Body Comp

Body composition is one of five health related fitness components. This component refers to the ration of lean body mass to fat. Fat is necessary for organs to carry out their functions. Fat cells are excellent for storing energy, because unlike the rest of the cells in our body, fat cells do not preform cellular respiration, therefore they do not use any of the energy they stored. For millions of years our body’s ability to store energy as fat has been key to our survival. The creation of supermarkets and restaurants have given us the opportunity to over indulge with such an abundance of food at our finger tips, and with increasingly sedentary lifestyles that have been encouraged by desk jobs, automobiles, and electronics; maintaining a health body composition has never been such an issue. Having to little body fat can be just as unhealthy as having to much body fat, and being outside of our body’s happy median in either direction can have serious adverse health effects. Health related conditions associated with too high a percentage of body fat include; hypertension, osteoarthritis, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, and some forms of cancer. Health conditions associated with an extremely low percent body fat include; dehydration, malnutrition, heart disease, liver disease, infertility, kidney disease, osteoporosis, lowered immune function, and personality changes.
Your probably wondering what are the health body fat ranges, well:For men For Women

Anorexic > 5 % Anorexic > 12 %

Healthy 5% – 20% Healthy 13% -25%

Overweight 20% – 25% Overweight 25% – 30%

Obese < 25% Obese < 30%

Before we discuss how to measure our body fat lets understand what it is and what it does

When we ingest food our stomach digests the food and absorbs the nutrients into our blood, it floats around until it is either used or stored. Proteins are broken down into amino acids and used to repair body tissue. Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose (simple form of sugar) and is used for immediate energy. Anything that is not readily used is converted to fat. Fat is such a good way to store energy because gram for gram, fat can store 9 calories, where as carbohydrates and proteins only storage 4 calories. So a pound of fat can fuel your body twice as long as and extra pound of tissue. Most people refer to calories as energy, but actually a calorie is a measurement of heat. It takes one calorie to raise one gram of water one degree Celsius. Now imagine our body as furnaces, your body stays warm whether your awake or not, the more fuel you burn the warmer you get. Heat is a by product of a chemical reaction in our body which produce energy. Your body will produce 100 calories of heat when transforming the amount of energy need to move your body 1 mile. Now considering one pound of fat has the potential of producing 3500 calories. If you were to walk 35 mile theoretically it would have cost your body 1 lb of fat. Now that we know what fat does, and how we store and use it, how can we find out if our body is carrying around the optimal amount.

There are several different methods used to calculate body fat, some more practical than others.

Underwater weighing – since our body is made up of mostly water you can have yourself weighed in a tank of water, and with some calculations you can get the Most accurate reading of your body composition. +- 1-2% $$$$

Bod Pod – similar to underwater, they place you in a chamber and measure the amount of air displaced, calculate weight by volume to get you a very accurate measurement. +- 1-2% $$$

Calipers – A.K.A. the pinch or skin fold test, this is most effective when performed by another individual, preferably with a lot of experience. Basically it is a gauge used to measure the amount of surface body fat in certain areas which can be calculated to give an approximate body fat measurement. Also measurements will vary depending who preforms the test. +- 4-7% $$

Bio-electrical impedance – uses electrical impulses to measure resistance throughout the body. since we are made up of mostly water, and water conducts electricity this device can measure how easily electricity passes through our body giving us a fairly accurate reading. However hydration levels and how much food you eat can effect the reading. That is why it is best to use it the same time everyday, like first thing in the morning. +- 4-7% $ – $$

If you are interested in finding a keeping track of your body fat I would highly recommend a bio-electrical impedance device, because of its ease of use, cost, and reliability. There are several to choose from, some come integrated into a bathroom scale and others as a hand held monitor. They can be purchased from $50 – $200. If you’d like to purchase one or learn more, an affordable one can be found at testsymptomsathome.com

Heart Health

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US. Like any other muscle in the body, the heart must be regularly condition to maintain its healthy operation. In order to maintain a healthy heart it is recommended to increase your heart rate to 70 – 85 percent of your maximum heart rate for at least 20 minutes 3 – 5 times a week. As we age our heart’s ability to beat faster slowly digresses, so in order to find out your personal maximum heart rate you will need to subtract your age from 220. Therefore, a 40 year old persons heart theoretically cannot beat any faster the 180 beats per minute (bpm). In order to find your optimal training heart rate you must first find your resting heart rate (the best time to do this is when you first wake up). After you know your resting heart rate and maximum heart rate, you must subtract the two and multiply the difference by the percent of intensity desired. (eg. resting heart rate is 70, the difference is 110 bpm, times this number by the percent intensity .80 = 88) add this number back to your resting heart rate and that is your optimal training zone for cardiac conditioning. 70 + 88, 158 bpm is where a 40 year old with a resting heartbeat of 70bpm will want to train to give their heart a good workout

220 – age 220 – 40 maximum heart rate 180
MHR – resting heart rate 180 – 70 heart range 110
Range * % intensity 110 * .80 85% intensity 88
Intensity + resting rate 88 + 70 cardio zone 158

It is very important that talk to your doctor before beginning any cardiac conditioning program and schedule a check up as his/her recommendation. If you are trying to lose weight, you want to train at 55 – 70% of your maximum heart rate for 40 minutes or more. Obviously you will burn more calories training at a higher heart rate then with a less intense workout. The difference between the cardio zone and weight loss zone is that you can train for a long period of time at a lower intensity, where as if you were to train at 85% intensity your heart would get a good workout, but you would most likely wear yourself out before you begin to burn your fat resources. With all that out of the way the next question is, how are you going to keep track of your heart rate? There is two ways to do this. First is the old fashion way, checking your pulse by hand, this can be difficult and bothersome in the middle of your workout. A more practical method is by using a heart rate monitor. There many you can choose from, basic ones can look like a watch and come with a strap that you wear around your chest which relays a signal to your watch. Most of these systems are compatible with commercial machines (eg. gym treadmills). Other more expensive models can record a wide variety of data which can be uploaded to your PC to display your training progress. The most popular brand is probably POLAR, you can research this exercise equipment at www.polar.com and choose which one is most appropriate for you.

Walking for fitness

Get moving! Walking is a great form of exercise that can yield significant results. With the changing lifestyles of the 21 century, people are moving less and less. Deskjobs, mass transit, delivery services, televisions, computers, video games, etc. Americans are proving themselves to be some of the worlds most inactive people. However a great way to make sure your walking enough, is carrying a pedometer. A pedometer is a little tool about the size of a small beeper which you attach to your belt and keeps a count of your steps. More advanced pedometers can estimate distance, and calories burned. These can be purchased for as little as $1.00 www.PedometersUSA.com

You might be thinking to yourself, but I don’t even break a sweat walking. Doesnt matter! a mile is a mile, and it takes roughly 100 calories to move the average person one mile. So whether you run an 8 min. mi. or walk an 18 min. mi., you’ll burn a 100 calories either way. The recommended number of steps for health is 6,000 and 10,000 for weight loss, but if you go over don’t worry, as far as I know I don’t think its possible walk too much. ;~)

First Blog

This is my very first blog, hard to tell what all the hype is about. Maybe after I start getting some responses I will feel my efforts have not gone unnoticed. What is a blog, why has this so quickly become an everyday tribune for so many people. Well from what I’ve learned so far, a blog is simply an online diary, or a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page. These pages are typically updated frequently and reflect the ideas and philosophies of its author (Dictionary.com)

As a Phys ed. teacher studying integrated technology it seems most appropriate that I use this powerful tool to educate people on ways of incorporating technology into their lifestyle with the disposition of improving health and overall well-being.