anyone measure muscles while loosing fat?

[pantera101]

I am to help insure that I don't loose too much muscle.I'm down an 1/8" on my arms now after about 7 days of dieting I guess.I just noticed it this morning.How much is usually lost on a cut?I'm hoping this comes back,but who knows.If I loose more I'm stoppng.......AGAIN!!!

I have barely reduced carbs and I'm eating as much clean food as I can.I'm also doing 10 minutes of cardio roughly every other day so I haven't made huge changes or anything.Last time I cut,I lowered carbs,started eating clean,and added 30 minutes of cardio all at once after a designer cyle and lost 13 lbs in 13 days!I definately learned from it and felt I was doing so good this time untill I seen that 1/8' loss this morning.

 

[sethroberts]

Going to be difficult to gauge. When you diet you are most likely going to shed water and since a lot of muscle mass is water, they are going to shrink to some degree. You could take body fat measurments and subtract the fat mass from your total mass to track "fat free mass" but it will still be affected by water loss. I personally use a high quality electrical impedance scale. Even though they get a pretty bad rap, the one that I have actually measures body water and if you measure first thing when you get up in the morning it is pretty precise. That way, I can track body water, lean mass, fat mass etc.

 

[pantera101]

Thats cool but I have heard that those scales aren't acurate for bb'rs.One guy said his sisters or whoevers scale said that on it.Said it gave a way high bf % for him.Strength didn't seem down too much today.I got one less rep on incline bench then I did last time.

 

[Jsherbro]

a couple of things regarding loss of that rep and 1/8 arm measurement. There are a lot of things that factor in. Your body won't be 100% the same everyday...water retention/vitamin storage/bloodflow/etc fluctuate on a day to day basis, so i wouldn't be too scared off. get some good work outs in, and some protein, then measure again in a few. also....the loss of rep could just be that day. rest up and try it again next week. dont let your mind discourage you or it'll only get worse

 

[pantera101]

a couple of things regarding loss of that rep and 1/8 arm measurement. There are a lot of things that factor in. Your body won't be 100% the same everyday...water retention/vitamin storage/bloodflow/etc fluctuate on a day to day basis, so i wouldn't be too scared off. get some good work outs in, and some protein, then measure again in a few. also....the loss of rep could just be that day. rest up and try it again next week. dont let your mind discourage you or it'll only get worse

Thats what I need to hear!I didn't eat as well yesterday so that prob had something to do with the lost rep.I'm working by myself but got a guy to help me,so I'm telling/showing him what to do,and keeping myself busy and time just got away from me.My dads my boss and he's on vacation right now.I was still eating regularly,justa little here and there......

 

[sethroberts]

Thats cool but I have heard that those scales aren't acurate for bb'rs.One guy said his sisters or whoevers scale said that on it.Said it gave a way high bf % for him.Strength didn't seem down too much today.I got one less rep on incline bench then I did last time.

The scale I have actually has a setting for athletes. The value that it gives for body fat is probably a little high, but I don;t care about the number, just that it is consistent from one day to the next (which it is). This is the difference between accuracy and precision.

 

[pantera101]

The scale I have actually has a setting for athletes. The value that it gives for body fat is probably a little high, but I don;t care about the number, just that it is consistent from one day to the next (which it is). This is the difference between accuracy and precision.

I think the more muscle you gain the more that number gets thrown off though.I'm not positive,but I think so.That would be why they say not acurate for bb'rs cause they have an abnormally high amount of muscle compared to the average joe.

I know I have used the sites on the internet that have you measure wrist,neck,stomach and give body weight etc.....And they are always way too high.I would be a fat ass going by what they say.

 

[sethroberts]

I think the more muscle you gain the more that number gets thrown off though.I'm not positive,but I think so.That would be why they say not acurate for bb'rs cause they have an abnormally high amount of muscle compared to the average joe.

I know I have used the sites on the internet that have you measure wrist,neck,stomach and give body weight etc.....And they are always way too high.I would be a fat ass going by what they say.

My point was that the actual number doesn't matter, except in your mind. If it says 20% when your calipers actually say 17% who cares. The idea is to track your progress from an arbitrary baseline. Is this optimal? No but most people are not going to weakly underwater weighings to get the best data.

 

[idrog]

Also keep in mind that a 16 1/2" muscular arm looks way bigger and better than a 17 1/2" arm that has all the muscle hiding under a layer of fat.

 

[pantera101]

Also keep in mind that a 16 1/2" muscular arm looks way bigger and better than a 17 1/2" arm that has all the muscle hiding under a layer of fat.

Definately true!I am by no means fat and never have been though.I'm just trying to "pop the abs out"and get the love handles much smaller.I would have to go to extreme measures to be considered overweight with my metabolism.My 1/8"loss came back.It was just one day is all.I just got scared and figured I would discuss it and maybe find something out.This site is my therapy/counseling!

 

[EasyEJL]

even 1/4 inch is not impossible for a day to day variation with measuring tapes. but you will get some real shrinkage with fat loss, but just remember - you are loosing fat not muscle. so if the lifts are the same (or going up) size going down doesn't matter as much