Marion Freijsen A blog about Sports, Fitness & Health

Measuring up…

As I see yet another magazine proclaiming to get you that hot “beach body” within a week, I thought I might do a little overview of how best to measure whether you are getting anywhere near that ideal.. Mind you, never understood the overkill on getting to that Beach Body. To me a beautiful body is anyone who is looking healthy, with a zest for life and confidence in themselves!

However, even for health it is good to know where you are at, and benchmarking against that.

SO what can you do to keep track? First of all – look in the mirror. You can see, and feel, whether you have lost weight. You get to know your own body well enough over many years of living to know when you are heavier or lighter.
Then there is ofcourse the weighing scales – always an interesting one. It’s good to know your weight, but it is not the only thing to go by. You can weigh more, but actually be getting leaner. Muscles IS heavier then fat, so as you get more muscular there is a point where you might gain weight instead of loose it. But don’t worry – if you continue training, you will actually then start losing weight easier, as these same muscles will burn more calories! It just takes a little while to break through that balancing point.

Next is using BMI - Body Mass Index. A relatively new measurement that takes a look at the proportion between your height and your weight and gives you a number.

For those in metric – the measurement is or in imperial measures take: 

According to the book – a  BMI of 18.5 to 25 indicates optimal weight; a BMI lower than 18.5 suggests the person is underweight while a number above 25 may indicate the person is too heavy.  I don’t use BMI too much though since I think there is so much it does not take into account. It doesn’t look at your build, your propensity to store fat, or even your muscular weight.

Lastly (in my series for normal people that want easy measurements!) there is Body Fat Percentage. This should be measured with calipers by a person who does this regularly and knows the correct areas to measure. That means probably either a physical therapist or a Personal Trainer – they have the tools and the knowledge to do it well. Measurements are taken by skinfold on the back of your arm, above your hipbone, your upper leg, and below your shoulderblade. The total is calculated and compares against a chart which does take into account your age. This because as we get older, you will gain more fatty tissue unfortunately. The PT can also look at your build and use either a comparison which is more athletic or a normal build and that will adjust your measurement. The norm is between 20-25% for women vs. 15-20% for men.

I like to combine the Body Fat % measurement with a good look in the mirror and my weight on the scales. Using this combination means I keep a pretty close check on myself and if I gain weight I can tell easily whether it is fat (scales may be lower, but Body Fat % is higher!) or lean muscle (scales could be higher, but Body Fat % definitely lower). But usually – I already know because I can see it myself right there every day. And lastly – I still have a pair of jeans from my youth – as long as I can fit into those – I KNOW it’s OK!