| -- End Ad Box ---> | | | | Your answer will be your approximate body fat |
| What Does It Mean to Be Lean? | | | | percentage, if you are a female. |
| How to Evaluate Your Body Composition | | | | At-Home Body-Fat Test for Males |
| Many people believe that scale weight is the | | | | 1. Multiply your hips (inches)____ X 1.4 = ____ |
| primary determinant of whether or not they are | | | | minus 2 = ____ (A) |
| fit. That belief has resisted not only the test of | | | | 2. Multiply your waist (inches) ____ X 0.72 = |
| time but a lot of the true scientific research | | | | ____ minus 4 = ____ (B) |
| behind weight loss and weight management. The | | | | 3. Add A plus B = ____ (C) |
| reason for this is that many high-profile health | | | | 4. Multiply your height (inches)____ X 0.61 = |
| professionals continue to use scale weight as the | | | | ____ (D) |
| measure of successful dieting and health instead | | | | 5. Subtract D from C, then subtract 10 more: C |
| of the true gold standard of weight loss: body | | | | — D — 10 = _____ percent |
| composition. | | | | This is your approximate body fat if you are a |
| Whether your ultimate goal is to lose weight, | | | | male. |
| improve your general health, or to simply have a | | | | If you wish to calculate how many pounds of fat |
| more toned and attractive body, you need to | | | | and how many pounds of lean body weight you |
| understand that your primary focus should be on | | | | carry, use the following two formulas: |
| body compositionyour ratio of fat to lean | | | | Total weight (lbs.) ____ X percent body fat |
| tissuerather than just on how much you | | | | ____ = ____ total pounds of fat |
| weigh. This article offers a definition of good body | | | | Total weight ____ minus total pounds of fat |
| composition and gives guidelines on how to | | | | ____ = ____ total pounds of lean weight |
| evaluate your own body makeupprofessionally | | | | Knowing how many pounds of body fat versus |
| or at home. | | | | lean muscle you have can be a great motivator |
| What Comprises a Lean Body? | | | | to make a body composition change. |
| It is a myth that low scale weight automatically | | | | Getting Your Body Composition Evaluated by a |
| means lean. The world of dieters is filled with | | | | Professional |
| what I refer to as skinny fat people, those | | | | If you prefer to have a body composition test |
| who have managed to reduce their scale weight | | | | conducted by a trained technician, other options, in |
| considerably through calorically-deprived weight | | | | order of price and accuracy, include hydrostatic |
| loss programs but at the sacrifice of lean muscle. | | | | weighing, bioelectrical impedance, and skinfold |
| The body requires a basic amount of calories | | | | measurement with a caliper. |
| every day to repair and maintain lean tissue and | | | | Although it is the most expensive test, costing |
| to keep one’s metabolism efficient at | | | | between $100 and $150, hydrostatic weighing is |
| burning fat. When a person is eating the correct | | | | currently considered the gold standard of body |
| type and amount of protein, fat, and | | | | composition. This technique is based upon the |
| carbohydrate daily to support their metabolism, | | | | assumption that the density and specific gravity |
| they will drop body fat and build and maintain a | | | | of muscle is greater than that of fat. For this |
| healthy percentage of lean muscle, even if they | | | | reason, lean tissue should sink in water and fat |
| are overweight to begin with. | | | | tissue should float. By comparing a test subject's |
| When a person is eating too few calories to repair | | | | mass measured while under water with his mass |
| lean tissue and support metabolic function, the | | | | measured while out of water, a technician can |
| body will have to get its energy sources from | | | | calculate your body composition rather accurately, |
| somewhereit will literally cannibalize its own | | | | within plus or minus 3% of your true body |
| muscle tissue to feed and repair itself. A person | | | | composition. You can usually find a facility for |
| will lose scale weight on this type of diet, but it will | | | | hydrostatic weighing at a local university, hospital |
| be the wrong kind of weight. So, instead of being | | | | wellness center, college, health club, or fitness |
| firm and svelte, these individuals will look flabby | | | | center. |
| and gaunt. | | | | Bioelectrical impedance is based on the fact that |
| The correct definition of having a lean body is | | | | lean tissue, because of its higher water content, is |
| how much you weigh per square inch. A pound of | | | | more conductive of electrical current than fat |
| fat is three times the volume of a pound of lean | | | | tissue. A technician attaches a bioimpedance |
| tissue. Muscle tissue is very dense and compact. | | | | meter to the subject’s hands and feet and |
| So, you could literally lose five pounds of body fat | | | | passes current through the body via electrodes. |
| and gain five pounds of lean tissue and have a | | | | The more lean tissue a person has, the greater |
| much leaner and tighter body with no scale weight | | | | his or her conductive potential. Compared to |
| differential at all! | | | | hydrostatic weighing, there is a plus or minus 4% |
| Below is a chart defining healthy and unhealthy | | | | margin of error, if done correctly. |
| levels of body fat. | | | | These days, with the advanced technology |
| BODY FAT PERCENTAGE | | | | available, even some bathroom scales are |
| LEVEL MEN WOMEN | | | | equipped with bioelectrical impedence devices that |
| Athletic, very lean 10.0 or lower 15.0 or lower | | | | can measure your body fat. Unfortunately, these |
| Good/lean 10.1 to 15.0 15.1 to 18.0 | | | | scales can only measure you vertically and are |
| Average 15.1 to 20 18.1 to 22.0 | | | | generally not very accurate. It is much better to |
| Fair/Fat 20.1 to 24.0 22.1 to 27.0 | | | | have this test done by an expert with proper |
| Obese Above 24.0 Above 27.0 | | | | equipment. |
| How to Have Your Body Composition Evaluated | | | | Skinfold measurement with a caliper is the most |
| If you do not want to go to the expense of | | | | convenient method for measuring body fat since |
| having your body composition tested by a | | | | it is low cost (about $5 to $15) and is readily |
| professional, there is a simple at-home test that | | | | available at your local hospitals, physical therapy |
| you can perform that is reasonably accurate. | | | | centers, health clubs, schools, universities, and |
| There are both female and male versions of this | | | | through the offices of exercise physiologists, and |
| test. | | | | dietitians. The assumption behind this test is that |
| At-home Body Composition Test for Females | | | | subcutaneous body fat is proportional to overall |
| 1. Multiply your hips (inches) _____ X 1.4 = | | | | body fat. Therefore, the body fat to lean muscle |
| _____ minus 1 = ______ (A) | | | | ratio can be calculated by measuring anywhere |
| 2. Multiply your waist (inches) ____ X 0.72 = | | | | from four to eight sites of skin thickness and |
| ____ minus 2 = ______ (B) | | | | plugging the numbers into a mathematical formula. |
| 3. Add A plus B = ________ (C) | | | | This test has an error rate of plus or minus 5%. |
| 4. Multiply your height (inches) ______ X 0.61 = | | | | Remember, the scale can never tell you the |
| _______ (D) | | | | whole story. The true definition of what it means |
| 5. Subtract D from C, then subtract 10 more: C | | | | to be lean is organically centered in a healthy body |
| — D — 10 = _______% | | | | composition. |