Your workout goals may vary greatly, from reducing a certain amount of weight and gaining muscles, to getting a toned body, a flat stomach and lot more. The point of measuring your progress during a workout is to take note of significant data that you can act upon and to decide the steps you should take to attain your goal. Tracking is really important not only for your progress but to keep you motivated as well. It helps you stay focused and decide the next steps of your fitness journey.
Body Composition
Body Composition measurement determines your overall body fat percentage. A healthy body composition is one that includes a lower percentage of body fat and a higher percentage of fat-free mass which includes muscles, bones and organs. Body composition can provide you with a clear idea about how much lean muscle and fat you have.
This test can be used to check whether you are gaining muscles and/or losing fat. This test can be an eye opening experience because it reveals the ratio of fat to lean muscle tissue, the percentage of fat in the body, the metabolic rate (BMR) and BMI. It can easily be done at gyms, health clinics and so on, at a nominal price.
How much Fat is OK?
| Women | Men | |
| Essential Fat | 10-12% | 2-4% |
| Athletes | 14-20% | 6-13% |
| Fitness | 21-24% | 14-17% |
| Acceptable | 25-31% | 18-25% |
Girth Measurement
This is a wonderful way to track fat loss! Reduction in body fat is usually represented by the inches you have lost. It is one of the easiest and home-based methods to assess your progress. You can use a standardized flexible, flat measuring tape to measure different parts of the body, including your chest (across your nipple line), neck, abdomen (at your belly button), hips (measure the widest part of your buttocks with your feet together) and your calves (widest/largest part), among others.
As per ICMR, Abdominal obesity (AO) was defined as a waist circumference (WC) ≥ 90 cm for men and ≥ 80 cm for women. Isolated generalized obesity (IGO) was defined as a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 with a waist circumference of < 90 cm in men and < 80 cm in women.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
BMI is a person’s weight in kilograms (kg) divided by his or her height in meters squared. On a BMI calculator, the number you get may fall into one of these four ranges: obese, overweight, normal weight or underweight. However, this number does not consider your muscle mass vs fat mass, which means muscular individuals, can end up with a higher BMI that may place them in the obese category. So, you should use BMI just as a beginning point.
As per WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO):
Nutritional Status
| BMI | |
| 18.5 | Underweight |
| 18.5–24.9 | Normal weight |
| 25.0–29.9 | Pre-obesity |
| 30.0–34.9 | Obesity class I |
| 35.0–39.9 | Obesity class II |
| Above 40 | Obesity class III |
And 4th is My Favorite…
Selfie Zone
A full body Mirror selfie is a perfect way to measure/compare your progress from a specific time period. Nothing can be better than a visual explanation. One gets to know his/her own progress by comparing the two selfies of BEFORE and AFTER.
Reasons to Track Your Fitness Progress:
- It allows for modifications and indicates when and where you need to make changes
- It lets you manage your workout regimen and time more effectively
- Helps to drive direction and focus to your workout program
- Makes it easier to attain your goal
- It’s quite easy to go overboard when eating your meals. But, if you have clarity about your fitness progress, it will help you decide on the right portion size
- Tracking your progress with regard to your workouts acts as a strong motivator that keeps reminding you of the fitness goals you wish to achieve
