Measure Body Composition, Not Weight
Are you still looking at the old height-weight charts to determine if you are at an "ideal" weight? Quit! I am in great shape now at 5’9" and weighing in at near 200 pounds. According to the Body Mass Index I am considered grade II obesity, about 50 pounds overweight. At 12% bodyfat I am not quite ready to jump up on a stage and flex my muscles, but I am quite lean by most standards. Years of research have shown us that body composition measurement is much more important than weight because the scale tells us nothing about our percentage of body fat. So chunk that scale and check out these techniques to determine your body composition.
Body composition is your body's ratio of fat tissue to lean muscle mass. There are various ways to determine your body composition, including hydrostatic weighing, skin-fold calipers, and estimates with a tape measure.
At the BioFitness Health Club Web site,
http://www.biofitness.com/bodyfat.html, you can type in some measurements and have your body fat calculated. It may not be 100% accurate, but it's a starting point and it's free.
A more accurate way to test your body composition is with skin-fold calipers. These calipers measure the thickness of your fat stores by measuring a fold of skin and fat at various sites on the body. The Caliper of my choice has always been the Lange Skinfold Caliper. Outside hydrostatic weighing, it is the most accurate method.
Hydrostatic weighing can be performed in some health clubs, hospitals and universities. Hydrostatic measurements are based on the assumption that density and specific gravity of lean muscle tissue is greater than that of fat tissue, and that fat tissue will "float" in water. By comparing your weight underwater and out of the water, body composition can be calculated.
As you know…
Muscle tissue needs more calories than fat to sustain itself. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn all the time—even when you are sleeping!
Be healthy!
Jean-Paul Francoeur
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