Measuring Body Fat is Easy

Measuring body fat is something that must be done AT LEAST twice per weight lifting cycle: once before and once after.

Every weight training program used along with the WLC System should last anywhere from 6 to 15 weeks or so.

These are just estimates so please remember that.

The only true way to measure your body improvements is to measure your body fat percentage.

You will easily be able to see the progress you're making in strength with WLC and you'll be able to see the muscle gains in the mirror.

Before long, many other people will be telling you about the progress you've made.

You'll get comments from people, and you'll get them often.

But how do you really know if you've made progress?

Well, you have to measure your body fat. Measuring body fat before the WLC program and after the WLC program will easily tell you the progress you've made.

You'll know how much body fat you've lost and how much muscle you've built.

You shouldn't care about body weight in terms of progress as much as you do about muscle gain and fat loss.

Body weight doesn't matter in terms of muscle gains and fat losses unless you have a specific goal that you need to meet in terms of body weight. Then you can worry a little more about body weight.

But don't set specific body weight goals because you don't know what you're going to look like at a certain body weight.

Let the mirror guide you to the look you want.

An Example: Using Body Fat Percentage

Before WLC Muscle Building Cycle
Body Weight = 220 pounds
Body Fat Percentage = 12%

After WLC Muscle Building Cycle
Body Weight = 230 pounds
Body Fat Percentage = 12.5%

Okay, let's see how well we did on this muscle building WLC program from the results above.

We need to calculate lean body mass, which we will call muscle. And then we calculate fat mass. We can then easily calculate how much muscle we gained/lost and how much fat we lost/gained.

Measuring body fat is easy and it tells you the progress you've made.

Before WLC Muscle Building Cycle
Body Weight = 220 pounds
Body Fat Percentage = 12%
Lean Body Mass = 220 x (1 – 0.12) = 193.6 pounds
Fat Mass = 220 x 0.12 = 26.4 pounds

After WLC Muscle Building Cycle
Body Weight = 230 pounds
Body Fat Percentage = 12.5%
Lean Body Mass = 230 x (1 – 0.125) = 201.25 pounds
Fat Mass = 230 x 0.125 = 28.75 pounds

Weight Gained = 230 – 220 = 10 pounds
Muscle Gained = 201.25 – 193.6 = 7.65 pounds of muscle!
Fat Gained = 28.75 – 26.4 = 2.35 pounds of fat

Do you see how you need body fat percentage to calculate the progress you've made?

Now you just need to know how to measure body fat percentage, right? Well, keep reading…

The 3 Site Method of Measuring Body Fat Using Calipers

There are many methods of measuring your body fat and calculating body fat percentage. I just want to discuss one way that you can easily calculate yours.

Within the WLC System Manual, you'll find an even easier method of getting your body fat percentage.

I could have chosen any method, but I've decided to choose the caliper method because it is the most practical way for everyone to measure their body fat.

If you have regular access to another method, then go ahead and use that method but make sure you'll always have access to that method.

If not, you'll be starting over with a new method and you'll have to start a new baseline of measurements. All methods vary somewhat. As long as you stay consistent with the method you use, you'll do fine.

Jackson/Pollock 3 Site Method for Measuring Body Fat

I could have chosen any of the caliper methods. There are seven site, nine site, four site, single site, body fat scales using electrical imepedance, and many more methods.

Using a waist measurement is also a good method if you want to use a fast and easy way.

I've chosen the 3 site method to discuss because it's easy and you'll be able to do the measurements on your own.

Some will say that the 3 point method is not as accurate as the 7 or 9 point methods, but it doesn't matter as long as you use this method consistently.

It will be accurate with respect to your measurements.

Measuring body fat is easy. As long as you have a caliper and yourself, you'll be able to record the measurements and calculate your body fat percentage with the 3 site method. You won't need anyone else.

So, the Jackson/Pollock 3 Site Method will be a way for you to measure your body fat percentage on a consistent basis. Well, how do you do this?

As you might have guessed, you're going to take body fat caliper measurements at 3 different locations on your body. You're going to need a good pair of calipers to do this.

Here's what a pair of calipers look like:

Once you have a pair of calipers, you need to practice using them. First, you need to know the three sites you will be taking measurements.

The Three Measurement Sites

For Men:

1. Chest

Diagonal skin fold. Caliper should be pointed towards your nipple on your chest. Make sure you take the measurement on the same side each and every time. The measurement should be taken midway between your underarm and your nipple.

2. Abdominal

Vertical skin fold. Take measurement approximately one inch to the right of your belly button.

3. Thigh

Vertical skin fold. Take measurement in the middle of your thigh. Ensure measurement is taken on same thigh every time and that it is taken about half way between your hip and knee.

For Women:

1. Tricep

Vertical skin fold. Take measurement on back of arm and should be taken halfway between your elbow and shoulder joints.

2. Suprailiac

Diagonal skin fold. Take measurement above hip bone around oblique area. The correct spot will be right around your oblique muscle. Make sure to measure the same side each time.

3. Thigh

Vertical skin fold. Take measurement in the middle of your thigh. Ensure measurement is taken on same thigh every time and that it is taken about half way between your hip and knee.

If you'd rather do a 7 site method, that's fine with me. But you'll need another person there to always measure for you. The 3 site method will serve you better. That's why I've chosen to discuss this one.

The Body Fat Calculations

Once you have taken your measurements and you're confident in your measurements, you must plug them into a few formulas to get your result. Men will have to use a different formula than the women.

Calculation for Men:

Bone Density = 1.1093800 – (0.0008267)(Sum of 3 sites) + (0.0000016)(Sum of 3 sites)^2 – (0.0002574)(Age)

Body Fat Percentage = [(4.95 / Bone Density) – 4.5](100)

Calculation for Women:

Bone Density = 1.0994921 – (0.0009929)(Sum of 3 sites) + (0.0000023)(Sum of 3 sites)^2 – (0.0001392)(Age)

Body Fat Percentage = [(4.95 / Bone Density) – 4.5](100)

You can easily set you up an equation in any spreadsheet program to keep a database of all your results. I provide log books with easy body fat calculations within each of our programs.

Measuring body fat will soon become a very simple process for you. A body fat caliper should only cost you 10 to 20 dollars. You can get more expensive ones if you'd like that are supposedly more accurate. I've always used the cheap ones, and they've served me just fine.

I recommend the cheap body fat calipers from Accu Measure.

Measuring body fat is very easy with those calipers.

You'll be done measuring body fat in less than one minute once you get the hang of it.