I'm not going to say that we'd all be better off if we threw away our bathroom scales, but I do think there's something to be said about the relationship many people have with body weight. Body weight is a measure of one thing: your relation to gravity. And while changes in body weight certainly can and often do associate with changes in health and fitness, our fixation on the number on the scale is of questionable value at best.

Take, for example, the results of our most recent Whole Life Challenge at No Boundaries. On this 6-week challenge, numerous participants watched their body weight remain the same, and their actual body composition change dramatically -- considerable body fat was lost and lean body mass was gained. The scale told an incomplete story and, were these individuals to “listen” to the feedback from their scale, they might have abandoned the practices that were in fact changing their body for the better.

When it comes down to it, 150lbs is 150lbs, whether it's 150lbs of lean and functional human, 150lbs of little muscle and lots of fat, or 150lbs of potatoes.

So how are we to measure progress if not with the scale? Measuring your body fat and lean mass with underwater body composition testing or DEXA scans is going to give you the most accurate results, but you have some built-in measurement tools as well. Do your clothes fit better? Do you look better in the mirror? Do you feel better? Perform better?

Feeling, looking, and performing better is the ultimate goal, after all, not some arbitrary number on a scale.

- PS

4/13/18

• Ring skill work (MUs, levers, dips, supports, pulls)