I won middle weight in a bodybuilding contest in 1990 in Arlington Tx. The heavy weight and overall winner is kind of well known. I even trained at the same time of the day at the same gym. I was there at Metroflex Gym when Ronnie Coleman walked in to ask Brian Dobson about how to get into bodybuilding. Yes I got to pose down with Ronnie Coleman for the overall trophy in his first ever bodybuilding contest.
Anyway I am back in the gym now after a decade out and I got a Wyse body fat scale to gauge my progress. I’m training 4 days a week on a push pull schedule. Whole body in 2 days twice a week. My diet has been borderline carnivore so I get good amount of daily protein, low carbs and enough healthy fats for energy. My strength has steadily gone up across the border. I have lost 14 lbs total. In the month since I’ve owned the scale it is showing I’ve lost 9.5 lbs. body fat is at 30% and that did not change in in the last month. It’s the -7.5 lbs muscle mass loss. This is shocking me. My diet is so close to perfect in micros, I drink plenty of water I’m doing farmers walks after every workout for metabolic training. Why am I losing muscle mass and not body fat?
Those scales that use electrical bio impedance are notorious for being very faculty… as stated above.
Several factors can completely screw with the results. Hydration level along with sodium level not to mention a few other things.
Besides the mirror as @ChickenLittle mentioned. By chance, did you take any body measurements with a tape? Specially the mid section along with any specific area where you carry excessive bodyweight?
I’d imagine this would have been your primary metric when you were winning shows (awesome stuff, by the way); I don’t see a reason to change it now.
And, as everyone said, those scales are inaccurate. You’ve likely shed glycogen and the water it holds as you’ve lost weight, which the scale reads as a loss of lean tissue.
Did the judges ask what your percent body fat was?
(I assume you meant “across the board.”)
Strength is a valuable metric.
As noted by ChickenLittle, the mirror is a valuable metric.
An addition metric that has value is the scale, but not as good as strength and the mirror.
If the percent body fat measurement isn’t confirmed by the mirror, it is completely worthless. Body fat measurement seems to have become a coveted goal. But it is a measurement, and one that begs for Measurement System Analysis. Just how accurate is it relative to the mirror, which is the very most coveted. Ask any competitive bodybuilder.
Sure, we are all curious what our percent body fat is. We know that the lower our percent body fat is, the better we should look in the mirror.
Would you rather to have measured your percent body fat at 5%, or look like you are 5% body fat. Easy question, isn’t it? The mirror is king.
I already knew the answer before I asked but got reminded really quick. The mirror trumps everything else. I’m seeing good results (love muscle memory) and I’m making progress at every level. So the scale is for weigh in purpose only.
