- Measuring girth and body composition is the best way to tack progress or fat loss
Hopefully everyone enjoyed the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. There were plenty of inspirational athletic moments. There were also a lot of people off their normal routine. Whether it be from Olympic disruption or changing routines to catch some of the excitement, a lot of people have slipped off track in February.
We wanted to get everyone focused on getting back in top form for the spring. Here is our latest challenge. We are focusing this time on measurable results. March’s challenge will be fat loss. To measure and enter you must do a full assessment (which includes our girth measurements) or a mini assessment (just girth and body fat) during the month of March. You only get 21 days before your next assessment. You will be re-assessed (body fat and measurements )after 21 days by the same trainer. The contestant who loses the most mm of body fat and cm’s off of girth measurements wins. The results will be compared based on percentage of original score. For example if you start with 200mm of fat as a total for the 7 spot skin-fold and you lose 20 mm you have lost 10% of the starting total. That would be the same as a person with 100mm losing 10 mm. We will be offering prizes for the winners.
Top Prize will be 3 months of free classes ($600 value). More prizes to be announced next week. You do not need to be a personal training or group fitness client to enter, but you may have to pay for an assessment. Tenants and members of the buildings we manage the fitness centres in may qualify for a free assessment. To enter you have to get your body fat and measurements done and post them in the comment section of this post along with your results 21 days later. Last day to start is March 31 st so we will be announcing winners April 20th. There is no time like the present to get started!
Looking forward to seeing all the results!
To co-ordinate an initial assessment please contact your trainer or email us at info@precisionathletics.ca
Prizes:
1st Prize 3 months group fitness classes with Precision Athletics (Value $600)
2nd Prize 2 months group fitness classes with Precision Athletics (Value $400)
3rd prize 1 month group fitness classes with Precision Athletics (Value $200)
Precision Athletics is Vancouver top personal training and group fitness company. Check out more information on their classes and services at www.precision-bootcampvancouver.com or www.craigboydfitness.com
Don’t forget to enter you have to post your initial measurements along with the results. Mine will be posted shortly!
I’m ready to get back in shape and lower my body fat by 5.5% in this 21 day challenge !! My initial measurement with the calipers was 110mm.. so 10 mm off of that would be great. I’m not sure what my amount should be, but I am going to try to lose as much as possible!
I’m starting at 122mm. I’m still feeling some extra Christmas time weight around the middle and don’t want to be lugging it up hills all summer.
I’m going to focus on cutting out treats and reducing portion sizes.
It’s officially on! I’m throwing my hat into the ring…
I’m at 121mm of fat base on the caliper measurements at 14.5% body fat. My goal is just to lose the most possible and jump start my summer form!
I’m at 106mm and 13.3%. The most I’ve ever been! This isn’t something you want to have the most of.
Going for single digit fat percentage.
114.5mm & 14.3%
Ready to roll! Summer is Jetski weather!
Awesome site. Gives me the invcentive for my fitness goals this year.
This has certainly gives me some ideas to shape up this year. Thank you
122.0 mm
14.9% fat
This ought to be interesting!
156mm
18.1%
I have a feeling this isnt going to be enjoyable…
At the start of 21 days (March 5th), I am 131 lbs and 130 mm of body fat (23.2%)….
Must look good in the bridesmaid dress…155mm (26.2%)
Great site. Gives me inspiration for my fitness goals this year. I hate being overweight. lol
As of Friday I have 88mm which is 16.4%, I would like to lose a few mm from my lower body and maybe see my % at 15%.
Got back from vacation. The contest kept me focused. Still drank wine but watched portion sizes and kept away from the ice cream.
Lets just say that I had WAY too much fun during the Olympics. I singlehandedly proved that drinking lots of beer, eating whatever I wanted and skipping workouts really is a bad, bad, bad idea! It was the perfect storm for erasing ALL the progress I made over the past 6 months…
BUT… I’m back and ready to kick-start my recovery. 21 days is just what I need.
Taunya – get ready to kick my butt!
117mm
20.8% fat
Can I use a fake name?!
oh…. I just found out I need to disclose my measurements. On March 11th, 2010 I was 136 lbs, 90.5 mm and 16.5% body fat. D-day is April 1st.
Bring it on.
196mm
22.1%
A fat challenge… I guess, no more cinnamon buns. My measurement was 122mm @ 21.1% body fat so I will aim for 18.6% which would be ideal for me. Boy, I will miss you cinnamon buns.
294mm and 44.4% – really!?! holy cow! That sounds really bad – but at least I am doing something about it lol…can’t wait to see those numbers continue to fall.
Here we go ! As of March 16th, I was at 128lbs, 110mm total and 19.7% body fat.
94mm
12.0%
Cripes! I’m finally remembering to do this – 209mm/33.1% “baby” fat. I would like to lose as much as I can without living at the gym 24/7 and/or eating grass. Let’s see how it all rolls out. BTW – LOVE the comments from my fellow fatties, I mean, very active lifestyle people!
Body mass index is inacurate, it does not factor in well muscled individuals. It assumes everyone heavy is fat, which is not always the case. Its validity was challenged in court and it lost, they used to use it for hiring RCMP and flight attendants.
I am wondering exactly how bodyfat percentage is being determined for this challenge. The bodyfat percentage range for healthy women is commonly accepted to be between 22-32%, and as low as 15-22% for female athletes. Most “fit” women (who are not athletes) will fall into the range of about 22-25%. Many women, including athletes, actually start to see adverse side effects (such as amenorrhea and decreased athletic performance) when their bodyfat dips below 18-20%.
That said, there are an awful lot of women posting on here who are well into the athletic range. I have seen women’s measurements disclosed as 14.3, 16.4, 16.5 and 19.7. If these bodyfat measurements are considered to be accurate, nobody should be encouraging them to lose more fat. And the women whose measurements are in the low 20′s should not be nearly as concerned or embarrassed as they seem to be.
Perhaps there is some sort of problem with the fat measuring methodology?
Although this poster has not listed a proper email address I will respond.
BF% is being measured with calipers on 7 spots (Sub Scapular, Bicep, Tricep, hip, Stomach, Quad and calf) and a formula. The contest is not based on the end % but on difference in the total mm of fat pinched form one test to the next (21 days later). To be quite honest actual bf % is irrelevant just total fat lost from 2 measurements ins 21 days.
Regarding what bf% is essential, I have differing information which lists essential fat for women at 12% (which is a big difference from the posters 18-20%). There is a big difference between the term ideal and essential. essential is where is you go below health problems occur. I know many female clients below 185 with no adverse effects. Therefore I question this posters facts. If someone is not below essential 12% level and wants to lose fat (not weight) we will offer proper training and nutrition advice. In some cases these people will be counselled to gain weight (muscle) which will reduce BF % as lean mass will be a larger % and fat mass there for a lower %. In other words they are not being told to lose any weight or fat and their BF % would go down.
This is not to say every person needs to walk around at the leanest possible. Some people are in good shape and have low body fat. If they gain fat they notice it and want it to come off. If someone is at essential levels we would not encourage them to lose fat. See below I have copied correspondence with a client and also another person who was concerned with our challenge.
I do realize that society places emphasis on women to be”skinny” and this has negative consequences (anorexia, diet pills etc). We are encouraging fat loss not weight loss, and doing it in a healthy manner through diet and exercise.
Email to person who was concerned with our challenge
, See below an email I sent regarding the fat loss challenge to one of the leaner participants (contact information deleted). Also see attached chart that all participants get. Not that everyone should walk around at ideal body composition , but essential fat for women (the fat you shouldn’t lose) is around 12%. If someone wants to lose some fat and is not headed below that line then we offer proper nutrition and fitness advice to help them get there. We have some participants who are in quite good shape and notice when they add a couple pounds of fat from unhealthy habits, we want to encourage them as well.
Please note this differs from a weight loss challenges that may encourage people to lose muscle (which will take away from their resting metabolism) and or reward people for losing water weight (various unhealthy measures can achieve this). In general weight loss challenges lead to an increase in bf% as people lose muscle therefore increasing the % that fat makes up of their body weight.
I do appreciate the feedback and feel bad that our attempts at encouraging a healthy lifestyle in our clients has been in my opinion grossly misinterpreted. Craig Boyd
Email to participant who was already quite lean
From: Craig Boyd [mailto:Craig@precisionathletics.ca]
Sent: March-05-10 2:16 PM
Subject: RE: BF % and Measurements
, Your BF % is really quite good. I think you simply need to add some more protein to your diet and add more resistance training. If you added a couple lbs of muscle your BF% would go down. In other words increase the muscle on your legs etc without increasing the size (fat would come off). I certainly do not think you need to lose any weight. You could easily gain muscle and improve overall muscle tone and your body weight would be the same if not a little more.
We normally charge for a nutrition consult ($125 for 1.5 hrs), but I think you must eat fairly healthy as you look and are quite fit. Fill in this food log and I can chat with you about areas of improvement in your eating plan. If I think it needs a full or partial Nutrition assessment I will let you know, if it’s a couple tips no problem!
Are you working all weekend or any plans to enjoy the nice weather?
1.4% loss!
14.3% to 12.9%
114.5mm to 101.5mm
I started out on believe the 17th at 139 mm body fat. Lets see what I can do in 21 days. Good luck to everyone!
Before:
196mm
22.1%
After:
181mm
20.6%
Overall 15mm gone with 1.5% less body fat.
94mm reduced to 68 mm (-27.66% reduction)
12.0% Body Fat reduced to 9.4% (-21.82% reduction)
Body weight: 184lbs redcuced to 176 lbs (8 lb reduction)
Thank you Craig!
1.7% BF Loss
13.3% to 11.6% (-12.64%)
106mm to 89mm (-16.04%)
Fat weight 22 lbs to 18.9 lbs( -13.96%)
Lean weight 143 to 143.6 (+0.40%)
Warm fuzzy feeling inside – Priceless
20.8% to 19.7% body fat
117mm to 110mm
I thought the challenge was great!
Thank you Taunya!
I was surprised at how much I lost! I lost 17.33% in mm and 19.14% in total body fat! I have found some of it since I stopped the challenge though
WOW!!! Fat loss worked.
Went from 122mm to 95mm which is 21.1% to 17.2%.
Total % fat loss = 22.13%
Thanks for the great post! You have a new fan.
I recently lost over 60lbs and went from size 42 waist to a 34. Exercise was a huge factor, but I would have to say what we eat and when is a more crucial factor. I try to eat 5-6 smaller protein-rich meals with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Also, I eat my biggest meal of the day in the morning and taper off with subsequent ones throughout the day. This helps get the metabolism going and keeps the appetite under control. Obese people often eat less than I do, except they skip breakfast, chug sugary sodas all day, snack on greasy carb-laden junk food and then gorge before dinner and up until bedtime. By doing that, you are essentially telling your body to store fats and metabolize foods at a slower rate.
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