I've been working out steadily (5 days a week minimum) for roughly 10 months and following a strict routine for about the last 8, but I'm having trouble figuring out why I'm not seeing any significant changes in my body measurments even when I'm seeing physical changes.

For example, over the past year I track my weight fairly regularly, once a week or so, and I have been consistantly in the 181-183 pound range. I've gone as low as 178 and as high as 186, but 95% of my weight tracking is within the range listed; however, I've dropped two pant sizes from a 34 to a 32 (which is loose) and hitting holes on my belt that I've never used before even when I was in college.

I decided to get stricter on my diet in January and have been eating as close as possible to my meal plan (I have a high stress job and it's not always easy) and started the PPL plan in February. I measured myself on February 1st and again on April 1st and my measurements are nearly identical:

Jan 1: 181.8lbs 22.3% BF

April 1: 182.3lbs 21.5% BF

Neck 16.5 - 17

Shoulders 49.25 - 49.75

Chest 40 - 41.75

Bicep (L) 14.25 - 15

Bicep (R) 14.5 - 15

Forearm (L) 11.5 - 11.5

Forearm (R) 12 - 12

Waist 34.5 - 33.5

Glute 38 - 39

Thigh (L & R) 21.5 - 22

Calf (L & R) 15 - 15

I bought a SKULPT scanner a few months ago and try to limit how often I scan so I don't become too focused on the numbers; but even those results aren't showing much change with my overall muscle quality from Jan 9 to today going from 64.4 to 66 and my Body Fat actually increasing from 20.8% to 21.5%. And this is with working out and pushing myself 5-6 days a week on the PPL split.

So, while I can definately see a physical difference in my body from then until now, the numbers don't seem to be adding up. Either I'm measuring wrong or I'm doing something wrong in the gym, but I don't see how my weight can stay so rock steady. Anyone have any ideas?

It would come down to diet more than anything. It's great that you are training so hard and great that you are tracking everything so dilligently.. but when it comes to your weight and your body fat percentage, the diet probably has the biggest impact. If that's not quite set up right, then it can affect your overall results.

Another thing is.. when you first started training, was your body fat percentage higher? Maybe you are seeing similar numbers for your measurements because you used to have fat which gave you a certain size, but now you have muscle. That would be why you SEE the changes, but the measurements don't show that.. does that make sense?

If you are in a surplus, it is normal for your bodyfat % to be slightly higher than before.. gaining 0.7% over nearly 3 months isn't bad at all though. But in your list of measurements, you also say you went from 22.3% BF to 21.5%.. so that means you actually HAVE lost fat. Also, there are some pretty good increases in some body measurements, like your chest, shoulders and glutes, and even the body parts that have small increases - a small increase is still better than no increase!

But I would double check your @mealplan - macros and calories. See if you're in a surplus or not. Getting the numbers right will help.

Thanks for the advice. I'm thinking that maybe my initial bodyfat measurements were off. When I started tracking I was using a digital scale that has a conductive plate measuring system and it's always stayed in the same range (~23% I believe) but I bought a Skulpt tracker in January and it's gone from 21.8% January 9th to 20.8% on April 2nd. Not a huge decrease but better than nothing. I know I need to tighten up my meal plan, I'm close but it's the hardest thing to do. I'm just thrown off on the fact that my overall weight has remained so rock steady over the past 10 months but I'm seeing visible changes in my body. If I was gaining or losing weight I'd feel like something was working but instead I'm in this equilibrium.

I must be gaining muscle mass at the same rate that I'm losing body fat (by weight, not volume) right? I'm going to work on sticking more strictly to my mealplan and see if that helps move things one way or the other.

Yeah that's probably it man. I mean, you've only been training for 10 months, so you're still in the newbie stage for sure. That means there's a good chance the fat has been coming off while you're been adding muscle, which would kind of explain the similar bodyweight and even the measurements like I said.

Got to get that diet on point though man.. it is CRUCIAL to getting the best results. Training can't be as effective as possible without a good @mealplan 💪 You're platinum so I definitely suggest you use the @mealplan app to track everything and get things right!

And a 1% decrease is still good! If you're diet hasn't been perfect that's not too bad at all.