Training Hard With No Changes on The Scale – Part 1
December 2, 2021
Performance
Do you find yourself in the situation where you are training consistently…and training with great effort, but there is no change on the scales? If this is you then the first place to investigate is how are you tracking your progress? If you are depending only on the scales you are relying on a poor tracking tool that shows only one metric of many.
The scales can be an easy and quick assessment tool however the number on the scales never tells the whole story. It is only one metric, and a poor metric at that.
With the introduction of regular exercise, the goal should be to increase muscle mass and loss body fat. The results of your training from a bodyweight point of view can only be truly reflected through some sort of body composition test (e.g. DEXA scan, In-Body Scan, Skinfold test). These methods aren’t without some error but are much more informative than a set of scales.
The scales can be very misinterpreting, as the training response we are looking for will increase bone density and cell volume, meaning there could be positive change happening. A very successful change that isn’t reflected on a set of scales.
When starting out we need to assess our starting point, without assessing we are guessing. If you do not have access to a DEXA scan, In-Body, or Skinfold testing, I’d encourage you to use these assessment methods:
Girth Measurements: This doesn’t have to be crazy by measuring every part of the body. I recommend using 3 sites to measure, Hips, Waist, and Chest. By taking girth measurements we can measure if there is a change in body size (fat loss) regardless of the scale number.
Photo Selfies: The pictures do not lie. There is a bit of stigma about selfies, however, for a personal tool to track your progress, it can be a terrific tool.
Clothing Sizes (Especially pants): Are your clothes fitting better, a looser fit? Maybe you’ve gone down a size, this is really good feedback showing you that there is success happening.
Performance Assessments: These could be numerous strength and cardio tests. The thing I have learned after 20 years as a coach is that improvement in performance metrics nearly always results in an improvement in body composition. An increase in performance has a correlation with a decrease in body fat.
Anecdotal: How do you feel about your training? Is it giving you more energy, more confidence, helping you with your sleep, and social connections? Again through my experience, the answer to these questions is an astounding yes. A great benefit of training.
If you can relate to this above post, I now ask you to consider how are you tracking your progress? Is it just the scales? If so, you are relying on only one metric that isn’t a true reflection of your progress. Yes, a drop in the scales is nice for people aiming to lose weight, should this be the goal though? My suggestion would be the aim isn’t to lose weight, the aim is to change body composition, a change towards better health, which is a decrease in fat and maintaining or increasing muscle mass, and improving bone density.
Stay tuned for part 2.
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Training Hard With No Changes on The Scale – Part 1
December 2, 2021
Performance
Do you find yourself in the situation where you are training consistently…and training with great effort, but there is no change on the scales? If this is you then the first place to investigate is how are you tracking your progress? If you are depending only on the scales you are relying on a poor tracking tool that shows only one metric of many.
The scales can be an easy and quick assessment tool however the number on the scales never tells the whole story. It is only one metric, and a poor metric at that.
With the introduction of regular exercise, the goal should be to increase muscle mass and loss body fat. The results of your training from a bodyweight point of view can only be truly reflected through some sort of body composition test (e.g. DEXA scan, In-Body Scan, Skinfold test). These methods aren’t without some error but are much more informative than a set of scales.
The scales can be very misinterpreting, as the training response we are looking for will increase bone density and cell volume, meaning there could be positive change happening. A very successful change that isn’t reflected on a set of scales.
When starting out we need to assess our starting point, without assessing we are guessing. If you do not have access to a DEXA scan, In-Body, or Skinfold testing, I’d encourage you to use these assessment methods:
Girth Measurements: This doesn’t have to be crazy by measuring every part of the body. I recommend using 3 sites to measure, Hips, Waist, and Chest. By taking girth measurements we can measure if there is a change in body size (fat loss) regardless of the scale number.
Photo Selfies: The pictures do not lie. There is a bit of stigma about selfies, however, for a personal tool to track your progress, it can be a terrific tool.
Clothing Sizes (Especially pants): Are your clothes fitting better, a looser fit? Maybe you’ve gone down a size, this is really good feedback showing you that there is success happening.
Performance Assessments: These could be numerous strength and cardio tests. The thing I have learned after 20 years as a coach is that improvement in performance metrics nearly always results in an improvement in body composition. An increase in performance has a correlation with a decrease in body fat.
Anecdotal: How do you feel about your training? Is it giving you more energy, more confidence, helping you with your sleep, and social connections? Again through my experience, the answer to these questions is an astounding yes. A great benefit of training.
If you can relate to this above post, I now ask you to consider how are you tracking your progress? Is it just the scales? If so, you are relying on only one metric that isn’t a true reflection of your progress. Yes, a drop in the scales is nice for people aiming to lose weight, should this be the goal though? My suggestion would be the aim isn’t to lose weight, the aim is to change body composition, a change towards better health, which is a decrease in fat and maintaining or increasing muscle mass, and improving bone density.
Stay tuned for part 2.
