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While working out this morning, I asked one of the trainers to measure my body-fat percentage. The guy used a pair of calibers to take measurements of skin-fold thicknesses at four points: bicep, tricep, shoulder-blade, and hip bone. I was expecting him to report ~15%, but when he said my body-fat was 24% .. well, I found that hard to swallow. Appears I had unrealistic expectations. I mean, 24% is almost considered unhealthy. Now, I admit to having a gut (takes a big hammer to drive a big nail), but 24% still seems high. ••• today's entry continues here ••• Basically, men, it seems, need a minimum of 5% body-fat, which is consider essential. Athletes typically have 6-12% body-fat; and percentages between 13 & 17% are considered fit. 18-25% is deemed "acceptable," and over that, well, you're pretty much considered a porker (unhealthy, obese). So, this guy was telling me I was living on the outskirts of Porkersville. If you weigh 200 pounds, and have 25% body-fat, you're carrying around 50 lbs of fat. Fifty pounds.. that's a lot of fat. Next time I'll ask one of the other trainers to measure me. Maybe this guy reported artificially high results in the hope of $coring a training gig with me. (He asked if I needed a trainer.) Soon however, I got curious and started asking other people, who looked particularly lean/fit, if they knew their body-fat percentage. Surprisingly, most did. None however, reported anything near 24%. I didn't ask any girls cuz the question sounded too much like a pick-up line. "Hey, babe,... " But I was genuinely curious. Since muscle burns more calories than fat, it's often a case of the fat get fatter .. (just like the rich get richer & the poor get poorer, cuz money makes more money, and debt makes more debt). Hundreds of years ago (oddly enough), fat was considered beautiful, cuz it signified wealth. Now it just signifies .. uh, fat. Some good work-out program links (if you're interested) are here and here. This is interesting. I went to high school with Rick Valente, from the Body Shaping TV program. He dated my cousin Diane for a while (who lived upstairs), but we were never close friends. He was a year behind me, but we had the same gym class (which included weight-training). Even back then, as junior in high school, he was extremely muscular. I mean, nobody was even close to him. So genetics must've played a part. His triceps were particularly impressive. Unbelievable, actually. But he was also quite knowledgable. I remember upperclassmen asking him for advice about their work-out routines ("You're over-training," he told one guy, who wanted to be a marine, and was working out two hours a day (every day), "You need to give your muscles a chance to rest, so they can grow."). Rickie was cool, but he had an older brother who was pretty crazy (wild). I forget his name. He was much smaller, tho. Chaz! His name was Chaz. Chaz Valente. (Had to dust off a few brain cells.) Wonder what ever became of Chaz. Rick's BodyShaping show is actually pretty good. I like how he has an older women (Mary Jean) as one of his work-out partners (to demonstrate proper technique). They're not all hotties, with flawless bods. And they visit great locations, too, such as various tropical islands. Fun show. He always knew how to have fun. For more along thee lines, here's a Google search pre-configure for the query: body fat calipers measure loss calorie muscle weight diet |
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