Girth Measurements
Girth measurements are becoming more and more popular amongst personal trainers due to the fact that they do not require expensive equipment or years of training to perfect and produce reliable measurements. The most common girth measurements are taken around the midsection (waist and hip) and used to determine fat gain/loss and/or predict the risk for developing heart disease. The science behind these girth measurements is based on the fact that fat tends to accumulate around the midsection. Consequently, if your circumference measurements increase, you are increasing your body fat. In other words, you can now correlate "centimeters gained" to fat kilograms gained and “centimeters lost" to fat lost. There is also a greater risk of developing heart disease when fat accumulates higher up on the body i.e. around the waist as opposed to the hips).
However, girth measurements (as a prediction of body fat) are best suited to a certain population. This type of test is most successful when used on persons who have average or above average body fat percentages. This is due to the fact that girth measurements tend to increase significantly when individuals are already quite fat and do not decrease significantly when the individual is already quite lean. The calculations used to predict % body fat from girth measurements can be done using an equation and a hand held calculator. |