Body Composition: Why the number on the scale is meaningless.
We had the body composition testing truck out a few weeks ago at the gym, and several of you went in for the dunk challenge. This test epitomizes the important fact that your focus should be on your body composition and your physical performance, not your weight on the scale.
Here’s a prime real-world example:
JL has been active her whole life. When she was a college freshman, JL was a very lean competitive distance runner, averaging 40-60 miles per week. She also completed 100 pushups and 300 situps religiously 3-5 days per week. (she-crazy!)
She had her body composition measured at her college campus fitness fair, with the following stats:
Body Weight: 118 lbs
Lean Body Mass: 104 lbs
Fat Mass: 14 lbs
Body Fat: 12%
At this time in her life, she’s pretty damn fast and pretty good at doing a lot of pushups and situps.
Fast forward 13 years: JL has put on a fair amount of weight (most of it within the last 12 months). JL now stays active by CrossFitting 5-6 days per week and running 2-3 days per week. She jumps, sprints, pulls, pushes, squats, and plays with something heavy whenever and wherever she can, sometimes even on her lunch break (but she ditched the crazy pushup and situp routine years ago). Although JL has gained 12 pounds, most of her clothes fit just fine…admittedly, some of her pants are a little tighter in the butt/thigh and her dress shirts are a little tight in the shoulders…interestingly, her waist is the exact same. So what gives?
Without considering body composition, JL might be freaking out about transitioning into a blah 30-something chub-a-lub, but check out her last body composition testing stats:
Body Weight: 130 lbs
Lean Body Mass: 116 lbs
Fat Mass: 14 lbs
Body Fat: 10.9%
So what does that mean? JL’s fat mass stayed the same, but her lean (aka-muscle) mass increased by 12 pounds. That means although JL is 12 pounds heavier, her body fat % is slightly less, and every single pound she gained is PURE MUSCLE.
Yes, that ba-donka-donk ass is made of steel.
Now, go play with some heavy sh*t.
WOD: OHS / Box Jumps / clapping pushups
3 comments. Leave new
I wonder who this JL chick is…
here are my stats:
before CF
weight: 108lbs
bf%: 24%
push ups/pull ups: some
after CF (2 years)
weight: 128lbs
bf%: 10.9
push ups/pull ups: a shit ton
I bet she’s awesome!