Body Composition

Measuring your body fat percentage is the most accurate way to track your results. Your body composition shows how lean you are becoming, i.e. what percentage of your body is fat and what percentage of your body is lean mass. Your aim is to increase your lean mass and reduce your body fat. Body composition is the best indicator of how well you are aging. You can expect an average body fat reduction of 1 to 2% per month.

Body composition:

• Is a measure of how lean you are.
• Shows how much of your body is lean mass and how much is fat.
• Is measured by your body fat percentage.
• Is the single best indicator of how successfully you are aging.
• Is a more accurate and sophisticated indicator of your health than height and weight charts and the scale. The scale tells you nothing about the composition of your total body weight, so it is very misleading.

Lean Mass: Is the weight of your muscles, bones, organs and fluids of your body. It contributes to your strength, structure and shape.

Body fat percentage: Is the ratio of the amount of lean mass (muscles, bones, organs, and fluids of your body) and the amount of fat on your body.

Fat: Is dead weight that serves no physiological purpose.
• Is where you store the toxins in your body.
• Particularly abdominal fat contributes to disease and is the number-one indicator of hyperinsulinemia (over-carbing causing overproduction of insulin). Hyperinsulinemia is the number one predictor of heart disease.
• Reduces your physical, mental and emotional performance.
• Ruins your body's shape.

Your Aim: Preserve and enhance lean mass and reduce body fat to optimal levels.

What is Optimal Body composition? Men: 15% body fat or less

Women: 22% body fat or less.

The lower your body fat percentage, the healthier you will become. You cannot get too lean. (Average body composition in US today: Men – 26%, Women – 36%). For an A+ body, men should aim for a body fat percentage between 8-12%, and women should aim for: 12-18%.

How do you measure body composition?
The most accurate way to test body composition is to measure body fat percentage using skin fold calipers. You can obtain skin fold calipers from EnergyFirst.com. Have someone test the amount of subcutaneous fat (fat below the skin) at 7 different sites on your body. Use the body composition manual included with the skin fold calipers as a guide to accurate skin fold testing. You will enter those measurements into the table at EnergyFirst.com to calculate your total body fat percentage.