If you want to succeed, measure success. Even if your measurement turns out to show no positive movement, that’s success. You now know your current method is no longer or was never valid in its entirety. So you can adjust. Along the way you have to ensure your steps are leading you down the right path or you’ll find yourself on the wrong side of the street. Part of that assurance, during a fitness journey is visually tracking results.
SECTIONS:
-Advertisement Continue Below-
What’s A Progress Picture
Various ways to gauge progress, or lack thereof exist on the great blue marble. Weigh-ins, tape measurements, body fat calculations, body mass index (BMI) *please don’t use BMI*, the mirror, and the outstanding progress picture.
A progress picture is nothing, but a snapshot of your current aesthetics.
The idea is to start the journey with a “before” flick. After this initial capture, every x days you snap a new pic; the “after”. Same poses, same or similar setting each round.
With these you can compare how well or not so well your tactics are panning out. Are my lats growing? Am I getting more defined? Do my biceps need further development? Are my abs showing improved definition? Or what body part is being left behind? Do I look proportional? Etc.. You’ll do this continuously throughout the journey.
Note: progress pics don’t end at weight loss. They’re for maintenance and weight gain as well.
Why Do I Need A Progress Picture
You want to be a member of the before and after club, for other methods don’t always tell the whole story:
The good old scale: weigh-ins sport a needed place for knowing if you’re generally going in the right direction, but in isolation can be misleading. It’s best to consider weight results over time rather than day-to-day. Daily can be stressful if you’re not mentally up for it. On Monday you could weigh in at 223, then Tuesday the scale says 225.6 and you have a meltdown when it’s simply water fluctuation. The water weight animal fluctuates like a teenager’s mood if your sodium, potassium, water, and fiber intake isn’t consistent.
Body fat percentage tracking: good idea, yet has limits, since access can be difficult. Then when your body fat is pretty low and you’ve been lifting for a while, intramuscular fat can become an issue with gauging if your number is truly lower or not.
Intramuscular fat (IMF) induced as a byproduct of your training deserves your attention. An untrained individual with a poor diet will also have intramuscular fat simply because it needs to be stored somewhere, yet for the highly trained gym rat (usually over 2-3 serious years) it’s to aid performance. Intramuscular fat is fat stored in lipid droplets within skeletal muscle to provide more energy during lifts.
This is important to know, for if you were going on a cut, for example and you’ve been at 8% body fat in the past, now you’re at 10%, but look much leaner/fuller you could have more intramuscular fat stored this time around. IMF is crammed inside the muscle making it look even larger, this explains the case for you.
On a cut your body fat should go down overall, however rely on progress pictures more than body fat% alone. At competition time (if you compete) you might come in with a better body even though the percentage says otherwise.
Tape measurements: fine, but once you have a bloated moment stay calm. In addition a point comes when inches may now longer depress if you’re shooting for weight loss, yet body fat may still continue to dip.
The mirror: eyes lie. I can testify it seems outsiders notice your progress before you. For good reason, it’s hard to observe day-to-day, incremental changes and if we take a step toward psychology.. Some body dysmorphia may be at play.
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is when someone sees themself as other than how they truly appear. Might be imagining a defect that doesn’t exist or no one else notices. Maybe believing you’re larger, smaller, perhaps even less attractive than they are.
BDD is sort of a cynical depiction of yourself. Many fitness enthusiasts and non-fitness enthusiasts rumble with BDD to some degree. I know I’m always surprised at how muscular I look in a video despite walking by a mirror 67 times per day haha. A picture can clear up some of that.
You can’t cheat visual representation long-term. Your mind will fail to trick what’s right in your face like a 7 year old asking for ice-cream. Track aesthetics and numbers. “I want to lose 20 pounds!” Is possibly your initial mission statement, yet progress pictures may show you the look you had in mind after 20 pounds occurred after losing 10. Or the look you had in mind after dropping 20 is actually 25. Pictures work.
-Advertisement Continue Below-
Tips For Taking A Progress Picture
Front Relaxed Vs. Flexed
Shirtless or form fitting clothes
Non-distracting background
Decent lighting
Full body or at least knees and up
Set your picture taking device up with a timer, have someone capture the pictures, or record yourself doing each pose and screenshot them
Include a front, side, and back view
Do each pose relaxed
Do each pose flexed
Note: when taking progress pictures you want to be as close to the same condition as possible with each shot. I recommend first thing in the morning while still fasted, before you even start your day with water. This crisp state is as close to equal as you’ll get for accurate comparisons.
Another note: it’s possible you get nervous at the thought of a polaroid. Especially one in such a vulnerable situation. You can keep this private. These photos are for you, or for you and your trainer more than any other purpose. If you do share trust me the support will triumph over any negativity a keyboard warrior could possibly bring. Just type an essay in the caption about overcoming your fear, that always works haha. Don’t let what you think, someone else may think deter you from greatness.
How Often To Take Progress Pictures
I advocate for weekly progress photos. Every Sunday morning, snap away. Not that you’ll have obvious changes every 7 days, but you’ll start to develop a storyline and it’ll be cool to collage all of the pictures to see the gradual conversion. If weekly is too much for you, you can go biweekly or monthly and still be fine. I like weekly since it also removes the anxiety and suspense that remains when you place bigger gaps between snapshots. Need help adjusting & reaching your goals? Become a client
Back & Side Relaxed
What To Look For When Evaluating Progress Pictures
Your mission is to either lose, maintain, or gain:
Fat loss: slimming of appearance, increased muscle separation, proper muscle distribution, and overall improved definition. If a muscle is left behind give it that attention. You can really see “flaws” when the body fat drops if you’re heavy on the aesthetics or looking to compete.
Maintenance: am I holding on to my desired look?
Weight gain: do I seem to be growing proportionally, is my definition staying with me, am I still comfortable with my appearance considering the added weight, should I slow the bulk down, and so on.
Note: every question you ask and answer is to buffer your strategy. Whatever needs extra work, give extra work. Whatever is working, keep it going.
-Advertisement Continue Below-
So, It’s About That Time
Documentation is what it comes down to. What you can’t see is imagination. Give yourself something tangible with progress pictures. Set a goal, capture your current condition, and see how you progress along the way. Use the scale, body fat percentage if possible, and progress pictures. Covering all avenues will give you a clear view and help with “should I change my strategy or keep going?”.. Put in the work, adjust as needed, and Be Great.