Taking Body Measurements to Measure Your Progress

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Taking body measurements on a regular basis is a must when using the WLC System.

When you take measurements on this program…

You've got to be sure you are taking them accurately and precisely each and every week.

Every piece of data you record into your log book needs to be as accurate and precise as possible.

What is accuracy and precision exactly? Accuracy = degree of closeness to the true value. Precision = degree of closeness of several measurements.

An accurate measurement means a very good measurement which is very close to the actual “true value.”

For example, let's say your waist is actually 34.75 inches in circumference and you measure it to be 34.8 inches.

That is an accurate measurement because you were very close to the true measurement.

If you measured 32 inches compared to the true value of 34.75 inches, you did not measure accurately at all! You were off by 2.75 inches.

Precision is actually more important than accuracy when you take measurements for this program.

Don't get me wrong, accuracy is important, but precision is more important.

Precision is the difference between successive measurements around the same moment in time.

For example, let's say you take 3 measurements of your waist one right after the next. You get 32, 35, and 31 inches. These are not precise measurements! If you measure 30.5, 30.5, and 30.5, this is precise as you can get.

Precision is important and improves with experience taking measurements under the same conditions each and every time. Accuracy also improves with experience.

You need to know how to take proper measurements first. Once you know how to take proper measurements, you need to practice taking them every day for a few weeks.

Once you begin to take precise measurements (repeat the same values over and over), you can slow down on taking measurements to once per week during your weekly assessment.

For example, if you take skin fold measurements and you repeat the same measurement 3 consecutive times, you are getting precise in your measurements.

So, what measurements do you need to practice taking each day for the first few weeks?

The Measurements that Take Some Practice

As discussed, you'll need to practice taking several measurements for the first few weeks.

This gives you practice and helps improve your accuracy and precision. Here are the measurements you need to practice taking:

Skin fold measurements with fat calipers

You'll learn how to take skin fold measurements in another section of this course — not too far away.

You'll need body fat calipers, which only cost around $10 or so. The actual skin fold measurements are pretty simple to take and are easily repeatable with some practice. This is not difficult at all.

Body part circumferences including waist measurement

You'll need a good measuring tape that's flexible and large enough to measure around your chest/back. This will be less than 50 inches for most people.

You can find a cheap one in the sewing section of most stores, or you can order one especially for measuring body circumferences. You'll learn more later.

You've Got to Practice Taking Measurements to Get Better

The above measurements need to be as accurate and precise as possible and taken under the same conditions each time.

First thing in the morning is the best time to take them simply because your body is in the same condition every time you wake up from a night of sleep.

You're going to learn how to take these measurements properly in the upcoming sections.

Once you read these sections, start practicing every morning. Take 3 measurements at each measurement site and record them. Once you begin to repeat your measurements, this means you are getting much better at taking measurements.

It's important that you become precise in your measurements because this can affect the decisions you make to adjust your program on a weekly basis.

If you take false measurements, you may decide to change your program when you were making very good progress.

Good measurements ensure you make good progress all the time. You simply do not want to make a change when something is working great.

Please take some time (each morning) over the next few weeks to practice. You'll be rewarded when you make better decisions on a weekly basis.

For example, let's say you take false measurements that tell you you've lost muscle mass and gained fat. The alarm goes off in your head, and you make a drastic change to your program.

In reality, you gained muscle and lost fat. You changed your program when you were making amazing progress. You don't want this to happen, right? Make sure you practice and this will never happen.

Always take measurements first thing in the morning.

Other Measurements that Need Consideration

If you don't have much experience with counting calories and keeping track of the foods you eat, you need to pay attention to the amounts you are eating.

You need to make sure you are entering accurate and precise numbers for the amounts of food you are eating. This can make a huge difference in decisions you make and results you receive.

Entering inaccurate data into your log book for calories, protein, carbs, and fat can cause many problems.

For example, entering 200 calories for a certain substance when you are actually eating 300 calories will cause false results each and every week depending on how much of that substance you eat. You add a 100 calorie error to your measurements every time you eat that substance.

Being precise is also very important. Let's say you eat the same food and the same amount on Monday and Tuesday.

Let's use milk as an example:

You actually drank 1 cup on Monday and 1.5 cups on Tuesday. You enter 1 cup of milk into your log for both Monday and Tuesday. You used 2 different cups to drink from. One cup is actually much bigger than the other cup you used.

Every time you make this mistake, you are in error by 1/2 cup of milk.

If you make this mistake throughout the days and weeks on multiple foods, you're calorie measurements are going to be in error. You can't make good decisions based on numbers that include so many errors.

Do everything you can to measure the food you eat accurately.

You don't have to be perfect here, but you need to be close. It's easy to make mistakes on the amounts of food you are eating. You may enter 4 ounces of lean beef when you actually ate 6 ounces. Next time you actually eat 6 ounces you may enter 8 ounces. You've got to get it right.

Pay attention to food labels, how much you are eating, serving sizes, container sizes, and anything else that will help you become more accurate and precise at measuring the amounts of food you are eating.

This becomes very easy after some practice.

It's something you've got to do so practice improving each and every day.

If you want to get even better at measuring the foods you eat, a food scale can help you become more accurate and precise with your calorie intake.

Another error many people make is to use online calorie counters instead of using the nutrition facts label that came with the food. Ensure you record the nutrition facts from every food you eat.

Use the WLC Log Book to Make Things Even Easier

Enter nutrition facts from foods into your WLC Log Book and you'll always have them.

Online calculators can be very inaccurate at times.

All you have to do is enter a food and its nutrition facts into your log book once, and you'll always have it. You won't have to enter all the numbers from the label more than once.

I've made it very easy for you to count calories accurately and precisely on our programs.

Just get a copy of the WLC Log Book and tracking body measurements, food intake, weight lifting workouts, strength gains, and more will ALL be very easy for you.