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Pinching an Inch – How Much Is Fat?

During any gym evaluation, the trainer you are working with will likely use calipers to do a body fat test. Th idea is to give you the information that the scale cannot. Remember, when you stand on a scale, you are measuring how much your internal organs, your skin, your muscles, your bones and other body tissues weigh. Since muscle weighs more per square inch than fat, just knowing your weight can be a very misleading number in determining personal fitness.

So if weight is not a good indicator of positive or negative health, why do so many of us obsess over the numbers that pop up on the scale?

Body Composition

There are any number of reasons why we obsess over that one number, however knowing your body weight can help you determine body composition. This lets you know how much of you is composed of body-fat. The body-fat percentage is a measurement that does not necessarily give you an indicator of health. While there are a number of health conditions related to people who are overweight and have a high body-fat percentage, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are.

There are many researchers who believe that the health conditions are a result of inactivity and poor diet. If you exercise regularly and eat healthily, just having a high body-fat percentage does not make you a candidate for these diseases.

On average, men have a body-fat percentage of about 20% and women have a body-fat percentage of about 30%. So here’s another reason to measure your body-fat. By measuring the various areas of your body including your waist, hips and thighs. You can determine whether or not the pounds you lose mean you lost 10 pounds of fat, gained 3 pounds of muscle and leaves you at a 7 pound loss on the scale.

These numbers are pretty motivating. So no matter what fitness program you end up employing, using a multitude of numbers to measure your progress can give you a much more accurate barometer of your fitness, health and progress. If you are using calipers for the first time, be sure to ask someone with some experience to help you. Caliper testing can be hard and when they say pinch an inch – they aren’t kidding.

Have you had your body-fat composition measured recently?

This entry was posted in Fitness Programs and tagged , , , by Heather Long. Bookmark the permalink.

About Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago. They have a beautiful daughter who just turned five years old. She is learning to read and preparing for kindergarten in the fall. An author of more than 300 articles and 500+ web copy pieces, Heather has also written three books as a ghostwriter. Empty Canoe Publishing accepted a novel of her own. A former horse breeder, Heather used to get most of her exercise outside. In late 2004, early 2005 Heather started studying fitness full time in order to get herself back into shape. Heather worked with a personal trainer for six months and works out regularly. She enjoys shaking up her routine and checking out new exercises. Her current favorites are the treadmill (she walks up to 90 minutes daily) and doing yoga for stretching. She also performs strength training two to three times a week. Her goals include performing in a marathon such as the Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness or Team in Training for Lymphoma research. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience through the fitness and marriage blogs.