{"id":31,"date":"2018-06-29T09:57:19","date_gmt":"2018-06-29T09:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bodybarista.com\/2018\/06\/29\/best-ways-to-take-your-body-measurements\/"},"modified":"2021-10-14T11:30:53","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T11:30:53","slug":"best-ways-to-take-your-body-measurements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/2018\/06\/29\/best-ways-to-take-your-body-measurements\/","title":{"rendered":"Best ways to take your body measurements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
You are what you measure \u2013 or at least that\u2019s what we believe at BodyBarista \u2013 especially if you\u2019re tracking your weight loss measurements or bodybuilding measurements. More and more measuring devices are popping up, and technology is making it easier and easier for any fitness and sports enthusiast to track their body. The more we know, the more informed decisions we can make. Knowing your exact body measurements enables you to change your exercise routine, focus on specific areas, better understand your body and ultimately, improve your physical appearance. Physical appearance is most often the number 1 reason for training or practicing a physical activity \u2013 so it\u2019s essential that you are informed of the details of your physical appearance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How you\u2019re going to take your measurements relies mostly on you and your goal (e.g. weight loss, bodybuilding, toning). What you want to be looking at are the areas you are working on and their progress. If you\u2019re following a routine that should get you fitter in general, you want to take measurements regularly and of your entire body. This ensures that you keep an eye on any small changes that your body goes through, and if you have a baseline you want to keep, getting regular feedback will help you correct small changes faster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re mostly focusing on your abs, chest, arms, biceps, waist \u2013 that is your upper body, take regular measurements of your upper body; if you are also working on your legs, make sure you measure your entire body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What are the tools at your disposal that you can use to measure the body?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re like one of the millions of people in the world, you also own a scale that you keep in your bathroom and seldom use. The reason for rarely using the weighing scale<\/a> is that it doesn\u2019t really <\/em>offer any helpful information. Have you experienced getting up on the scale one day and returning a perfectly adequate number on the display, but not feeling exactly happy about it? Your body weight fluctuates during the day, the month (even more so for women), and the scale doesn\u2019t measure fat mass vs muscle mass (which is heavier than fat mass), it just measures mass<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And for most people, that\u2019s just not good enough. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, today there are smarter scale<\/a> options out there that can give you a better overview of your physical state, and we\u2019ll get to those throughout this post; but it is important to point out that only looking at your weight is not constructive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3D body scans<\/a> can be a great tool to find out your fat percentage, BMI (Body Mass Index), weight and muscle mass \u2013 but it can also be a bit like going to the doctor for a blood test. When using a 3D body scanner, you can\u2019t have eaten or drunken anything in the past 4 hours, you can\u2019t have taken a bath, you can\u2019t have been physically active, and you should have used the toilet before getting on the machine. Basically, when using a body scanner, you need to prepare for it thoroughly, which is not an easy task with a busy schedule. That said, the body scanner can give you some numbers that are interesting to monitor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re putting in a considerable amount of effort into your fitness plan, you probably won\u2019t mind putting in considerable effort into measuring yourself with a 3D body scanner on a regular basis at your local gym. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of you will be familiar with this method, too; if you\u2019re not, you most likely have the opportunity to use it at your local gym. BIA<\/a> measures your body fat percentage, but it might not return the most accurate calculations out there. The way it does body measurements is by sending a slight electric current through the body that measures the resistance of the body mass. Fat mass has a higher resistance than muscle mass, which is how the body fat percentage is calculated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There has been some debate regarding the accuracy of these devices and experts generally agree that it depends on the quality of the device. A wide range of these devices can be found both in gyms and in stores, such as FitBit<\/a> or Tanita<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe classic weighing scale<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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3D body scan<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
A popular method: Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Measuring with a tape measure<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n