{"id":903,"date":"2013-12-09T09:30:32","date_gmt":"2013-12-09T17:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/?p=903"},"modified":"2013-12-09T07:34:51","modified_gmt":"2013-12-09T15:34:51","slug":"measuring-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/09\/measuring-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Measure Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most difficult things associated with achieving your goals, is how to properly measure them.<\/p>\n

We have scales. . .<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s not difficult in the way that you may be thinking. \u00a0Let’s take the scale for example. \u00a0The scale tells you your weight, and nothing more. \u00a0It doesn’t distinguish between fat or muscle, and certainly can’t tell you if you’ve lose some fat while gaining an amount of muscle– \u00a0It just tells you a number that too many people put too much stock in.<\/p>\n

\"Pictured:<\/a>

Pictured: ‘The Enemy,’ to most people.<\/p><\/div>\n

What about circumference measurements?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A tape measure can work well as well, but just like the scale, may not always be telling the truth (read: Not always your friend). \u00a0The problem with relying purely on these measurements is that the tape measure doesn’t know if you’re bloated. \u00a0Likewise, the tape measure is just as dumb as the scale in that it can’t tell the difference between different types of body mass.<\/p>\n

What about X?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unless you pay for really expensive testing, there will probably be an issue with the method of testing you bring up, and paying for really expensive tests every week or two is not practical.<\/p>\n

So what do I do then?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many trainers opt for the “Mirror Test,” and I’m definitely an advocate of this, as well! \u00a0Here’s how simple it is:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Stand in the mirror.<\/li>\n
  2. Observe.<\/li>\n
  3. Ask yourself, “How do I look in the mirror?”<\/li>\n
  4. Do you like the changes you’re seeing? \u00a0Assess.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Most people can’t really notice these changes since they see their bodies every day, and in that case, you can do the “Modified Mirror Test:” \u00a0Take some pictures regularly, and compare these. \u00a0What has the result been? \u00a0Sure, you can use the scale to get a very general idea of where you’re headed, but you must put very little stock in that number. \u00a0If you’re looking better, but weighing more, this is just as good as looking better but weighing less; \u00a0both are positive benefits, and you should not let that number on the scale hurt you! \u00a0It’s only a number!<\/p>\n

    \"Except<\/a>

    Except three. It really is a monster.<\/p><\/div>\n

    The Mirror Test may not be scientific, but the end result of most plans should be achieving a sort of aesthetic, whether it’s an extreme case like bodybuilding, to someone overweight who wants to be healthier, or someone who simply wants to “tone up;” the mirror test will tell you all that you need to know, and is fantastic for your sanity!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    One of the most difficult things associated with achieving your goals, is how to properly measure them. We have scales. . . It’s not difficult in the way that you may be thinking. \u00a0Let’s take the scale for example. \u00a0The scale tells you your weight, and nothing more. \u00a0It doesn’t distinguish between fat or muscle, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Measuring Progress","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2,3,7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-body-building","category-fitness","category-health","category-motivation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3DfsS-ez","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=903"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":908,"href":"https:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903\/revisions\/908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devinephysiques.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}