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Muscle measurement should be done in three ways: 1) Body Fat Testing to measure the moderate internal changes that are taking place in your body composition; 2) Circumference Measurement to verify the slower external changes taking place in your body proportion; and 3) Physical Capacity Testing to measure the quick improvements taking place in your health/fitness abilities.
Too much Body Fat is more than unhealthy looking; it puts you at high risk for a heart attack. It is a primary or secondary factor in a multitude of physical disorders. Body Fat cannot be seen by scaling your body weight. It may remain hidden within your total body weight so you appear thin when you are actually fat. Only when measured against lean muscle mass can body fat levels be shown. The more muscle you have as compared to fat, the healthier you are. In laboratories, they measure Body Fat by hydrostatic weighing underwater. This is expensive and cumbersome, and not practical for most people.
Since 50% of your Body Fat is just below your skin there are convenient and inexpensive ways to measure it. The BioFitness Institute measures your Body Fat two ways. The first method is with Skin Calipers. By pinching the skin and pulling it away from the underlying muscle tissue you can measure with calipers the amount of fat that attaches to the skin. The BioFitness Institute demonstrates the proper techniques and measurement sites to you. Your results go into formulas that are used worldwide for Body Fat prediction. The BioFitness Institute automatically computes your estimated Body Fat. The second method is to take an ordinary tape measure and find the circumference of selected body sites. The BioFitness Institute will scientificically compute these measurements into a total body fat percentage for you. Which method you employ is up to you. The skin calipers are less precise but both methods produce accurate results. When analysing your improvements (the difference between pre-test and post-test measurements) either method is just as good.
The BioFitness Institute does several things after calculating your Body Fat percentage. It compares your body fat level to known health standards and places you into the appropriate category. It divides your weight into both a fat amount and a lean tissue (muscle) amount. It computes a weight loss or gain for you and calculates the weeks to reach it. The BioFitness Institute helps you to get your results on time, losing your fat while maintaining your muscle, through quality scientic workout planning.
Circumference measurement is another way to monitor the positive changes from your exercise program. Circumference measurements record the size of the cross-sectional and girth dimensions of your body. They measure improvement both in muscle growth and fat patterning. Over time you can learn which muscle groups in your body respond quicker to exercise. You should log your circumference measurements so that you can see trends in your progress.
Finally, The BioFitness Institute uses Physical Capacity
Testing to measure improvements in your functional ability.
By following your schedule regularly, you will see how well
you are doing on a daily basis. If you deviate from your
schedule for a few days just start where you left off. If
you stop exercising for any length of time make a new plan.
If you're having trouble keeping up with your program just
keep going. Don't allow an off day(s) to influence your
progress. Sometimes you will find yourself training to
success (you've gone as far as you are able), and other days
you will train to completion (you've done everthing on your
schedule.) Either way you have accomplished all that you must
in order for your progress to happen. By tracking your
performance on a daily basis you can varify your short term
progress. At the end of each schedule you should return to
The BioFitness Intitute Buddy and upgrade your workout plan.
The comparisons of both short term and long term gains
reinforce the purposes for which you are exercising. The
Combination of Physical Capacity Testing along with Body Fat
Testing and Circumference Measurements gives you a comprehensive picture of positive results.