Biosignature: Where You Store Fat and What it Means

In my seminars, whenever I speak about the location of body fat, a lot of eyes really light up. Likewise, when someone who wants to buy personal training contacts me, one of the first things they want to know about is biosignature. They heard that it’s something unique that me and my trainers do, and they want to get it done.

So in this article, we’ll cover:

• Why does the body store fat in certain areas?
• What is biosignature modulation?
• Where do I store fat? How to know where you store fat
• The implications of biosignature
• Real-life examples of how we use biosignature with our clients

Why Does the Body Store Fat in Certain Areas?

You’ll notice that some people store fat in their belly, others in their buns and thighs, and so on. So what determines where fat goes? How does your body decide where to store fat? There are a number of factors:

1. Genes. Often, your body fat is stored in the same places as your parents.
2. Hormones. Not totally unrelated from genes, but your hormonal profile to a large extent determines where you store your fat (I’ll elaborate on this one below).
3. Blood flow. Places that store more fat tend to have lower blood flow (and lower temperature) compared to areas that store less fat. I talk more about this in my article on stubborn fat. If you want that article, just put your email in the form below, and I’ll send it to you.

So if you’re wondering “where do men store fat” or “where do women store fat”, these are the factors that will affect it.

What is Biosignature Modulation? What Does Where You Store Fat Mean?

The definition of “Biosignature” is the idea that where you store your body fat tells us about your hormonal profile. We know this intuitively, because men store body fat in their waist, and pre-menopausal women store it in their buns and thighs. Post-menopausal women store it in their waist as well. So in short, biosignature is a hormonal assessment tool.

However, it goes a lot deeper than that, which is why we measure 11 different fat storage areas in the body for women, and 10 for men.

Here are the correlations:

Triceps = testosterone (in both men and women)

Pecs (chest) = aromatase in men (this is an enzyme that converts testosterone to estrogen) and “bad” estrogen in women (there are actually 3 different types of estrogen, and it’s balance that’s important)

Subscapula (under the shoulder blade) = genetic tolerance for carbohydrates. The lower this measurement, the more carbohydrates a person can tolerate.

Mid-axillary (over the ribs) = thyroid

Supra-ilium (love handles) = insulin. The more insulin you secrete, the higher this area.

Umbilicus (belly) = cortisol (stress hormone)

Knee and calf = growth hormone (my clients who’ve had the knee measured are laughing now. They know that if they’ve been drinking, their knees get fatter for 2-3 days after)

Quadriceps (front of the thighs) = estrogen.

Original source: here.

The interesting thing is that very often where you think you store the most fat, is not where you actually store the most fat. Often, people think that it’s their stomach, or love handles, when it might be the upper back or the thighs. They just don’t know it, because they can’t see it 😉

So in a nutshell, biosignature gives us a pretty neat, low-tech, non-invasive insight into a person’s hormones.

Is it 100% accurate? No. But it is low-tech, and reasonably accurate. It’s not practical to get your blood work every 2 weeks, but it sure is practical to have a body fat assessment every 2 weeks.

The tools of the biosignature practitioner are actually pretty simple: either the Hardpenden calipers, which are the gold standard, and have been used since the 1950s, or the simpler, but still accurate Slim guide calipers.

Where Do I Store Fat? How to Know Where You Store Fat

Now you know what the different locations are for body fat storage, and what they mean. So here comes the million dollar question: “where do I store fat?” How can I figure that out? If where I think I store fat may not actually be the area where I store the most fat, how can I find out?

There are a couple of ways of doing that:

1. Search for a DEXA scan in your area. It will break down where in your body you store the most fat, both in pounds and in percentages.
2. Find a personal trainer in your area who is trained in skinfold calipers using the biosignature method (as opposed to CPAFLA or other methods)

If you’d like to see how to do it, just put your email into the form below, and I’ll send you the video showing you how to do it.

The Implications of Biosignature

As you know from reading a lot of my articles by now, a lot of the times, my answer to a question is “it depends.” I give this answer, because there are so many variables to consider, and everyone is an individual. Biosignature allows us to understand each individual’s hormonal profile, and tailor specific exercise, nutrition and supplementation strategies to that person. It’s this ability to use these strategies to modify hormones that “modulation” comes in.

Because of this idea, people often look for the “biosignature diet.” The truth is that different dietary factors affect different hormones in different ways. So there’s really no such thing as a “biosignature diet.” Rather, different foods and supplements based on different profiles. For instance, if one person’s largest area is their stomach, they would need a different diet than if someone’s largest area is their thighs.

We don’t use it as a stand-alone strategy. We do combine it with a very thorough questionnaire of symptoms, and occasionally blood work, but it is a tool in our toolbox.

So how do we use biosignature? First of all, you already know that if you’re not assessing, you are guessing, so we do a biosignature profile of our clients every 2 weeks. Why? Because as you lose body fat, your hormonal profile will also change. And just because you had a certain profile when you first started does not mean that that’s still your profile 4, 6,  or 8 weeks down the line.

After all, we’ve all been in a place where we get on a program, and it works great, but then, we hit a plateau. The program that got us pretty good results is no longer working. So we know that something should change. Biosignature gives us an indication as to when to change, and what to change.

I’ll use a practical example. Let’s say that a person’s highest measurement is their belly. That would indicate an issue with cortisol. So with a profile like that, here would be our recommendations:

• Lots of sleep 9-10 hours per day
• Light exercise. Very light cardio, not exceeding 60% of the maximal heart rate
• Light strength training. Lower repetitions.
• Food: identify and remove food sensitivities
• Supplements: magnesium, B complex, and vitamin C

But, what if, on the other hand, the biggest issue is buns and thighs? Then our recommendations would be drastically different. Here’s what we would recommend:

• Intense cardio. Interval training, 2-3 times per week.
• Moderate to high repetitions in strength training, like 8-20. Short rest periods between exercises.
• Foods: emphasize broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage
• Supplements: DIM, CDG, grapefruit extract, and resveratrol.

Once we have information from the symptom questionnaire, we can refine these recommendations even more, but this would be a good starting point.

Can You Change Where Your Body Stores Fat?

Having read that information above – that where you store body fat tells you about your hormonal profile, you might be thinking “if you can change your hormones, can you change where your body stores fat?”

And the answer is “somewhat.” Can it be done? Possibly. For example, we know that as women go through menopause, their fat redistributes from the buns and thighs to the belly.

We also see “moon face” in people with Cushing’s Disease, where excess fat is stored in the face.

But these are not deliberate choices that people make, with the outright goal of changing where their body stores fat. 

Conceivably, it’s possible with nutrition and supplementation, although nothing is as powerful as hormones. If you’re a male with low testosterone, getting testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) will help, and if you’re a postmenopausal woman, storing fat primarily in her belly, but want to shift it towards the lower body, increasing estrogen and/or progesterone levels can help if you’re low in them for your age.

Real Life Examples of Biosignature Modulation Results

You’ve read about our case studies, how we’re able to get unusually good results with our clients, like:

How Lynn Lost 14 Pounds, in 10 Weeks, at Age 70

How Dr. Moe Lost 32 Pounds of Fat

How Dr. Cliff Got TV-Ready in 7 Weeks

…and others.

Why? Because we measure our clients every 2 weeks, and make adjustments when things aren’t going the way they should. And very rarely do things go the way they should.