How do you measure up?
To get to your shifting, start with the state and come selfies
BODY MEASUREMENT TOOLS DEXA scans. Worth mentioning first is the current gold standard for assessing body composition (fat, muscle, bone, water). DEXA stands for Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, a fancy term for creating a map of your body that can be read to provide extremely detailed information about what you’re composed of. It is what universities, research and sports teams use as the go-to method for changes in total body composition. Because of its growing use, centres in most cities will provide the service for a fee to the public for around $50 to $150. Underwater weighing or the bod pod. These two methods are an alternative to DEXA and, again, are used for whole body analysis of fat, muscle and bone percentages, and may be available where DEXA scans are not. Photos (see the breakout for your best fitness selfie!) Photos are the fastest, most convenient way of assessing your progress. There’s something very psychologically motivating when you see a picture of yourself with that little bit of vulnerability, and a passion for change written in the eyes. You can take Whether you’re doing well, just starting out or in need of a pick-me-up for your body shaping goals, there’s one common feature of all the most successful guys. They measure up.
How do you know how far you’ve driven on a road trip? The distance, route, and even the amount of time are measured. How do you know how far you’ve come in your training? You measure changes in weight, body fat, muscle circumference, strength or fitness. Being gay men in an online dating world, we understand the benefits of measurement, but unlike those sites, measuring your body’s progress of physical transformation is a personal, rewarding and motivating process.
We’ve been helping readers change their body shape for years in the Make Me Hot challenge (online at dnamakemehot.com) and there are stacks of ways to measure, but first you want to have a goal. Whether you’re aiming to build muscle mass, burn fat, or do both at the same time (totally possible), there are several tools to chart how you’re doing and whether you’re meeting those goals or not. photos as privately and as often as you want (but no more than once a week otherwise you’re looking for tiny changes, which can be disheartening). Special clothing. No, we’re not talking about investing in spanx. Most of us have a couple garments that take us to a different place. We feel good because we look good wearing them. If it’s been a while since that item of special clothing fit, make it a goal to get back into it, and the way to measure your achievement is how well it starts fitting again. Measuring tape or skin calipers. This is for the sticklers measuring progress (me among them). While photos show larger changes, tools tape or calipers let you track what’s happening even if it doesn’t look like anything actually is. The good: celebrating centimetre changes in body fat or muscularity can be highly motivating. The bad: they require skill, experience and dexterity to get accurate readings. Generally speaking, you want to measure using the same tool at the same sites, at the same time of day. To reduce error, repeat the measurements two or three times in a row and average the results. Scales or BMI. Unless your goal is absolute weight gain (to gain mass without concern for muscle/fat ratio), scales can be misleading. They don’t indicate what’s changing in your body. Use the scales or BMI as a quick assessment but realise that both can change significantly, even inside of a day, based on water and carbohydrate stores in the body. What they are good for is tracking changes over long periods (the same time every week, on the same day, for a whole year) to arrive at some interesting data. Still, it’s best to tie in scale readings with at least one or two of the other forms of measurement. Fitness or strength metrics. There are a number of fitness and strength tests you can do in conjunction with a trainer or on your own. For fitness, a beep test, or a step test require minimal equipment. Strength tests can be scarier, and are best done with a spotter. Either way, you are able to track changes in your performance over time, which is invaluable if your goal is to be fitter, faster or stronger.