Ge#ng Meaningful Body Metrics

�1 © Kenzai Inc.

KENZAI DOCS KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

When you finish a serious training cycle, there are a lot of emo5ons. Most of them are posi5ve: pride, confidence, and deep sa5sfac5on. But many people also feel regret. “Why oh why didn’t I take beCer stats at the beginning of the program!”

The human body is capable of remarkable changes in a short period of 5me, but you won’t be able to fully appreciate them if you neglect your star5ng stats. Once you start geHng fiCer, your old body will be lost to 5me, so don’t put it off, capture the data while you can! This guide will show you how.

What are the key body metrics?

The more of these you can grab on Day 1, the happier you’ll be at the end of your program!

In order of importance.

1. Body Photos

2. Body composi@on - Total body fat % - Visceral fat % - Subcutaneous fat % - Muscle mass %

3. Body part measurements

4. Clothing check

5. Weight

1. Photos

You’ve probably had the experience of seeing yourself in a photo and thinking “Hey, I don’t really look like that, do I?” This happens because we mostly know ourselves from looking in the mirror.

In the mirror, we all tend to find our most flaCering angle, and hold our bodies in the right way to make our physique look its best. The mirror is like a good friend who will always paint you in the best light, even when you some5mes need a reality check.

The camera isn’t so kind. It shows you how you look from another person’s perspec5ve, including all the angles of your body that the mirror can’t show. A good collec5on of star5ng and ending photos is the single best way to track your progress.

Before your program begins, you should get as many “before” photos as you can. During training, addi5onal weekly photos are also essen5al to gauge your progress. Here’s how to take fitness photos like a pro.

�2 © Kenzai Inc.

Loca@on

The first step is to find an area that you can return to oWen. You’ll appreciate having consistent background and ligh5ng as your body changes. Here are some 5ps.

The best light for a fitness photo is above you, slightly to the front, and to one side. When the light hits your body from this angle, it casts shadows on the places where muscle or fat has dimensionality. These shadows are what actually tell your eye how fit you are, not the muscles themselves. To understand the importance of ligh5ng, take a look at these 4 photos. Same person, same day, same pose, different ligh5ng!

�3 © Kenzai Inc.

Soft front lightat eye level

Strong front light at eye level

Soft overhead andslightly front light

Strong overheadand slightly frontlight

You don’t need studio ligh5ng. A window or overhead light will work well if it’s in the right loca5on.

Find a place with a clean, cluCer free background. Don’t stand too close to a wall. The shadows your body casts will make it harder to see how things are changing.

Don’t shoot your photo directly into a light source. This will put your body in shadow and make gauging progress difficult.

The stronger and more isolated your light source, the more drama5c your photos will look as the shadows will have more contrast. Darker backgrounds will also increase the intensity of the photo. This isn’t good or bad, just different.

Dark background with a single strong light source. So ~intense~.

Avoid taking photos in strong, direct sunlight. Too much light will completely fill in the shadows and obscure your progress. You’ll also end up with a lot of pictures of you squin5ng!

Camera

Now that you’ve found a good spot, the next item is how to set your camera up. Photographers oWen say, “The best camera is the one you have with you.” For most people, this means the camera in their phone. The simpler your camera set-up, the more likely you’ll be to take regular progress photos with minimum fuss.

It’s temp5ng to try to take your progress photos from the selfie angle, but having the camera so close to you won’t give you a good view of how your body changes. The most useful photos will show your whole body, or at least your body from the knees up.

�4 © Kenzai Inc.

Many people take their photo by shoo5ng into a mirror. This is very easy to do, but doesn’t result in the best views of your body as you’re constantly having to hold the camera and frame the shot all at once. Only use a mirror shot if you can’t make anything else work. If you have someone who’ll consistently be around for photos, make them your camera person. If you’ll be taking your photos alone, make good use of your camera’s 5mer func5on.

When taking photos solo, you’ll be well served by a simple camera tripod with a phone holding aCachment. This makes it easy to get the same angle every 5me you take a photo. A phone on a tripod with the 5mer func5on will let you get even beCer photos than having someone else take them!

Outfit

Once you’ve found a good spot for your photos and figured out your camera set-up, the next step is to choose your outfit. It’s helpful to have the same gear on in your before and aWer photo so you can get a truer view of how you changed.

Find something to wear that isn’t too 5ght. You don’t want anything being squeezed unnaturally. You also don’t want anything too loose; the goal is to see your body’s shape as it changes.

Once you’ve found a good outfit, be sure to keep it around so you can wear it again at the end of your training.

Many people wear the same thing in their weekly progress photo as well to eliminate clothing variables as they tone up.

With a liCle planning and foresight, you’re ready to start shoo5ng.

Relaxed vs flexed

If you like, you can take two photos for each angle. One should be holding your body in a natural relaxed state. For the most consistent relaxed photos, try to be at the same point in your breath cycle each 5me the photo is taken. At the end of an exhala5on works well for this.

The other should be a flexed photo, where you’re in the same posi5on but engaging your muscles. Flexing might feel silly or vain, but it’s the best way to track how much your muscle size and tone has increased. To get a good flex photo, take a deep breath, and as you exhale engage your muscles from the feet first, feeling a strong connec5on to the ground. Keep your face relaxed and smile if you can!

�5 © Kenzai Inc.

Star@ng photo checklist

These photos will show your body from all the important angles and ensure that you capture all your changes. You only need to get all these photos on the first and last day of training!

If you like, you can shoot some extra poses taken from the world of bodybuilding. These shapes highlight different muscle groups and show muscle mass most clearly. This isn’t just for men!

Some classic bodybuilding poses that highlight different muscle groups:

�6 © Kenzai Inc.

Finally, you should choose your weekly photo pose. You can use one of the photos from the star5ng set, or have a custom pose that you’ll do every week. This pose should be easy to repeat with consistency. It’s a good chance to show a part of your body you want to work on.

Ok I took all these photos. What am I supposed to do with them now?

Our nutri5on team will want to see your front, 3/4, and side photo to help make your diet. AWer submiHng those, our advice is to put these photos in a folder that you don’t open un5l the end of your program. It’s really fun at the end of training to open the vault and see how you’ve changed!

2. Body Composi@on

The human body is a system of bone, organs, fat and muscle. The ra5o of these different 5ssues determines how you look. You can’t change how much bone or organ mass you have, but you can shiW your fat and muscle mass with training. Those are the metrics that you should care about. When you reduce your body fat and maintain or increase muscle mass, you’ll start looking fit.

Two types of body fat

Your body carries different types of body fat. The two you should care about are visceral fat and subcutaneous fat.

Visceral fat - This is the fat that surrounds your organs in your midsec5on. Too much of it is really bad for you. Roughly 10% of your body fat will be visceral fat.

Subcutaneous fat - This is the fat that sits just below your skin, all over your body. This is the fat that determines how “fat” you look. When it piles up you lose defini5on, not just in your muscles but in all areas, like your face or even your feet.

Some body composi5on methods will combine your visceral and subcutaneous fat into one number. This is your total body fat. For fit men, this number is between 14-17%, and for women 21-24%.

But many other methods will only give you your subcutaneous body fat reading. This will be a lower number. For fit males, it’s between 12-15% and for females 18-22%.

A lot of confusion happens when people compare a total body fat number to a subcutaneous only number. Someone who’s using a subcutaneous number will say, “I got my body fat below 12%” when in fact their total body fat is around 15%.

Three types of muscle mass

The body carries three varie5es of muscle. Smooth muscle which moves your organs (such as your intes5nes pulsing food through). Cardiac muscle, which is an especially robust 5ssue to keep your heart pumping nonstop for your en5re life. And skeletal muscle, which is the muscle that ar5culates your bones and lets you move through the world.

�7 © Kenzai Inc.

The only muscle mass you need to check is your skeletal muscle! This is the muscle that grows when you train.

How to measure body fat and muscle mass

There are a few ways to peek inside your body and see what your fat and muscle ra5o is.

The gold standard is a DEXA scan. You lie down on a screening bed and an overhead arm slowly moves over your body. The arm is sending low level x-rays through your body to the receiving plate. This gives you a precise snapshot of your body’s current bone density, muscle mass, visceral and subcutaneous fat. A computer will then crunch the data and give you solid numbers. DEXA is great because you get both a visual and numerical output you can compare later.

The output of a DEXA scan will look like the image below.

In the middle scan, you can see muscle in red, fat in yellow, and bone in blue. Redoing the scan a=er training, you’d see drama?c differences in the red and yellow areas.

DEXA machines are becoming more widespread in gyms and health clubs. For a fee (usually between $50 and $100) you can schedule an appointment. If you want the highest quality data about what’s happening inside your body during training, search around and see if DEXA is an op5on.

�8 © Kenzai Inc.

Electrical Impedance Scale

You’ve probably seen scales that have you hold two metal cylinders in your hands. These are electrical impedance scales. They work by sending a small electrical charge from the metal footplates through your body to the metal handholds. By tracking how long it takes the signal to move through your body (along with knowing your height and age), the machine can give you an es5mate of your body fat.

These scales aren’t very precise, and your results are strongly affected by how hydrated you are. However, if you’re consistent and measure yourself at the same 5me every day (right aWer waking up before you drink any water for example), they can be a good benchmark of progress. The actual body fat and muscle mass numbers might be off, but they’ll be off by the same amount every measurement so your progress-tracking will be fairly accurate.

There are some impedance scales which use 4 foot plates instead of handles. These are even more imprecise!

Caliper method

In the old days, body fat could be es5mated by pinching various points on the body and measuring how much body fat was there. This method is rarely used these days as there is too much room for human error in how 5ghtly the calipers and skin are pinched. This method only yields subcutaneous body fat and gives no insight to visceral body fat.

Do your best to get at least a “before” reading of your body fat and muscle mass using one of the methods above. You’ll appreciate having the data when you finish!

3. Body measurements

The next most useful measurement is the physical dimensions of your body. This can be confusing data because it’s oWen not clear what’s good or bad. For example, if a biceps circumference gets bigger, is it because of new muscle or new fat? S5ll, these metrics can be useful and give you insight into how your body has responded to training.

To take good measurements, you’ll need a flexible measuring tape like a tailor uses. There are also special body measurement tapes that make the job even easier. Just wrap the tape around the correct circumference and check the number.

If you can, have a second person do the measurements and you’ll get more accurate results.

�9 © Kenzai Inc.

Always do the measurements in consistent condi5ons. You want the body to be relaxed and “cold,” not pumped up and flushed with blood as it is aWer a workout.

All measurements should be done on both sides. This helps you track muscle imbalances, which we all have.

Tailor’s measuring tape works well, but there are also body measuring tapes which are easier to use alone.

Here are the parts of the body you want to measure.

�10 © Kenzai Inc.

a. Neck

Measure around the largest circumference crossing over the area of the Adam’s apple.

b. Shoulders

Measure the shoulders at their widest point on the front. This is one where having a second person is very helpful.

c. Chest

Stand naturally and measure the circumference of the chest at its widest (just above the nipple line).

d. Biceps

Measure the largest circumference of the biceps. Note the measurement in three states: - relaxed by the sides - with the arm bent - with the arm bent flexing the biceps

e. Forearm

Measure the circumference of the widest part of the forearm, found below the elbow.

f. Waist

Measure the narrowest circumference, below the ribs but above the love handles.

g. Hips Measure at the largest circumference, going around the buCocks

h. Thigh

Measure at the widest part of the thigh, found below the buCocks about 3/4 up the upper leg.

i. Calf

Measure at the largest circumference of the calf. You can check relaxed and flexed if you like.

Like with the other data points, you’d be smart to capture these numbers and then put them in a drawer un5l your training is done. You don’t need to check body measurements oWen. They move slowly. Once a month is plenty, and if you like, you can simply do a before and aWer training cycle check.

�11 © Kenzai Inc.

4. Clothes check

One of the most intui5ve ways we feel our bodies change is in how our clothes look and feel. A fun way of tracking progress is to grab a few clothes that you wear (or would like to wear) and make notes of how they fit.

Your log might look something like this.

White buUon up shirt - 5ght under the arms and neck. Slightly hard to buCon. Black jeans - 5ght in thighs, hard to zip up. Blue shorts - can’t comfortably buCon at waist. Office khakis - comfortable and easy to fasten.

AWer your training cycle you can return to these notes and see how things have changed. You might find things that use to be 5ght fit well, and things that use to fit well are now falling off you. Believe it or not, you WILL forget how these items used to fit. So take a few minutes and make some notes. Your future self will appreciate it.

5. Weight Your body is in constant interac5on with the Earth’s gravita5onal field. The center of the Earth pulls you towards it (and your center of mass pulls on the Earth too!). The amount of force that this gravita5onal pull exerts on the spring of a scale is how much you weigh.

The problem with weight as a metric is that it’s a blind number. The scale doesn’t know how much of that weight is from water, bone, organs, fat, muscle, or even hair. When you’re geHng in shape, these ra5os will shiW around quite a bit. You might lose 1kg of body fat but put on 1kg of muscle. This is an incredible achievement, but if you relied on the scale you would sigh and say “Nothing changed.”

The scale can be incredibly demo5va5ng, because it wraps up all your mo5va5on in a single, uninforma5ve number that can obscure your actual progress. Our advice is to get a before number for your weight and not check again un5l the end of your training. We need to know your star5ng weight to get a general idea of how big a person you are. But beyond that, we quickly move to physical landmarks around your body that tell us your true condi5on. Your weight isn’t an important number to us, and it shouldn’t be to you either.

�12 © Kenzai Inc.

How oXen should I track my metrics?

It’s your choice how oWen to check in. Try to at least get before and aWer numbers. This means you’ll have both subjec5ve and objec5ve ways to measure how you changed. Some trainees opt to do an addi5onal check at the halfway point, every 30 days, every two weeks, or every week. Checking more than once a week starts to become counterproduc5ve unless you have a lot of 5me on your hands and are very interested in geHng detailed data. The body doesn’t change so fast that you need to check metrics more than once a week.

We see the best results when people don’t get sucked into data tracking and focus on the important parts of training: nutri5on, exercise, and their mental game!

You also have the op5on to not track anything numerically at all. Simply using your eyes and clothing, you can get a good idea of what’s happening without hard data. Taking a weekly photo is very important if you choose this route. Just remember that once you’re in shape, you can’t go back and check what your true situa5on was before without geHng out of shape for a second 5me. No one wants that!

Good luck. Let’s see those photos look beCer week by week and those numbers move in the right direc5ons.

�13 © Kenzai Inc.