You must measure your progress so you can make adjustments to your workout program when needed.
Body part measurements must be taken under the same conditions and are affected by the same factors as body weight.
Different people may want to track different muscle group circumferences or other locations on the body.
If you're trying to burn fat and you store most of your body fat around your hips…
You would want to keep track of your hips measurement during your program.
If you're focusing on building bigger calves, you would want to track your calf measurement each week.
Get the picture?
Track the Measurements Important to You
Track what's important to you so you can monitor your progress and make adjustments when needed.
You need a good measuring tape made for making circumference measurements. Once you have that, you'll be able to easily take the measurements you want to track.
It's very important that you take the measurements under the same conditions. For example, if you always take a bicep measurement flexed, don't attempt to compare a relaxed measurement with a flexed measurement.
As another example, don't suck in as much as you can for your waist measurement and count that as an improvement.
Ensure you take the measurements along the same lines each time. For example, a waist measurement can easily be skewed due to the measuring tape being in a slightly different location each time.
Use a mirror and practice using the same location every time. Ensure the tape is level when taking the measurement and should not be twisted at any point.
Here Are Some Common Measurements That You Might Want to Consider:
- Waist
- Hips
- Chest/Back
- Upper Arms
- Forearms
- Thighs
- Calves
You should take all of the above body part measurements before and after each weight lifting cycle.
You should take the waist measurement each week along with any others that you feel are important to your goals.
You need to understand that body measurements will not change by large amounts on a weekly basis. So, do not expect the measurements that you do take on a weekly basis to change by large amounts.
Sometimes, 1/16th of an inch is a vast improvement!
Small changes each week will be a HUGE improvement over several weeks.
If you could improve a measurement by a half inch each week, you would definitely be a super hero. The human body just doesn't change that way. It takes small and consistent circumference changes over several weeks and months!
You will start noticing huge changes in the mirror before you notice huge changes in circumference measurements.
If you have trouble taking accurate and precise measurements, you should practice taking the measurements more often for a few weeks.
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