Weight… It’s Just a Number
Submitted by Got Strength
I had a consultation with a (now) client last week in which we talked about weight and body fat. I realized that this conversation was one that I’ve had with almost every single fat loss client I’ve ever trained. I need to just start holding up a sign that says: “The Scale Sucks!”
See, here’s the thing, almost every woman I’ve ever trained has come to me with an often unrealistic weight goal. Where do they get this idea of weight? Society, I assume. They’ll talk about wanting to weigh 120 lbs, 125, or something like that. Or they’ll weigh 145 lbs now but want to “lose about 30 lbs”. That would mean that they weighed in at a whopping 115! Usually that’s just plain unrealistic. The thing is, they don’t know it’s unrealistic and they don’t really even know what that weight means. So if the number isn’t accurate then why do we care?
Here’s what’s important: Muscle mass, body fat percentage, and overall health. What these people are really saying is that they want to be smaller, and not fat. Muscle is much more dense than fat (please don’t ever say to me that it “weighs less than fat”) so a given amount of muscle weight takes up a great deal less space than an equal weight of fat. For example, we all know what five pounds of steak (muscle) looks like. Well, a five pound ball of human fat is about the size of a small throw pillow.
So if a client were to recomposition (change their body composition) ten pounds then they’d weigh exactly the same but look radically different. With ten more pounds of muscle mass and ten less pounds of fat this client would probably be down a dress size, even with no weight change.
If your goal is to be lean, fit, and healthy then the scale doesn’t need to be included in your goal. Your body fat percentage, measurements, and the mirror are all far more important. Do I collect weight data from my clients? Sure, but I only use it to help me determine muscle and fat gain/loss from their changes in body fat percentage.
Rather than stress about the scale focus on what really matters and you’ll be another step towards achieving your fitness goals.
Oh, and for all of you out there who are way overweight and are complaining that your weight isn’t going down as you gain muscle: Can it. The bodyweight will come down eventually as you continue to lose fat and gain muscle. If if didn’t we’d have a bunch of women running around at 185 lbs and 3% bodyfat. Since there are about 14,000,000 teenage boys who are trying to do that I think you’ve got something special if you manage that and can bottle it.
