| Body
Fat Percentage
What Gets Measured Gets Managed
An easy way to know more about your body, your weight,
the amount of fat
you have and what you need to gain or lose to stay healthy
and fit, discover it by measuring your Body
Fat Percentage. After all What gets measured
gets managed. And managing not only the weight
but also your body fat will assure you many satisfying
benefits.
Whether you're on a weight management program (weight
loss or gain) or you are an athlete determined to take
care of your health and well being, calculating and
controlling your body fat percentage will certainly
make you healthier than before.
One thing's certain - The Net need not provide
more statistics
about the negative consequences of excess body fat.
Like our magazines, newspapers
and television, web sites are littered with these facts.
So in this article we'll concentrate more on the benefits
you can gain from determining your body fat percentage
on an ongoing basis.
Weight Management Programs
Are you are on a weight loss or a weight gain program?
If yes, then calculating your body fat percentage before,
during and after the program is a vital aspect you should
insist on.
Research shows that many fad diets continued with little
or no exercise can cause a person to lose as much muscle
tissues as fat. And there is a good chance that this
person will return to his pre-diet weight only to gain
back additional fat and fewer lean muscles. Now he will
have the same weight but a higher body fat percentage
and less lean muscle mass.
The important point to remember is-
Weighing scales will not show any of these changes.
Measuring your body fat percentage will give you a clearer
picture. So measure
it and you can manage it well. If you notice you are
losing considerable lean tissue mass as well as fat,
you can take appropriate steps to adjust your program.
As with any fitness test this is one of the most powerful
qualities of calculating body fat percentage. Go through
this quick example:
Sam follows a proper exercise and nutrition program.
After a month of dedication and determination she notices
that her weight has hardly changed.
Not getting discouraged Sam has her body fat percentage
measured.
Before her program Sam weighed 150lbs with a body fat
percentage of 30%. After 6 weeks she weighed 148lbs.
But her body fat percentage has dropped to 26%.
The result:
Over 6.5lbs of highly-motivating fat loss! And she
has gained 4.5lbs of healthy lean muscle. This situation
is so common that you should never gauge the success
of a weight loss program with the bathroom scales alone.
And it's similar for someone undergoing a weight gain
program. In this case any additional weight should come
from lean muscle mass.
So what other benefits does knowing your body fat percentage
give you? Let's look at the long term picture and consider
your health and well being.
General Health and Well Being
It would be easy to slip into all
the negative consequences of excess body fat here. But
let's stay on a positive track.
Why is calculating your body fat percentage so crucial
to general health and successful aging?
Studies show that a typical person living in the western
world steadily loses muscle and gains fat starting at
age 20. What does that exactly mean?
Well, even if this person maintains a steady weight
throughout his life there's a good chance of his body
fat percentage increasing and lean tissue mass decreasing
once he reaches 20.
Traditionally aging and all its physical frailties were
seen as inevitable. Not any more.
Most gerontologists (gerontology is the scientific study
associated with aging) agree that simple lifestyle changes
can have a dramatic effect on the aging process. The
loss of functional strength, higher body fat percentage,
lower bone density, flexibility reduction and decline
in aerobic power are all under our control.
So, coming back to the main point, 'What gets measured
gets managed'. Measure your body fat percentage regularly
and many of the detrimental signs of old age won't quietly
creep up on you. You'll be able to see first hand, the
changes occurring in your body and if you choose you
can do something about it.
Before we move on to optimum body fat percentages and
the effective ways to measure it, there's one more area
that needs discussion.
Athletic Performance
It's a known fact that excess body fat hinders performance
in sports.
Talented sports men and women come in all shapes and sizes.
Even if they are in the same sport, their body structure
varies from one person to the other. What you should remember
is that it's not the weight but the body fat percentage
which brings about all the difference in their performance.
Excess body fat can lead to injury, non adherence to training
and result in overall reduced athletic performance. Similarly
a high body fat percentage acts as "dead weight"
reducing speed and efficiency of movement. Being a sports
man and not being able to compete with others in the group
is frustrating.
Even those athletes who want to gain weight will harm
their performance by increasing body fat too much.
Calculate your own body fat percentage and then compare
it to other athletes in your sport. It can give you a
better indication of whether you could make improvements
and improve your level of competency. Let's learn more
about the body fat percentage.
Your Ideal Body Fat Percentage
The perfect body
fat percentage does NOT exist. Age and gender make
a big contribution to the ideal value, but most importantly
Everyone is an individual. Some people might feel and
perform better at a higher or lower body fat percentage
than others of the same age and sex. And that's why Ranges
and guidelines exist.
Now, have you worked out the ideal range for yourself?
Great. You are probably aware of the risks of being
significantly above the upper limit of this range. But
what do you know about being at the lower end of the
scale?
Lower is Not Necessarily Better
A certain amount of body fat is vital for the body to
function normally. In fact striving for a body fat percentage
that is too low can be dangerous. Let's discuss why?
Measuring your body fat percentage calculates your TOTAL
body fat. This total body fat can be split into 2 categories:
Storage Fat -- This consists mainly of fat deposited
just under the skin or subcutaneous fat. Storage fat for
men and women is fairly similar. For the average man 12%
of bodyweight is storage fat and for the average woman
15% of bodyweight is storage fat.
Essential Body Fat -- For the body to function
normally and healthily a certain amount of body fat is
required. This is called essential fat. For women the
average amount of essential fat is 12% of bodyweight and
for men it is 3%.
Trying to achieve a fat percentage that is lower than
your required body percentage will lead to various complications
in health. A certain amount of body fat is essential to
protect the chest and abdomen.
So, always aim to stay within the range and enjoy a
positive healthy life.
About the Author
Chris Read, An associated editor to Hateweight.com.
|
