Body Composition In Action

The following is an actual example of how the Body Composition Calculator can be used to make intelligent adjustments to an Exercise Rx:

History: Jeff * has been exercising sporadically for the last 6 months. He decided to make a commitment to his fitness and started using Lock On Fitness to help him reach his goals of losing weight and lowering his blood pressure. He took an initial measurement of his body composition and tracks changes once a week. His results are as follows:

Week	%BF	LBM	Fat	Adjustment
1	-.56	+.4	-1.4	Increase Time Slightly Change T = 20 to T = 30 I = Zone 1 - 20% / Zone 2 = 80% (Unchanged)
2	-.48	+1.8	-.8	Good Results - No Change .
3	-1.06	+.8	-2.8	Great - Increase Time & Intensity T = 45 I = Zone 2 - 75% / Zone 3 - 20% / Zone 4 - 5%
4	-.2	-1.5	-1	Lost LBM - Indicates Over-Exercise Reduce Time & Intensity T = 30 I = Zone 1 - 10% / Zone 2 - 80% / Zone 3 - 10%

Things were going great until the adjustment made at week 3. Jeff's body just wasn't ready for that big of an increase this early. As a result, his muscles didn't have time to recover and build up before the next workout. Even though he still lost fat, he also lost 1.5 lbs of calorie-burning muscle. This knowledge helped Jeff make an adjustment in his Exercise Rx to reduce Intensity and Time. His primary zone is still Zone 2 (80%) but he has brought back some Zone 1 (10%) and still allows a little Zone 3 (10%). This is the intermediate step he probably should have adjusted to in week 3.

If Jeff had used just his weight to measure his success he would have thought that everything was on track - he had lost a total of 4.5 lbs in four weeks. In fact, this may have been a little discouraging because he would not have realized that he was also gaining Lean Body Mass; progress may have seemed slow. If he had used just his waist size to measure his success he would have seen a 1.5 inch reduction. Either way, he would not have even known that an adjustment was needed after week 3. Only by using the Body Composition Calculator did he know that he was losing muscle from over-exercising. He was then able to use this information to make the appropriate adjustment.

Read Body Composition Explained.

Print the Body Composition Form.

Use the Body Composition Calculator.

* Name has been changed
%BF = % Body Fat
LBM = Lean Body Mass, Unit of Measure is pounds (lbs)
Fat Unit of Measure is pounds (lbs)
Frequency remains consistant at 6 days per week throughout