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When you hear the words "weight training" do you instantly think of body builders? Are you one of those people who believes weights are only for those who want bulging biceps? Do you associate weight workouts with Olympic dumbbell lifters? Or that weight training is only for men? Wrong on all counts. There are many compelling reasons as to why you should include some weight training programs in your weekly workouts.

By Paul Becker

Copyright © 2008 by Paul Becker.

When losing fat it is important to know, not just how much weight you are losing, but how much of your body is muscle and how much is fat. You want to lose fat while maintaining or even building muscle. So, you need some way to keep track of your body fat percentage.

The following are two simple methods to determine current body fat percentage and lean mass percentage.

Method Number One

Obesity rates are rising throughout the western world. For most of us, that means that many of us have a pound or few to lose. These days, being a little overweight is almost perceived as normal. However, we all know that to maintain a healthy life we should be keeping our weight in the healthy range. Failure to do this leads to heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and many other unpleasant health issues.

Healthy eating habits are important for maintaining not only good health, but better weight control. We have all heard the saying "you are what you eat", and research is continuing to show us that this is probably even more true then we realized. As developed nations battle obesity pandemics, the statistics for diseases caused by weight related issues such as diabetes type 2, heart disease, strokes, and many forms of cancer are also on the rise.

OK, you are all fired up, motivated, and ready to go. You have new training shoes, have just gone up a dress size, and you have seen new numbers on the bathroom scales that are frightening you. You may be battling the bulge, or just wanting to improve your fitness in general. You have told yourself, and possibly others, that you are starting an exercise program.