I'd just like to make a post today about something that seems less and less significant to me every day I instruct a client. But first, I'd like you to ask yourself a question....
Why is everyone so much more concerned with their overall weight, and not about how much of that weight is fat?
Why are we so determined to always look at our weight anyhow? I've experienced clients with a fat loss goal drop two jean sizes yet still grumble that their weight is above a certain level. I've also trained 18 year old boys who want to gain weight (in the form of muscle), who add 1/4 inch to thier arm and leg measurements and an inch to their chest girth, yet still grumble because they haven't added as much 'weight' as they'd liked.
It is truly starting to baffle me! So I thought about it a little deeper: why is 'weight', this number of Kgs or stones and pounds so precious to everyone?
And the conclusion I came to was this:
We care so much about our weight as a nubmer over anything else because its whats always been done.
Its the same reason anyone who wants to start a fat loss regime thinks of running for miles and miles and aerobics classes - because its whats always been done.
Never mind the fact that science has repeatedly shown far superior and effective methods of fat loss than aerobic exercise, its still the tradition.
But here's the reason that I have pretty much eliminated the term 'weight-loss' from my vocabulary - there is NO ideal weight for any individual person.
Height, bone structure, body shape, water levels, metabolism, activity levels, age, eating habits, gender etc are all variables that would need to be considered if we tried to determine how heavy or light an individual person 'needed' to be.
However, when we look at body fat percentage, its pretty straight forward:
-Men should ideally be between 8 and 25% fat
-Women should be between 21 and 36%
The fact that you cannot determine an individual person's ideal weight, but you can easily determine thier ideal BF% is enough evidence for me to focus my efforts on losing that bodyfat, with less concern as to how the weight changes.
What got me really thinking about posting this message was something I was told by a lady a few days ago. She said she was getting married in a few months, so needed to fit into her dress which was two sizes too small. She told me that to fit into the dress she needed to lose 3-4 stone.
I simply responed by asking: "How do you know that losing that particular amount of weight will make you a size 12?"
The message is to start thinking about your actual goals and what is the best way to reach them, in spite of what traditional thinking would tell you.
If you want to lose dress sizes, then concentrate on measuring your waist in inches!
If you want a better looking body composition but are happy with your dress size, look at your bodyfat %. you don't want to lose muscle if your goal is a better looking, 'toned' body.
But if you want to measure yourself via a meaningless number, then go ahead and weigh yourself. I'm not saying that we shouldn't look at overall weight at all, but just think about what exactly you are trying to accomplish, and whether or not being at a particulatr 'weight' will equate to that goal.
I'm hearing claims more and more often that people are getting a better size and shape, looking and feeling better when training with me, yet some still get down because their weight in kilograms hasn't changed much. If this sounds like you then ask yourself WHY!
If the above scenario describes you then just remember to be proud of your achievements even If the overall weight isn't where you'd like it to be!
Body fat percentages and waist girth measurements are far more meaningful, relevant, and clear than a weight in kilos or pounds.
I do realise that in some instances, a weight measurement and goal can be useful, but in my experience, for 90% of clients, 90% of the time, its not.
Why is everyone so much more concerned with their overall weight, and not about how much of that weight is fat?
Why are we so determined to always look at our weight anyhow? I've experienced clients with a fat loss goal drop two jean sizes yet still grumble that their weight is above a certain level. I've also trained 18 year old boys who want to gain weight (in the form of muscle), who add 1/4 inch to thier arm and leg measurements and an inch to their chest girth, yet still grumble because they haven't added as much 'weight' as they'd liked.
It is truly starting to baffle me! So I thought about it a little deeper: why is 'weight', this number of Kgs or stones and pounds so precious to everyone?
And the conclusion I came to was this:
We care so much about our weight as a nubmer over anything else because its whats always been done.
Its the same reason anyone who wants to start a fat loss regime thinks of running for miles and miles and aerobics classes - because its whats always been done.
Never mind the fact that science has repeatedly shown far superior and effective methods of fat loss than aerobic exercise, its still the tradition.
But here's the reason that I have pretty much eliminated the term 'weight-loss' from my vocabulary - there is NO ideal weight for any individual person.
Height, bone structure, body shape, water levels, metabolism, activity levels, age, eating habits, gender etc are all variables that would need to be considered if we tried to determine how heavy or light an individual person 'needed' to be.
However, when we look at body fat percentage, its pretty straight forward:
-Men should ideally be between 8 and 25% fat
-Women should be between 21 and 36%
The fact that you cannot determine an individual person's ideal weight, but you can easily determine thier ideal BF% is enough evidence for me to focus my efforts on losing that bodyfat, with less concern as to how the weight changes.
What got me really thinking about posting this message was something I was told by a lady a few days ago. She said she was getting married in a few months, so needed to fit into her dress which was two sizes too small. She told me that to fit into the dress she needed to lose 3-4 stone.
I simply responed by asking: "How do you know that losing that particular amount of weight will make you a size 12?"
The message is to start thinking about your actual goals and what is the best way to reach them, in spite of what traditional thinking would tell you.
If you want to lose dress sizes, then concentrate on measuring your waist in inches!
If you want a better looking body composition but are happy with your dress size, look at your bodyfat %. you don't want to lose muscle if your goal is a better looking, 'toned' body.
But if you want to measure yourself via a meaningless number, then go ahead and weigh yourself. I'm not saying that we shouldn't look at overall weight at all, but just think about what exactly you are trying to accomplish, and whether or not being at a particulatr 'weight' will equate to that goal.
I'm hearing claims more and more often that people are getting a better size and shape, looking and feeling better when training with me, yet some still get down because their weight in kilograms hasn't changed much. If this sounds like you then ask yourself WHY!
If the above scenario describes you then just remember to be proud of your achievements even If the overall weight isn't where you'd like it to be!
Body fat percentages and waist girth measurements are far more meaningful, relevant, and clear than a weight in kilos or pounds.
I do realise that in some instances, a weight measurement and goal can be useful, but in my experience, for 90% of clients, 90% of the time, its not.