The best way to track and measure your body!

[cathy521]

1. Keep a Training Journal
What you write in your journal is up to you, but the idea is to document and record factors relevant to your bodybuilding, including non-tangibles like your thoughts and feelings. You might want to record the following:

Training routine you do each day
How you felt when you stuck to your diet or when you overate
Your mental attitude to you workout
The excuses you used to give yourself permission to sabotage your goal
The stories you noticed you said to yourself
When do you seem to be most energetic – morning or late afternoon?
Are you progressively lifting heavier weights?
What could be the reason why you didn’t work out 3x last week, or why you ate 4 cheat meals instead of just 1?
How did it feel when you tried running for 30 minutes instead of the usual 10?
Did you do something you’re really proud of this week?
If you do this long enough, you’ll notice patterns in your performances, or your way of thinking and doing that will give you an insight on how to keep changing for the better.

2. Measure Your Body Every Week
You may include your body measurements on your journal. I personally prefer to Keep an Excel Spreadsheet which I use to record my weekly results. I use a simple Tape measure (the type that tailors use) to measure my :

Left arm and Right arm
Chest
Waist
Hips
Left and Right Thigh
Left and Right Calf
You might want to measure these stats in centimeters (not inches) to make it easier to notice the slightest progress you make. You’ll find it motivating when you see your results, no matter how small.

Then of course weigh yourself, and then measure your body fat percentage. There are many tools you can use – there are body fat calipers, Body fat analyzers, or the body fat & body water scales. I myself use the AccuMeasure Personal Body Fat Tester, because it’s simple, inexpensive, accurate and easy to use.

From vogmall.com

[lovevixen]

Who has time for that??? That is anal retentive what is next weighing your bowel movements to compare to the weight of the food you ingested the day before in grams?

A mirror is all one needs to accurately tell if they are gaining fat or loseing fat! A scale only tells you that you gained or lost something does not tell you what. Calipers are great if you have a very skilled person useing them that will apply the same amount of force tot he trigger each time and always get's the exact same spot each time etc......If you gain or lose water weight caliper's are not so hot so hydration has to be consistent and I do not know any athlete that is consistently hydrated tot he same level all the time.

I also have never seen a person consistently do their own caliper work they never get the same spot! The Army stoped useing calipers becasue if you had one guy measured by 20 different people one after another with out any cheating they all 20 would report his body fat as a different number and some where drasticly different. If that same guy was measured every day for 3 days he would get a different number due to hydration. If different calipers where used with different amounts of spring tention again differing numbers......

My body weight can change by as much as 12lbs each day I guarntee I am not loseing 12 or gaining 12 lbs of fat over night but youcan rest assured it will change the resutls of body fat testing! If you want to know that badly either use a water tank system or get Dexa scan done! Then you can use the mirror, your clothes etc... to tel if you are gaining or loseing fat!

My point is not that you should not measure yourself only that any more often then once a month is kind of like masturbating 12 times a day it is too much of a good thing and becomes obessive compulsive behavior and can lead to some nasty stuff!