That's a title of a Radio head song from the album Kid A. It became sort of my theme song in the gym this year. I thought the idea of using this song to lose body fat was sort of funny.
In January of 2009, I posted the following:
I wrote in a previous post of my resolution to drop 5% of my body fat this year. I actually didn't have a clue what my body fat percentage was when I wrote that piece, nor was I sure how realistic dropping 5% for a guy like me was.
Friday, I purchased a body composition analysis from Brian and his mobile body fat testing lab www.BodyFatTest.com. It's a mobile lab in a semi-trailer truck with a submersion tank in it. Brian had me strip to my bathing suit, submerge myself in the tank and blow as much air as I could out of my lungs. He took four measurements to assure accuracy, then a computer spits out a fairly impressive body composition summary. I had a couple of pieces of good news. First one is, I'm taller than I thought I was (5 ft. 11 and a quarter inches). Second, my body fat for my age is closer to Good, placing me in the 55th percentile. If I want to drop 5% of my body fat, that would bring me to a weight of 176.5, but that is if all of the weight I lose is fat and not muscle.
I took another body fat test from Brian on January 6th, 2010 and I was pleasantly surprised.
Here are the actual results from that 2009 and 2010 body fat tests
Date--------Weight-----Lean Lb.-----Fat Lb.-----Body Fat%
1/16/2009---187.8------149.95-------37.85-------20.1
1/06/2010---172.2------151.85-------25.35-------14.3
---------------(-15.6)-----(+1.9)-------(-12.5)-----(-5.8)
Like I said in the previous post, I wasn't really sure what dropping 5% of my body fat meant at the time. I know now that it is a pretty big deal. For men by age (40-49) 20.1% body fat is in the range between fair and good, specifically between the 50th and 55th percentile. 14.3% is in the excellent range, between the 85th and 90th percentile for my age group. And, keep in mind, for a man my age, if you drop below 6.6%, you are in danger of burning essential fat.
I feel good about what happened. When I was thinking about what made the change, part of it I have to attribute to some blood work I did and a prescription from my doctor for some hormones to put me back in balance. Another contributing factor was my regular attendance (every Monday night) at the West Seattle Martial Arts Club, a club that was started by a couple of disciples of Bruce Lee over 25 years ago. The Monday night core workout kicked my butt so badly I found myself highly motivated to go to the gym as often as I could on weekdays, so I wouldn't be in as much pain the next Monday. I've stuck with it, and now I am being asked to show some of the new guys the ropes.
For next year, my goal is simply to move in the right direction, and it actually is not that hard, because the good news from my body fat test has made me more motivated than ever to keep working out!
Showing posts with label Body Fat Testing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Body Fat Testing. Show all posts
Monday, February 01, 2010
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Following up on a New Year's Resolution
I wrote in a previous post of my resolution to drop 5% of my body fat this year. I actually didn't have a clue what my body fat percentage was when I wrote that piece, nor was I sure how realistic dropping 5% for a guy like me was.
Friday, I purchased a body composition analysis from Brian and his mobile body fat testing lab www.BodyFatTest.com. It's a mobile lab in a semi-trailer truck with a submersion tank in it. Brian had me strip to my bathing suit, submerge myself in the tank and blow as much air as I could out of my lungs. He took four measurements to assure accuracy, then a computer spits out a fairly impressive body composition summary. I had a couple of pieces of good news. First one is, I'm taller than I thought I was (5 ft. 11 and a quarter inches). Second, my body fat for my age is closer to Good, placing me in the 55th percentile. If I want to drop 5% of my body fat, that would bring me to a weight of 176.5, but that is if all of the weight I lose is fat and not muscle.
I was disappointed in what the BodyFatTest.com website had to offer. The site is pretty much a vehicle to sell a nutritional book and promote the franchising of the mobile testing labs. So, lacking direction from the site on how to achieve my body fat goal, I did some research and came up with a plan of my own.
My plan to break free from 5% of my body fat is to continue to hit the gym 4 to 5 days a week. I've been going first thing when I wake up in the morning. I sometimes don't get the 8.5 hours of sleep my body craves, but the endorphins and sense of accomplishment I feel for the rest of the day make up for it. I am using Bill Wilson's Body for Life www.bodyforlife.com workout, and it works well for me. I might work with a trainer as the year goes on, but I seem to be progressing well at this stage with the BFL workouts. I'm also consulting a nutritionist to help me eat the foods that will help me meet my goal. Finally, I'm rewarding myself with a massage at the end of each month as an incentive.
Friday, I purchased a body composition analysis from Brian and his mobile body fat testing lab www.BodyFatTest.com. It's a mobile lab in a semi-trailer truck with a submersion tank in it. Brian had me strip to my bathing suit, submerge myself in the tank and blow as much air as I could out of my lungs. He took four measurements to assure accuracy, then a computer spits out a fairly impressive body composition summary. I had a couple of pieces of good news. First one is, I'm taller than I thought I was (5 ft. 11 and a quarter inches). Second, my body fat for my age is closer to Good, placing me in the 55th percentile. If I want to drop 5% of my body fat, that would bring me to a weight of 176.5, but that is if all of the weight I lose is fat and not muscle.
I was disappointed in what the BodyFatTest.com website had to offer. The site is pretty much a vehicle to sell a nutritional book and promote the franchising of the mobile testing labs. So, lacking direction from the site on how to achieve my body fat goal, I did some research and came up with a plan of my own.
My plan to break free from 5% of my body fat is to continue to hit the gym 4 to 5 days a week. I've been going first thing when I wake up in the morning. I sometimes don't get the 8.5 hours of sleep my body craves, but the endorphins and sense of accomplishment I feel for the rest of the day make up for it. I am using Bill Wilson's Body for Life www.bodyforlife.com workout, and it works well for me. I might work with a trainer as the year goes on, but I seem to be progressing well at this stage with the BFL workouts. I'm also consulting a nutritionist to help me eat the foods that will help me meet my goal. Finally, I'm rewarding myself with a massage at the end of each month as an incentive.
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