GPFITHow to Take Body Measurements: Track Your Physique Step by Step
You step on the scale and it has shown the same number for two weeks. Does that mean nothing is happening? Not necessarily. Body weight jumps from day to day because of water, salt, food and sleep, and at the same time you may be losing fat and building muscle. That is why, besides weighing yourself, it pays to regularly take body measurements. It is a cheap, simple and surprisingly accurate way to see how your physique is really changing.
Why the scale isn't enough
The scale shows one number: your weight together with water, food in your gut, muscle and fat. During a cut combined with strength training it often looks like this:
- your weight drops slowly or stalls,
- your waist gets smaller,
- your arms and thighs stay the same or even grow.
That is a great result, but without a tape measure you will never see it. On a bulk it is the opposite: rising weight does not tell you whether you are gaining mostly muscle or fat. Your waist measurement will.
What you need
- A soft tailor's tape (ideally non-stretch) or a tape with a lock that keeps the same tension.
- A mirror or a second person for spots that are hard to reach.
- A place to log it: a notebook or an app. A measurement you don't write down is useless.
Rules for a good measurement
The most important thing is consistency. A slightly imperfect measurement taken the same way every time beats a perfect one taken under different conditions.
- Same time: in the morning, after the bathroom, before eating and training.
- Same state: without clothes or in underwear only, with relaxed muscles.
- Same tension: the tape sits on the skin but does not dig in.
- Tape level: check in the mirror that it does not ride up at the back.
- Two readings: measure each spot twice and log the average.
Where and how to measure
| Spot | How to measure |
|---|---|
| Waist | At belly button level, standing relaxed, after a normal breath out. Don't suck in. |
| Hips | Around the widest part of your glutes, feet together. |
| Chest | At nipple level, arms at your sides, after a normal breath out. |
| Upper arm (biceps) | Around the widest part of the arm, arm hanging loose. You can also measure it flexed, but always the same way. |
| Thigh | A few centimetres below the glute, at the widest point, weight evenly on both legs. |
| Calf | At the widest point, standing. |
Always measure the same side of your body (for example the right) or measure both and log them separately. A useful trick is to remember a reference point, such as "thigh 15 cm above the knee", so you hit the same spot next month.
How often to measure
- Weight: ideally every day or several times a week, in the morning. Look at the weekly average, not single days.
- Measurements: every 1–2 weeks. More often makes no sense, because the changes are smaller than the measuring error.
- Progress photos: every 2–4 weeks, in the same light, from the same distance, front, side and back.
How to read the results
Don't draw conclusions from one measurement. Compare trends over 3–4 weeks. A few typical situations:
- Waist down, weight down: your cut is working.
- Waist down, weight flat: you are probably losing fat and building muscle. Great, don't panic.
- Arms and thighs up, waist flat: you are building muscle without extra fat, the ideal bulk.
- Waist going up fast along with weight: you are gaining quite a lot of fat on your bulk. Consider a slightly smaller calorie surplus.
- Nothing has changed for a month: check whether your training gives you steady progress and whether your eating matches your goal.
Keep in mind that for women, measurements and weight can vary across the menstrual cycle. Compare readings from the same phase.
The most common mistakes
- Measuring after a workout. Your muscles are pumped and the result is inflated.
- A different spot every time. A few centimetres higher on the thigh gives a completely different number.
- Sucking in your stomach. You are only fooling yourself.
- Measuring without logging. A month later you don't remember the numbers, so you have nothing to compare.
- Judging by a single day. One salty dinner can add a centimetre to your waist and a kilogram on the scale.
Measurements and training go together
Measurements tell you what is happening to your physique, and your workout log tells you why. If your lifts are going up and your waist is not, you know you are heading in the right direction. If your strength drops while your weight falls too fast, your cut is probably too aggressive. Read more about logging workouts in How to Keep a Workout Log.
Body measurements in GPFit
In GPFit you can log your weight, body fat percentage and measurements: chest, waist, hips, biceps, thigh and calf. The app:
- draws a chart for every measurement and shows the average weekly change,
- lets you add progress photos and compare "before and after" (only with your consent, visible to you and your trainer),
- keeps measurements together with your workouts, records and exercise progress charts in one place.
That way you can check in seconds whether your physique is changing the way you want. GPFit works in your phone's browser and is coming soon to Google Play and the App Store. Check out GPFit.
If your weight or measurements change quickly for no clear reason (for example swelling), talk to a doctor.