By ALGetsBig
How to Take Body Tape Measurements
Body measurements, also called girth measurements, will give you valuable information to assess the progress of your bodybuilding program. They will tell you exactly where you are growing. With this information, you can learn which body parts may need to be worked out differently and which parts are growing like you intend for them to grow.
Keep in mind that increase in body measurements will not inform you of whether the growth is a result of primarily fat gain or primarily muscle gain. You can only know this information by knowing your bodyfat percentage. Take your bodyfat percentage as often as you take your body measurements. If your bodyfat percentage is staying constant or only slightly increasing, then you know that your body measurement gains are in fact a result of muscle gain.
To take your body tape measurements, you will need a flexible tape measure that you can wrap around your body parts. There are basic measuring tapes available at tailor shops, clothes shops and sporting goods stores. These simple tapes, however, are difficult to use and I don't recommend using them.
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MyoTape is the best measuring tape available. The MyoTape from Accu-Fitness is a vast improvement over the simple tape and it works wonderfully. You can buy one for less than $10 and also as part of a package when you get your body fat caliper (See the skinfold measurements page for how to use the bodyfat caliper to get your skinfold measurements and calculate your bodyfat percentage). |
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Get your bodyfat percentage super easily with the FatTrack Gold Digital Caliper. It automatically calculates your bodyfat percentage based on 3 skinfold sites. |
Instructions
The tape should be pulled to where it is lying flat against the skin all the way around. Like with taking skinfold measurements, your goal with body tape measurements is consistency. Take them the same every time you take them and you will get an accurate view of your progress with each body part.
Below and pictured to the right is a list of suggested sites to regularly measure.
Neck - Standing, measure your neck at its largest girth, right over the Adam's apple.
Shoulder – Standing, can either be measured as a straight line from the largest points on each shoulder across the chest or as a girth measurement all the way around the body.
Bicep - Measure at its largest girth, can be taken relaxed with arms at side, relaxed with arm bent, flexed with arm bent or all three.
Chest - Standing, measure with breath out just above the nipple.
Waist - Standing, measure at the narrowest point or at the midway point between the top of the hip bone and the bottom of the rib cage.
Hips - Measure at the largest girth, where the butt is protruding the greatest.
Thigh - Standing, measure at the largest girth, just below the butt.
Calf - Seated if you are measuring yourself or standing if you have a partner, measure at its largest girth.
Your body tape measurements will tell you where you are gaining but you still won't know what you are gaining.
Alone, body tape measurements aren't enough. You need to know what is responsible for your increased size, is it fat or is it muscle? You find this out by tracking your body fat percentage.
You can learn all about how to get a good estimation of your body fat on the skinfold measurements page.
Filed under Weight Gain Progress by alboa45
By ALGetsBig
Calculating Your Bodyfat Percentage
To find your bodyfat percentage, you will first need to take skinfold measurements using a skinfold caliper (body fat caliper or bodyfat tester).
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AccuFitness is the leading supplier and offer a simple little plastic caliper called the Fitness 3000. It is easy to use with a nice sliding scale and click feature to let you know when to get your reading (excellent for improving the reliability of the measurement). |
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Get your bodyfat percentage super easily with the FatTrack Gold Digital Caliper. It automatically calculates your bodyfat percentage based on just 3 skinfold sites. There is no need to take the skinfold measurements below or do manual calculations when you buy the FatTrack Gold Digital Caliper. I love using it! |
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To track your diet progress, it will be necessary for you to take your body fat percentage and body tape measurements every two weeks. Always take your tape measurements relaxed NOT flexed. MyoTape is the best measuring tape available. The MyoTape from Accu-Fitness is a vast improvement over the simple tape and it works wonderfully. You can buy one for less than $10 and also as part of a package when you get your body fat caliper (See the skinfold measurements page for how to use the bodyfat caliper to get your skinfold measurements and calculate your bodyfat percentage). |
When taking your bodyfat measurements, firmly pinch the skinfold between your thumb and forefinger. Pull the skin and fat away from the underlying muscle, then take the measurement while still holding the skin. Sites marked with an (*)will require another person:
The Skinfold Sites
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If you don't have a partner and are not freakishly flexible, you will not be able to get to all the 7 skinfold sites listed below and shown to the right. That's okay, men can just do 3 sites – chest, abdominal, and thigh. Women can also get a good body fat estimation with three sites – tricep, suprailiac, and thigh – but the tricep will be tough without a partner.
Chest - For men, get a diagonal pinch half way between the armpit and the nipple. Women need a diagonal pinch 1/3 of the way from the arm pit to the nipple.
Midaxillary – A vertical pinch on the midaxillary line which runs directly down from the center of the armpit. Raise your arm above your head and have your partner get these skinfold measurements just below the level of your nipple.
Subprailiac - A diagonal pinch just above the front forward protrusion of the hip bone.
Abdominal - A vertical pinch about one inch from your belly button.
Thigh - A vertical pinch halfway between the knee and top of the thigh.
Tricep - A vertical pinch halfway between the shoulder and the elbow.
Subscapular - A diagonal pinch directly below the shoulder blade.
Skinfold Measurement Taking Tips
- Take your skinfold measurements while standing.
- Take all skinfold measurements on the same side of the body. Preferably the right side.
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Pinch between your forefinger and thumb. Pinch deep enough to get the fat (you are looking for a double-thick pinch of skin) but not so deep that you start pulling muscle up. Pulling muscle up is pretty much impossible so don't let it concern you all that much. With the skinfold in hand, you need to pinch hard to get the water out, hard enough that you cause minor discomfort.
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- For each of the skinfold sites, take three measurements and use the average of those three. But don't take the three measurements consecutively, instead run through all the sites three times. This will allow the skin to regroup between skinfold measurements. It will also help you develop some consistency.
Consistency is the key. If you are having a friend take your measurements, which is the ideal thing to do, have that same friend take your skinfold measurements every time. If you have different people take your measurements, expect the results to be all over the place and basically useless.
Calculating Your Body Fat Percentage
To get an overall number to use as your body fat percentage, you will need to plug your numbers into a formula. The most commonly used equations for body fat calculations based on skinfold measurements are based on Jackson-Pollock's equation for bone density and Siri's formula to get body fat percentage from that:
Body Fat Percentage Man:
Seven Skinfold Sites (all 7 sites from above, SUM7 is the sum of all the measurements in mm)
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Bone Density =
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1.112 – (0.00043499 * SUM7) + (0.00000055 * SUM7²) – (0.00028826 * Age) |
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Body Fat Percentage =
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[(4.95/Bone Density) - 4.5] 100 |
Three Skinfold Sites (Chest, Abdominal, and Thigh sites from above, SUM3 is the sum of these sites in mm)
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Bone Density =
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1.1093800 – (0.0008267 * SUM3) + (0.0000016 * SUM3²) - (0.0002574 * Age) |
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Body Fat Percentage =
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[(4.95/Bone Density) - 4.5] 100 |
Filed under Weight Gain Progress by alboa45
By ALGetsBig
Tracking your progress is an essential part of your weight gain plan. You need to know if what you did in the past worked or if what you have been doing is working like you want it to.
Gaining mass is a long and sometimes bumpy ride. You inevitably will reach plateaus where your weight will stop increasing as fast or where your body parts will shows signs of growth stoppage. A good tracking program will let you know exactly what you've been doing and allow you to make adjustments relatively easily. Most people do not take the time to track their bodybuilding progress, and, as a result, most people don't see significant gains on a bodybuilding program.
How To Track Your Bodybuilding/Weight Gain Progress
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Use a workout log manual. Several of the muscle building programs reviewed on this site offer excellent workout tracking software with purchase of the product. They will record workouts, diets, body-fat percentages and body measurements. You can also purchase the workout manual that I use from Bodybuilding.com here. |
Use FitDay.com to track everything from food intake to body measurements. FitDay is truly incredible. I use it everyday to input the foods that I have eaten. It tells me the amount of calories, protein, carbs, fat, fiber, vitamins A – E, sodium, potassium, iron – ALL MAJOR NUTRIENTS! It is very easy to use and with a few minutes per day, you can completely understand exactly what you are putting into your body. FitDay will tell you the ratios of protein, carbs, & fat in your diet. Check out Al's FitDay Diet to see one of my logged eating days using FitDay.
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Weigh Yourself At least Once A Week. I recommend using a digital scale as it will give you an easy & accurate reading in small increments that you don't have to struggle to read as with non-digital scales. Weighing yourself is the main way to track your program to see what adjustments may need to be made. Aim for 1-2 pound gains each week. Anything less than that means that you need to increase your calorie intake. Anything more than that can be a sign that you are gaining too much fat. I weigh myself every few days. I do it first thing in the morning after a bowel movement and before I eat anything. This way the weights are consistent and unaffected by the contents of my stomach and intestines. I enter my weight easily into the FitDay profile so that there is a permanent record of it. I can track my weight over time with FitDay. See my FitDay weight gain progress tracking here. |
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My FitDay Weight Gain Progress Profile |
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You will have some fat gain during a mass gain plan- it is inevitable – but you want it to be minimal. The exception is if you are extremely thin, for example, 5'7" 115 pounds. In that case, you may see gains of 5 pounds in some weeks which is completely fine. Keep your protein at 30%, carbs at 35% and fat at 35% or as close to those ratios as possible. I'd say 45% fat is the maximum fat percentage for hardgainers; any more than that and you will likely gain more fat than you want to. Don't worry at all – we will burn the fat off at a very high rate when we switch to the cutting phase. Read about the bulking and cutting phases in this article.
FitDay will keep track of your weight & bodyfat percentage over time. Get FitDay.
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Body Fat Percentage – Be sure to track your bodyfat when gaining mass! I recommend that you measure & record your body fat percentage at least once every 2 weeks. Bodyfat tracking is extremely important. You want to ensure that you are gaining primarily muscle instead of mostly body fat. Monitor your bodyfat percentage regularly and make adjustments in your fat calorie ratio if necessary. You can track your percentage of fat calories very easily using FitDay. See Al's FitDay Diet to see how my FitDay profile looks. |
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Body fat percentage can be estimated many ways including taking skinfold measurements with body fat calipers and then doing some calculations. To learn how to take skinfold masurements, go to the Skinfold Measurements Page. |
Lean Body Mass – Figure your lean body mass after you calculate body fat percentage. This is just a simple calculation based on your weight and body fat percentage. Simply multiply your bodyfat percentage by your weight to determine the actual amount of bodyfat that you have.
Lean Body Mass (LBM) = Bodyfat (%) X Weight
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Body Tape Measurements - Take your body tape measurements about every two weeks. These are the measurements that will let you know just how big your body parts (neck, biceps, calves, etc) are getting as a result of your bodybuilding program. To take body measurements you will need a body measuring tape which is just a flexible tape that can wrap around your body parts. MyoTape is the best measuring tape on the market. You should definitely get MyoTape because it is the easiest to use body measuring tape on the market – period. You can take most measurements by yourself because of the MyoTape's unique design. Don't fool around with crappy measuring tapes as they will probably discourage you from taking your measurements on a regular basis. Check out the Body Tape Measurements page to learn how to take body measurements. |
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Log your body measurements with FitDay. On the left is an image of my FitDay profile showing my body measurements. Click on the image for a full-size view. FitDay will keep track of your measurements and will also show you graphs displaying the change in your body measurements over time. What a useful tool FitDay is! Get FitDay today! |
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Photos. Be sure to take photos at least once a month. This is very important because as you make progress in your weight gain program, you will want to have evidence of how you used to look. It will be too late to get "before" photos once you've added a lot of muscle mass! Also, photos can provide great motivation and encouragement to keep up with your diet & weight training. Photos will also show you areas of your body that you need to work on. Videos. They say a photo is worth a 1000 words; in that case, a video may be worth 10,000 words! Throughout your mass gain program, take videos as often as you wish. Maybe you'd like to shoot a video with every 5-pound gain. Even if you don't use all the footage, you'll have it incase you want it! video yourself flexing and showing all of your muscle. Be enthusiastic in all your videos – act as if you are a young Arnold Schwarzenneger when you are flexing, muscular as can be - that way you can compare these videos to the "new you" months from now! |
Filed under Weight Gain Progress by alboa45
