CANADIAN PHYSIQUE ALLIANCE November/December ISSUE | Page 80

THAT TIME OF
THE MONTH.
If a female athlete weighs herself
during that time of the month,
weight gain from hormonal water
retention is a real thing. Because
the scale only weighs her total
bodyweight, it can’t tell if she’s
gained water weight or lost fat, all
it can do is indicate the net total
of all that is her at that moment.
That is why I assess all data
provided in her update, review
trends from previous weeks, and
if the other points indicate
progress, then that week is still a
win despite the scale going up.
STAYED THE
SAME BUT NO
DOUBT
IMPROVED
Along those same lines, I have had
athletes’ weight stay somewhat
the same or even gain weight
leading up to a contest. Change in
weight aside, during his or her
entire prep, progress can clearly
be observed as week to week, he
or she gets more and more
conditioned.
In this case, as the weeks go by, the
athlete is able to build muscle and burn
off stored body fat which can
ultimately leave the athlete weighing
somewhat the same, or in some cases,
weighing even more than when we
started his or her contest preparation.
Again, still a win! 
In the end, I feel weighing yourself is a
critical piece of information to help
determine your progress. But not
weighing yourself often enough can
leave you too much room to wander
and lose focus, while weighing yourself
too often can provide meaningless data
and drive you crazy! Weigh yourself
just once a week (on the same scale and
same time of day), and, along with the
other psychological and physiological
markers I mentioned above, only then
will you have the complete picture of
your progress.