Subject: My bodyopus experience.week3 Copyright Lyle McDonald 1996 Date: 1996/05/21
Prologue: Thought I'd address another topic with my pre-experience post. Several people have asked me about bodyfat measurement since the week 2 update. Here's how I'm doing it. I am using the generalized Jackson-Pollock equations for estimation of bodyfat. They rely on three sites (chest, abdomen and thigh for men and tricep, supra-iliac and thigh for women). The problem with most body fat prediction equations is they are very population specific. That is, if you have an equation developed with a sample of white males between the age of 20 and 30, you cannot get accurate estimates (although they will be consisten) for Asian women teenagers. The Jackson-Pollock equations are generalized estimation equations which give decent accuracy/consistency for most population groups. The site should be measured (for you home technicians) at the following locations: 1. Chest: A diagonal fold taken midway between the anterior axillary line and the nipple. 2. Abdomen: a horizontal fold taken 1 inch to the right of the umbilicus (weenie speak for the belly button) 3. Thigh: a vertical fold taken halfway between the hip and knee joints. 4. Tricep: a vertical fold on the back of the arm halfway between the olecranon and acromion process. 5. Supra-iliac: a diagonal fold taken above the crest of the ilium when an imaginary line would come down from the anterior axillary line. 6. Thigh for women: same. Basically, you must raise a double skinfold pulling the fat away from the muscle. This takes practice. Place the caliper about 1cm from your fingers and release the handles. Wait about 2 seconds and then take the reading. You should take the average of three readings and all should be withing 1-2 mm of each other. Also, you should release the fold between measurements to avoid compression of the skin. It is possible for males to measure themselves although it takes some practice. Abs and thigh are easy. Chest is tougher. Thanks to MF for explaining how to do it. Take the caliper in your right hand and extend you arm. Raise the skinfold with your left hand. By bending your elbow and working the trigger with the thumb of your right hand, you can take your own measurement. Girls are out of luck as it's impossible to do your own triceps skinfold. Oh, for the record, I'm using the Slimguide, cheap-ass looking plastic caliper. Yes, Lange calipers are nicer but they are about 140$ more money. For anyone who gets the Slimguide, here's a tidbit that Dan missed in his caliper article a while back. Lange calipers are the norm in the US. They are the caliper that the Jackson-Pollock and most other US prediction equations were developed with. Slimguide is the norm in Canada and is based on the Harpenden caliper from London. The Harpenden/Slimguide caliper has a higher spring tension than the Lange. Meaning that, if you took measurements with both calipers, the Harpenden/Slimguide would consistently be lower than the Lange. If you use these numbers in the Jackson- Pollock equations, you will underestimate bodyfat (accuracy is off although consistency is fine). For $10, I'll tell you how much the Slimguide is off as I've tested several people with both. Ok, just kidding, if you use Slimguide calipers with Jackson-Pollock equations, you need to add 2mm to each measurement made with the Slimguide. EXCEPT for any that are simply skin and read 4mm or lower. This is about the lowest that any of the calipers can measure. A 4mm measurement on the Slimguide is a 4mm measurement on the Lange. So, for comparison, if my measurements were: Slimguide Chest: 4mm Abs: 24 mm Thigh: 6mm My comparable Lange numbers come out to: Chest: 4mm Abs: 26 mm Thigh: 8 mm And, yes, I have checked this out on myself and it hold true. And, I took both measurements on myself so I know that it was accurate. So, no bitching. Lyle McDonald, CSCS ---------------------------- Ok, it's week three and here's the score so far. One site measurement: Date: Monday 5-13-96 Change from last week Bodyweight: 154 +1 BF%: 12.7% -.9% Fat mass: 19.5 lbs -1.5 Fat free mass: 134.5 lbs +2.5 Three site measurement: Here's how it worked out: Date: Monday 5-12-96 Pec (mm) 7 Abs (mm) 27 Thigh (mm) 8 Supra iliac (mm)* 18 Total of 3 (mm) 42 Bodyweight: 154 BF%: 12.2% Fat mass: 18.8 Fat free mass: 135.2 My week at a glance: ------------------- Sunday: Finished off my carbing with two small Ultra Fuel and Designer drinks with the last one at 6pm. Took 50 mg of Vanadyl before bed to start driving down blood glucose. Monday: About an hour or so of weights. Squats still 5X5 and then worked chins, leg curls, dips, and leg extensions in a semi-loop for 2 work sets of 6-10 with 1:30 rest in-between each set (giving a total of 6' rest between sets of the same exercise). Finished off with 10' on the bike. Diet: Ate my standard 1700 calories or so (recall bodyweight is 153 and my body temp isn't all it should be.) My diet is pretty repetitive throughout the week. It is roughly: Post workout: 1 scoop Designer with 1 T flax and a packet of Equal Breakfast: 4 eggs scrambled Lunch 1: canned tuna with 2 T mayo Lunch 2: same as lunch 1 Dinner: 3-4 oz of ground beef with some mustard for flavor Before bedtime: 1 scoop Designer with 1 T flax and Equal Supplements: took 50 mg Vanadyl with 200 mcg chromium and 250 mg magnesium with my first and last shake in addition to my normal vitamins (one a day, extra A, C, and E, and calcium). Also took ECA twice. Tuesday: Did 45' on the Lifecycle in the morning with pulse below 155 (using Maffetone's 180-age formula). Got talked into in-line skating tonight so I did an additional 30-45' of aerobics at varying intensities. Diet: same as Monday. supplements: same as Monday. Notes: Wednesday: Hit mild ketosis this morning, a bit later than usual. Could have been due to any number of factors but Duchaine says that refilled liver glycogen (due to high intake of fructose and sucrose during recarb) will slow entry into ketosis. Diet: same as Monday. Boring, yes. But, to be ripped, I can deal with it. I can eat for variety on the weekends. Supplements: dropped vanadyl, magnesium, and chromium as there is no glucose to clear and they are not needed. Probably good to give my liver a break from the vanadyl anyhow. Notes: I feel even better this week than the same time last week. There is almost no residual fatigue from the lack of carbs and I feel that I have adapted in full to this diet. Other notes: The new Muscle Media 2000 came today (hey, I didn't say they were pertinent 'other notes') and boy did it suck the big one. I mean more than usual. Not only the usual EAS infomercials but not even really any training articles of substance. Dan's Rant was funny of course. Phillip's tried to write off his taking over EAS (rumors abound that he is ditching Almada in the same way that he broke with Connely). This blurb mentions that Almada is going to go get his PhD. I wonder if he'll list his credentials as Anthony Almada, B.Sc., M.Sc., PhD. and really show what an ass he is (for those unfamiliar with the etiquette for placing letters after one's names, it's typically bad form to put anything but your highest degree attained. That is, putting B.Sc., M.Sc. is redundant as the posession of a masters encompasses and implies the posession of a bachelor's. My putting all those letters after my name is technically incorrect and poor form but I do it only to point out just how silly this war of certifications/degrees has become.) Even Coach Poliquin (who's articles I read with great zeal) couldn't come up with anything better to write about than supplements to increase focus in the gym (yawn.) I hope the new Peak Training Journal gets here soon (if at all. Anyone hear any more rumors that PTJ has folded? It's a great magazine although I've only read one issue so far). Hell, at least the new MDFH will have some semi-naked pics to keep me interested for more than the 10 minutes it took me to read this month's MM2K. Thursday: Thursday was a weird day. Due to a hectic as hell schedule at the gym (I'm a personal trainer in case anyone out there didn't know or happens to care), I only ate about 200 calories (1 Scoop Designer and 1 T Olive oil) between 9 am and 6pm. Basically, I overslept and didn't have time to take anything to work. Not that I'd have had time to eat it anyway. Strangely, I wasn't that hungry all day. I started to lag during my last appointment and only made it through on one dose of ECA and sheer willpower. Obviously, I ate when I got home. Still, I only came in at about 800 calories for the day if that. Now, checking ketones I found myself in very deep ketosis (like, the stix were almost dark purple) which contradicts what Duchaine has written. In a previous MM2000, he wrote that you should only show ketones in the evening if your activity level is too low or you are eating too many calories. Well, at 200 calories for the day, no way was I eating too many calories. Strange happenings. Needless to say (so why say it, right), I didn't do any cardio today. Oh, yeah, speaking of the devil, the new MDFH came today. Although most of the articles sucked (even Colgan isn't reporting on anything of interest anymore), it had better semi-porn pics than MM2000. Friday: Woke up and my tongue was purple. Toxic reaction to vanadyl? Nah, I drank some grape kool aid last night. Anyway, decided to recheck body-comp to see how it would compare to the remeasure on Monday (and check for spillover). The 3 site came out to: Date: Friday 5-17-96 Pec (mm) 6 (down from 7) Abs (mm) 27 (no change) Thigh (mm) 8 (no change) Supra iliac (mm)* 18 (no change) Total of 3 (mm) 41 (down from 42) Bodyweight: 145 (down from 153) BF%: 12.2% (no change) Fat mass: 17.7 (down from 18.8) Fat free mass: 129 (down from 135 but a lot is dehydration) *Supra-iliac was not used for determination of bodyfat but only for comparison purposes.* So, even though the relative percent bodyfat did not change, due to changes in total bodyweight, the total fat mass went down (see Update week 2 for an explanation of this). Hit some fruit about 2 hours before the depletion workout. Then ate some more carbs while I was waiting. Basically did the same thing as last week but managed to add another circuit (for a total of 6 in about 1 hour 10 minutes) before throwing in the towel. This time it wasn't so much from getting bored as being just worn out. I felt like I do when I 'bonk' while riding my bike. It's like when you first get into low blood sugar but don't have ketones just yet, you just feel overall like shit. Started the carb up with some Ultra-fuel and Designer protein. The circuit was: -------------- Leg press Pull Push abs Leg press Pull Push low back I basically choose pull and push exercises (as well as leg presses) based on what was available at the gym. I did incline machine benches, incline DB's, seated rows with narrow grip and wide, undergrip pulldowns, medium grip overhand pulldowns, squats, leg presses, even some leg curls and extension. All sets were done for fairly hard sets of 20-25 reps. Ate my first four meals right on schedule although still not as strictly as Dan suggests. Had some extra carbs (in the form of chocolate donuts) before bed with some fiber to avoid getting up in the middle of the night. Saturday: Bodyweight is up 4 lbs. Having some yogurt and Lucky Charms (Olympic Edition!) for breakfast. Basically, I just ate when hungry and didn't when full not paying much attention to quality and/or quantity of carbs. Sunday: Although Dan warns not to, I did work out today. Went for a nice easy 25 mile bike ride in the morning on no breakfast after a dose of ECA. Ate some extra carbs afterwards to make up for it. Also going for a skate this afternoon with some friends. Ok, maybe it will screw my carbing up (and we'll see how it affects my workout tomorrow morning) but I'm taking a couple of things into consideration: 1. I'm not gettin in shape for a contest so not achieving perfect carb-up with no spillover isn't that big of a deal. 2. Any diet that is so restrictive that you won't stick to it isn't a good diet (or, as Dan puts it, good advice not followed is still bad advice.) Still finished carbing at 6pm with a small shake after my skate. Yuck, back to protein and grease again. Some other notes about this week: despite not taking a fiber supplement at all during the last few weeks, my bowel movements are starting to inrease somewhat in regularity. Not quite up to one per day but getting there. However, one thing I've noticed is that about Wednesday or Thursday, my stool (medical term for shit) is green. I don't mean the light brown you usually see when you've got diarrhea, I mean green like grass. Anyone else out there have this happen to them? Anyone out there have any idea why this might be happening? Ok, time for the Monday morning weigh-in/body-comp: Date: Monday 5-6-96 Monday 5-13-96 Change Bodyweight: 153 154 +1 BF%: 13.6% 12.7% -.9% Fat mass: 21 lbs 19.5 lbs -1.5 Fat free mass: 132 lbs. 134.5 lbs +2.5 Now, recall that measurement on Thursday put me at 18.8 lbs of fat so it looks like I may have regained some fat with my less than strict, junk-food carb up this weekend. In the big scheme of things, it's no big deal to me as it sure made the weekend a lot more enjoyable and less of a pain in the ass. Also, since I didn't track calories, there's no way to know for sure if I went over the 16 g/kg amount or not (once I started with the junk food, all notions of keeping records went straight out the window.) Three site measurement: Here's how it worked out: Date: 5-20-96 5-20-96 Change Pec (mm) 7 6 -1 Abs (mm) 27 27 NC Thigh (mm) 8 9 +1 Supra iliac (mm)* 18 17.5 -.5 Total of 3 (mm) 42 42 NC Bodyweight: 154 151 -3 BF%: 12.2% 12.2% NC Fat mass: 18.8 18.4 -.4 lbs Fat free mass: 135.2 132.6 -2.8 lbs Ok, observations: This is the first week that I seemed to lose both fat and lean body mass. Also, total fat loss was fairly small. A couple of possibilities as to why. I didn't do my normal amount of cardio last week due to a rather hectic work schedule. LBM is a function of both muscle and water,glycogen, etc so it's hard to say whether or not the loss was one of muscle or something else. But, seeing as I rode my bike AND skated yesterday, I can assume that some of the loss in LBM was due to glycogen depletion/dehydration. This week's workout should give the answer to that one (I'm going under the assumption that if lifts go up or don't change, I'm not losing muscle). Also, my haphazard recarbing may be causing more spillover that I think it is. In fact, compared to my 3-site measurement on Friday, it appears that I regained .7 lbs of fat over the weekend. Well, workout wise, it was up in the air. Squats stalled somewhat but that could just as easily be tied to the fact that I rode my bike 2 hours yesterday in the hot sun. Upper body lifts improved so I still take it that I'm not losing muscle. Lyle McDonald, B.S., C.S.C.S., C.P.T., A.C.S.M., C.P.R., First Aid soon to be NFPT certified, maybe to get ISSA certified (hey, I like letters) P.S. And, no I don't think that all these letters really impress anyone but me and my mother, I'm making a little joke in reference to my comments about Almada above. You guys have no sense of humor. But, I bet you think I don't either. P.S.S. Bad health/fitness joke of the week. This is a true story. At work this week, our dietician had a small mishap. While trying to transport her plastic food pyramid to a class, it tipped over and spilled. I immediately said "I guess her diet wasn't balanced." Groan. Alright, say it with me: "Use a pun, go to jail." I know there are a couple of people laughing at this. P.P.S.S. Noticed a couple of screw-ups in my post above. the next to last single site body composition measurement was left over from the week 2 update and should be patently ignored. On the three site measuerement from this morning, the second days should (shit, scratch that). The first day should be 5-13-96, NOT 5-20-96. Again, sorry about the formatting but my text editor is acting screwy. Lyle McDonald, etc., etc.