Body Composition & Resting Metabolic Rate

[PhDPepper1111]

Was able to do a Bod Pod and resting metabolic rate test last Friday and learned a few things!

1. Body Composition
There are a lot of ways you can estimate body fat. The true gold standard remains water immersion, with Bod Pod and DEXA being effective alternatives (for a link to 5 of the most common measures check out: https://www.medicinenet.com/most_acc...at/article.htm)
I did a Bod Pod which uses air displacement/volume instead of water immersion. I have done three so far - one in Oct, one in Feb, one last Friday.
I was pleased to see I am still making progress in losing fat and gaining lean muscle mass but it had slowed down quite a bit from my first recomposition cycle.
The technician explained that I was actually eating too few calories for too long (as I had surmised in my recent meet report), but also said I was eating too little healthy fats. She couldn't really explain why. I may eventually want to check in with a nutritionist, but the basics as I understand it is that I was getting too little healthy fat, so my system kept downregulating (adjusting) my metabolism to try to hang on to fat so it was actually harder to get my body to burn fat since I was giving it waay too little fat in my diet. Over time this resulted in less fat loss, not more.

2. Resting Metabolic Rate test
There are calculators you can do yourself given you have knowledge of things like lean muscle mass, but a more straightforward way is to do it at a medical center where they measure your resting energy use by capturing CO2 etc in exhalations (e.g., https://healthcare.utah.edu/wellness...bolic-rate.php)
The RMR surprised me a little - I was on the high end of metabolism - mostly with the result that once again the tech explained that I really needed to be eating more calories than I had thought I needed when I decided to start a bulk. They asked me my weight goals (gain 10-15lbs) and noted the calories I needed to stay the same weight, calories to gain, and estimated calories needed given my current activity levels/exercise.

Good news I guess - always fun to eat more, but mostly helpful in seeing how I can set myself up better for long term success in my body composition and powerlifting goals.

If you haven't, I'd highly recommend measuring both your body fat and RMR as accurately as possible. Many doctors will refer you for it - and ensure it is covered by insurance - because there is a lot of data in the efficacy of these methods in assisting prevention.

For me, I'm excited about the next few months of training and seeing what happens!

[Forelight]

Thanks for this.

[PhDPepper1111]

Thanks for this.

Yessir!