

Your weight varies at all times of the day and is not an accurate reflection of how you are doing towards your goals. It certainly is not a reflection of you as a person or how hard you are working.

Be liberated, throw away those scales! When someone asks what you weigh, tell them, "I don't know, I only measure my % body fat and how strong and fit I am". Weight and clothes sizes are just numbers, often these numbers are used to bash us. They often make us feel bad about ourselves.... If you are 80Kgs with 30% body fat aim to be 80Kgs and 25% body fat. You will be amazed at how much 4Kgs/5% reduction in fat makes to your shape! It is time to stop this, don't let the scales rule you, hit back, !

I love hearing or seeing pictures of my clients wearing clothes they wouldn't wear before. Getting strong, confident in their bodies, confident in themselves. Some have not lost a lot of weight (gained more muscle) some have, but all have lost a lot of Inches and reduced their percentage of body fat and are fitter.

As always, please like and share this article with your contacts. If you want to talk to me about this, want to discuss how I can help you, or any other matter please contact me on the details below:

Danni X

The other article I referred to above: https://www.dannidobsonpt.com/post/do-you-want-to-lose-weight-or-lose-fat

Contact me by e-mail: dannidobsonpt@outlook.com

Call/Text 07811 888394

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