Does scale weight matter? Coach Mariah sets the record straight

Reveal #810 made a bikini competition her 12 Week RVX Group Training Goal - and she knocked it out of the park! Congratulations to both her and Coach Nicole! Click here to see her 'Before' picture and more outtakes from her special day!

So what was her scale weight, you ask?

Answer: It doesn't matter.

If that answer is confusing to you, like so many of the confusing things personal trainers say, then this blog post is for you! Coach Mariah sets the record straight on scale weight: when it matters (sometimes it's one of the most important numbers we have!) and when it doesn't (in some cases it's totally irrelevant and worthless!). Ok now you're super confused, right?! If so, then read on...


Scale Weight 101, by Coach Mariah


"Scale weight does NOT matter!" I said the other day to a client.

The client sat there are stared at me, flabbergasted. For weeks I have been harping on him about his scale weight and there I was saying it didn't matter.

Seeing that this man was confused, I stood there and considered what I was about to say.

After 10 years coaching RVX Transformations and RVX Reveals, I recognize that I sometimes just assume that people understand the confusing things that pop out of my mouth. I get impatient with them not following my logic. (Yes, dear reader, I realize that impatience is my biggest weakness. It's also my biggest GIFT, propelling me to coach dramatic Reveals and Transformations season after season, year after year. But so you know, I have HEARD your feedback on this character flaw and, as soon as the build-out is finished on the new RVX building I will be coaching 1 hour nutrition seminars every Saturday from 9 - 10 am Austin time (after the RVX Community Workout) which will be pod-cast and downloadable from our new website, revex.com for our internet audience. There will be question & answer period so I can explain RevEx logic on different positions, tricks, tips and tools that don't make sense to clients at first blush. This way you'll no longer have to deal with confusing one-liners from Coach Mariah or call Coach Gabe to figure out what the heck I just said. But I digress.)

With this man sitting there waiting for my response, I realized I needed to step back and explain the logic that got me to my conclusion - step by step.

"Read the blog tomorrow morning," I said. "I will explain and you'll get it."

So here it, the steps in my logic that got me to the conclusion - written up on the board like we did in high school math class - so you can see how I got to the solution: that scale weight does matter - sometimes. But how what when where why? Hopefully after reading this you, too, will have these connections hard-wired into your brain (like they are in mine) so that next time I say, "scale weight doesn't matter!" in the same breath as, "what's your scale weight?" you'll know why.

Onward.

Scale Weight 101

"Scale weight doesn't matter" is one of the most confusing things trainers say.

What they should say is this: "Scale weight doesn't matter RELATIVE TO OTHER PEOPLE. It absolutely DOES matter relative to YOURSELF."

Case in point.

There is a RVX client who WON'T tell anyone her scale weight - because it's well over what most men weigh.

I told her this was silly. She's tall and has a high lean body mass. "Scale weight doesn't matter," I said to her when she started the program.

But then when she was down 9 lbs in 2 weeks this past week and I congratulated her on her HUGE drop and she said, "Wait I thought scale weight doesn't matter?"

Here is why I said seemingly contradictory things.

Your scale weight matters relative to YOU. YOUR lean body mass (the weight of everything on you BESIDES fat) will NOT increase much over the course of three months (you're lucky if you gain a pound of muscle). It will also NOT increase much over the course of ten years (I have a TON more muscle now than I did ten years ago but my lean body mass has only increased by about 5 or 6 lbs). So your scale weight is a GREAT indicator of how FAT you ARE or AREN'T. YOU can and SHOULD monitor your scale weight as a GREAT indicator of whether or not your are losing FAT.

But your scale weight does NOT matter relative to OTHER PEOPLE - EVER.

I will use the RVX Coaches as examples to make my point (thanks guys).

Me at 155 lbs

When I personally am RIPPED for a photo shoot or competition, I weight about 150 lbs - more than some guys and WAY more than you think a bikini model should!! So I am one of those girls you always hear about with a high lean body mass.

Me at 150 lbs

But let's say I weight 165 or, God forbid, 170 and I start dieting for a competition. If, two weeks later I still weigh 170 - I have a problem. No, I am not putting on muscle (it takes months to make major gains that will actually show up on the scale, as I said above). And no, I am not bloated (unless I weighed 165 yesterday and 170 today - in which case yeah maybe I'm bloated but it stands to reason I'll be right back down to 165 tomorrow). So my trainers (RVX Coach Kevan and WBFF pro-figure coach Kim Oddo) have every right to lay into me about my scale weight. Because MY scale weight matters relative to ME.


Now let's use an example where my scale weight DOESN'T matter.

Coach Nicole weighs about 122 when she is in a competition or a photo shoot (she actually feels she gets too shredded so she is going to stop water manipulating and try for 125 next competition).

Coach Nicole in the center between RVX Angels at 122 lbs
(She thinks she got too shredded so she is not going to manipulate her water next time, shooting instead for 125 lbs)

If Nicole and I stand on stage together - Nicole at 125, Mariah at 150 - but we have the same PERCENTAGE OF BODYFAT, well then... I'M GOING TO LOOK BETTER HANDS DOWN!!!

Ok ok so maybe Nicole is going to look better than me (she is - she is after all our head coach of the RVX Elite Bikini & Physique Team so she had BETTER look better than me! But I can still fight for the honor can't I?! lol). But in this is instance if I were to say, "Oh my gosh I weigh 150 and Nicole weighs 125 I am SO FAT!" I would be WRONG. If we are both 10% bodyfat, then it would be silly for me to be EMBARRASSED about the fact that I weight 150 and Nicole weighs 125. Rather I should be bragging: I have a higher lean body mass so therefore I get to eat more, my muscles are going to pop more, and I am going to have a higher metabolism. Take that Coach Nicole!

Here is another even better example of comparing your scale weight to someone else's (or, as Coach Eric likes to call it, comparing water and gasoline). Here is Coach Sheryl at 150 lbs, 10.5 weeks out from her upcoming photo shoot & competition.

Coach Sheryl at 150 lbs

Coach Sheryl and I are approximately the SAME height. So why will Coach Sheryl weigh 140 on stage when I will weigh 150? Well that's just a matter of build. Coach Sheryl has this exquisite long, lean build to her - a graceful, gorgeous gazelle-like physicality reminiscent of a dancer. By rounding out her shoulder caps and adding a little oomph to her bootay she has effectively maximized - and made darn near perfect - the physique God has blessed her with.

My build is stockier, even at 5'9" - more like a gymnast - or, as the industry stands right now, a Pro Figure competitor, who are typically stockier, gymnast-like girls who have effectively elongated their physique through the trick of proper training, making them look graceful, athletic and balanced. Which is partly why Coach Sheryl's goal is to be a nationally recognized fitness model - who typically have physiques like what you see above, ie absolutely perfect. Meanwhile my goal is to be a WBFF Champion, whose physiques are typically more like mine, and more what you would see in a typical muscle magazine - but perhaps too much for the general public. Coach Sheryl and I are both classic examples of 'working with (and PERFECTING!) what God gave us'. Take what you got & work with it - don't waste time wishing you had a body like the girl next to you make yours the best it can be - it's what it's all about, right?!.

So again - same height, same bodyfat percentage - but Coach Sheryl will likely WEIGH 10 lbs less than me on stage. Different build, different bone density, organ size and so on. (Although anyone who knows her would VIRULENTLY disagree that I have a bigger heart that Coach Sheryl, one of the most thoughtful, sweetest, inspiring women on the planet and a GOD-SEND to all us fitness chics out there in need of INSPIRATION on a DAILY BASIS!!).

So if scale weight DOESN'T matter in the above examples, then what DOES matter??!

Bodyfat percentage.

For women:

• 8 - 10% is only appropriate for a figure competitor (and it is only held for a day or two),
  
• 10 - 12% is ripped,
• 12 - 14% is athletic, and
• 15% and under is ideal.
• Anything under 20% isn't bad but,
  
• If you're over 20% it's time to get to work.
  

For men:

• 3 - 5% is only appropriate for a bodybuilder or physique competitor,
• 5 - 8% is ripped (Coach Kevan sits at around 7% bodyfat year-round)
• 8 - 10% is athletic (Coach Eric sits at around 8% year-round; Coach Gabe sits at around 8 - 12% year-round)

  

  Coach Gabe is Latino and, like me, insulin resistant (it's a trait often found in Latino populations which is why I mention his ethnic background). This means one bad meal or a couple extra carbs stick to Gabe and me much quicker and more easily than they do to say Coach Kevan or Coach Eric - hence the greater range of deviation cited above. The fallout? Both Coach Gabe and I have to stick to our diets more rigidly year-round than some of our peers. To which we have two options: get frustrated, or shrug and do work. We both chose to shrug and do work, living Crossfit / paleo / gluten-free life-styles and using carbs as a tool to build muscle rather than as a nutrient source (yeah, that's another Saturday lecture. HA!)

• 12% and under is ideal
• 15% and under is great, but over 15% you have some work to do.
• As with women, you really do not want to be above 20% bodyfat - ever.

Knowing this number you can do an inverse calculation to figure out your ideal weight based on bodyfat percentage. Too complicated? Email Coach Eric at info@revelationfit.com and he will set you up for a consultation with himself or our Austin area manager Coach Gabe. We can check your bodyfat percentage and get you set up on a plan to reduce your bodyfat and up your lean muscle content.

One last thing: there is ONE exception to the above rule, but it ONLY applies to about 1% of people I come in contact with so I GUARANTEE you are NOT one of them unless while reading this you can look down and see your abs. The only reason I'm even bringing it up is so that no one reads my blog and mentions it as an exception to my rule.

The exception: the hard gainer (we have one, Coach Eric).

Coach Eric is a hard gainer. His naturally lean build worked well for him as a runner at Kent State. As a Marine preparing to serve in Afghanistan, however, Coach Eric had to change his training and pack on the pounds

Coach Eric is a hard gainer. If he doesn't train his scale weight plummets back to the runner's body his genes have blessed him with. His bodyfat is consistently 8% but, after 12 Weeks of training with RVX his weight went UP from 175lbs to about 185lbs.

Coach Eric gained about 10 lbs of muscle in 12 Weeks of RVX Training

We took about a month off of training over the holidays and Coach Eric's scale weight shot back down quickly. The 'hard gainer' is the ONE person whose WILL gain muscle during RVX Training Cycles (as we focus his training almost EXCLUSIVELY on this goal) and whose scale weight WILL go up - but he (and it's almost always a he) is typically already 10% bodyfat or below when he starts training. So DO NOT put yourself in this category unless you can already see your abs.

That's all for now. Good luck this week. Train hard, eat clean & stay focused on your dream. And watch that scale weight!

Remember: We are all in this together.

Coach M