Are You Tracking Your Fat Loss Progress Accurately?
Whenever you start a fat loss program, you should have some way of measuring your progress. Unfortunately, most people simply look at the scale and end up extremely unmotivated.
Well, the weight scale fails to take into account many variables that change as your body composition improves. In fact, your weight could be going up while your body fat is going down! Thus, you need an accurate way of measuring your progress in order to truly know whether or not you should stick with your program.
Having said that, you should know that not all methods for testing body composition are equally effective.
So here is a quick guide to body fat testing:
1. Fat fold tests. Performed with skin calipers, fat fold tests are relatively accurate when done by an experienced professional. The key here is to make sure that the same person takes your measurements every single time. And also keep in mind that I have seen even the most highly skilled testers come up with skewed measurements.
2. Underwater dunking. Considered the gold standard of body fat measuring, underwater dunking does provide accurate readings if you prepare correctly. The biggest drawback here is the preparation and the fact that you have to be submerged in water. How does it work? It measures the density of your tissues.
3. Bioelectrical impedance. I am sure you have seen the little gadgets with handles that you hold in your hands to get an almost immediate reading of your body fat levels. The major drawback? They are usually extremely inaccurate. Why? Because they send an electrical signal through your body and too many things can interrupt the signals path.
4. DEXA. Also known as dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, this technique sends a couple harmless x-rays through your body to measure levels of lean tissue. It is very accurate and requires little, if any preparation. The only drawback here is cost.
Each method for measuring body fat has its pros and cons. For the most part, the biggest factor affecting accuracy will be the professionals skill and experience with taking the measurements. Having said that, you should pick a method and use it consistently so that you can know whether or not your program is working.