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Body Composition – Optimize Your Power

Most people want more muscle and less fat. They think that if their weight stays the same, they’re exercising hard, and they’re eating what they want, their athletic skills will reach the next level. Unfortunately, the bathroom scale only shows how much is in the body, not what it’s composed of. Maintaining a stable weight doesn’t guarantee a strong athletic performance.

Over the course of a season, an athlete’s overall weight may stay the same, so they assume their body’s the same as it was at the beginning of the season. Not necessarily. Although weight may not fluctuate, body composition can change, decreasing the muscle strength and increasing the risk of injury.

A study of Australian rugby players showed that before the season started and while the level of training as highest, the players had the lowest amounts of body fat and the highest levels of muscular power. As the season progressed, the percentage of body fat increased, their muscular strength decreased, and their rate of injury increased. Researchers said that their muscular strength decreased, because the end of the season their training sessions were less rigorous and less frequent as their game time increased.

Another common mistake with watching the bathroom scale too much, most often made by female athletes, is the tendency to lose too much fat. Cutting out too many fats decreases the body’s power and increases the risk of disease and injury. However, maintaining a balanced body composition maximizes your body’s performance.

Many people mistake thinness with leanness. Thinness is weighing less than the recommended values in a height to weight table. Leanness refers to the amounts of muscle, bone, and fat compared to your body weight. Some lean individuals may weigh more than the recommended amount according to some tables because they have a high muscle mass and low body fat.

By understanding your body composition and monitoring your training and diet, you’ll be able to maximize your muscle strength and minimize your risk of injury.

The body is composed of water, protein, minerals, and fat. Sports nutritionists tend to divide these into fat and fat-free categories.

Fat	Fat Free
Essential fats	Water
Storage fats	Protein
	Minerals

Optimal body fat percentages vary based on age, sex, sport, and ethnicity. In general, body fat percentages in male athletes ranges between 5-13% and women athletes vary between 12-22%. The body composition measurements can reveal which athletes are starving themselves to maintain a low body weight instead of training in a healthy way.

At Athelites, we measure body fat percentages using skin fold calipers. Because we measure and save the percentages from many athletes, we’re able to suggest ideal body fat percentages for men and women in a number of sports. When you get your athelites rating, you’ll also see the body composition measurement of an ideal athlete in your sport. No one’s ideal, but the information is still very helpful.

If you’re an athlete serious about optimizing your body’s strength, you’ll regularly use body composition rather than the bathroom scale to determine your exercise and diet regimen.

Related articles :

Athletic Nutrition for Peak Performance
How to Max Your Energy with Carbs
Max Your Muscles with Protein

Written By Terri Pilcher

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