Free. Nothing to buy on this page.

Am I four weeks out,
or twenty?

Twenty minutes and a tape measure. You will get a body fat band, an honest week count, and a straight answer about which of my programs fits where you actually are. Two of the possible answers tell you to spend nothing.

No email required Runs on your phone, nothing sent anywhere Built by IJ Smith, RN
Read this before you measure anything

Some of this is not a training problem

If you have been training and eating reasonably and your body is not responding, there are a handful of medical explanations that a program cannot fix and should not paper over. If any of these describe you in the last few months, get labs before you buy anything from anybody.

  • Loud snoring or gasping in your sleep, plus waking up unrefreshed no matter how long you were in bed
  • Fatigue that is out of proportion to what you did, and does not improve with a deload or a week off
  • Loss of morning erections, or a drop in libido you did not choose
  • Feeling cold when nobody else in the room does, or new dry skin and thinning hair
  • New low mood, flat motivation, or losing interest in things you used to want
  • Weight change you did not cause, in either direction
Any of those, stop here and see a physician. Sleep apnea, low testosterone, and thyroid problems all present exactly like being out of shape, and all three are common in men who train hard and cannot work out why nothing moves. None of them are fixed by a better program. Come back after you have answers.
Step one

Two things you can see

Not a guess at a percentage. Two observations, in flat morning light, before you eat, standing relaxed and not flexed. Relaxed is the whole point. Anyone can find abs by flexing in a bathroom at 9pm.

Tap either one that is true. Both can be false. That is a normal answer and it is most men.

Step two

Three numbers

Tape measure, no shirt, first thing in the morning. Do not suck in. Do not stand up straighter than you normally do. The number is only useful if it is the real one.

5'10" is 70
At the navel, tape level all the way round, relaxed on the exhale
Just below the larynx, tape sloping slightly down at the front

Your answer

Here is where you actually are

--
weeks out from a visible midsection
8%15%22%30%38%+
The error bar, and I am printing it rather than hiding it.

See the whole shelf →

Your result lives in this page's link. Bookmark it and the numbers come back, even if your phone clears its storage, which Safari does after about a week away. If you would rather write it down, this is your resume code. --
Step three

Take the photos properly, once

The single most common reason a man thinks twelve weeks did nothing is that week one was shot in flattering light and week twelve was shot under a bathroom downlight. Standardise it now and the comparison at the end is evidence instead of a mood.

POSITION

Four angles, every time

Front relaxed, back relaxed, and both sides. Arms hanging, not on your hips. Same order each session so you never miss one.

LIGHT

One source, in front

A window on an overcast morning. No overhead spotlight, which carves shadows that read as definition you do not have. Same room, same time.

TIMING

Morning, fasted, after the bathroom

Before food and before training. Food and water swing how you look more than a week of training does.

CAMERA

Chest height, six feet, timer

Phone propped, not handheld, not angled down. Lock exposure if your phone lets you. Mark the floor with tape so the distance repeats.