How to Measure Muscle Growth

When it comes to increasing muscle, whether for personal fitness or competition, the best way to log muscle gain is to take weekly measurements. Other methods include observing how the body looks. Assessing your body is a great way to keep you on track with your goals while also allowing you to see your accomplishments, both numerically and physically.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Camera
• Mirror
• Scale
• Caliper

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Instructions

• 1

  Place the tape measure around the thickest part of your body where you are trying to gain muscle. The waist is the only exception when measuring girth. You want to measure the smallest, or thinnest, part of your waist. Take the measurement in either centimeters or inches, whichever you prefer. Ideally, measurements should be taken weekly.

• 2

  Use a camera to take photos of yourself. You can also use a mirror, but you will not be able to gauge how much muscle you have gained without something to compare it to. You may have increased in size, but you might not see any changes, especially if they are more subtle. By using photos, you can compare your size week by week or even monthly. You will be able to more accurately note changes in photos than you would looking in the mirror alone. The mirror can help you assess what parts of your body you would like to work on, while the photos document the progress.

• 3

  Take measurements with a caliper. This is a tool used to pinch the skin on the body and assess your body fat mass. The thinner the fold of skin in the caliper, the less body fat a person has. But this is not to be used as the sole means to measure muscle gain. Your body will lose fat more rapidly than it will increase muscle mass, depending on what stage of your regimen you're in, and on your current health. This type of measurement should be used in conjunction with other methods, in particular the tape measure.

• 4

  Weigh yourself weekly. Muscle tissue is more dense than fat; therefore, it weighs more. However, this method should be used after the total body fat is at the lowest possible weight for the individual. If you gain weight with a low body fat percentage, then this increase is due to added muscle mass.

• 5

  Note how heavy your weights are in the weight room. Lifting more weight than you could a month ago is attributed to becoming stronger, or gaining more muscle. Even if you don't physically weigh more in pounds, or your tape measure shows the same number it did a month ago, you could still be building muscle.

• 6

  Note how your clothes fit. Seeing how your clothes begin to fit is another way to track muscle transformation. Shirts may become tight in the shoulders and upper arms, but may be looser through the waist. A woman's jeans may become tight in the leg, while becoming loose on the waist.