Your Body Your choice

Morphing yourself lean or large to suit your purpose. This article was published in the July (issue 102) NZ tri and multisport magazine. I was trying to get across that you are able to control your bodies function with the exercise you do and the food you eat.

5 years ago I met a cool guy with a cool name (Paul Strongman), at a Gym group fitness instructor bonding day.  Interestingly, we were both the same height and weight (82-83kg, 184cm/6 ft). Paul taught the Les Mills body-pump and step programmes and I was teaching RPM (Les Mills’s group cycling class).

In mid 2014 we bumped into each other at the water cooler at the gym, barely recognising each other. Over the handshake, my comment was “Wow, you’ve put on a bit of muscle”; his comment was “you’re looking lean mate”. Our comparative weights were now 96kg, and 69kg.

His story was that he had bulked up to compete in body building, and I meanwhile had consciously slimmed down to allow me to run past a knee injury(medial meniscal tear) whilst  training for a marathon. He had gained 13kg, and I had lost 13kg over the pre-ceding 18 months, each purposeful, and each with a view to pursuing a specific athletic goal.

We chatted over his post work out shake and he told me he had been working out 2-3hrs per day up to 7 days per week, whilst eating 5+large meals per day with a lot of chicken/kumara, and some additional protein and creatine supplementation. He mentioned he was finding the food intake a bit of a chore, and that he was getting some niggling knee pains during step classes at his new weight. However, he’d had a lot of positive feedback from friends and the public with a lot of comments about his impressive muscular physique. 

I on the other hand, had moved towards a “wholefood plant-based” diet, (as touted by athletes and health advocates Rich Roll and Brendon Brazier). This involves a lot of fruit/ vegetables/  nuts/ seeds/ water and high quality complex carbs (quinoa/brown rice), I also added smaller portions of high quality proteins (predominantly salmon and sardines for the Omega - 3).  I was training with a mix of home-based body weight exercises, running, swimming and biking, doing about 6-11hrs per wk in total. I had some less positive feedback with people naturally feeling initially concerned about my weight loss, mentioning that I could do with a feed and I was “fading away”. Athletes started showing positive interest once I had gains in event performance.

We then decided to follow-up with a comparison of body fat %, and that led to a discussion about how best to measure it. I roped in my friend Chris Willett (an Endurance Coach and physiologist from Perimeter Coaching, www.perimetercoaching.com) to advise us about the different methods. Basically there are three commonly accessible ways to measure body fat:  Skin-pinch with callipers, Bia-Corpus electrical impedance testing, and Tanita scales (which measure electrical impedance through the legs only.)

We concluded that the best results seemed to be with both Bia-corpus and the skin-pinch callipers. Bia-corpus costs about $75, takes 5mins, and has cool computer generated graphics attached (very thorough 2 pages of data), and exercise physiologists do it.  Skin pinch testing with callipers takes 5mins, cost is variable (not much), and personal trainers often can do it. The Tanita scales were less accurate, and tend to be used in settings where highly trained staff are not available. The Tanita scales have an option for “athletic setting” which is useful for individuals who are highly muscled in the upper limbs, but for slimmer athletes the “standard setting” was more accurate. The Tanita scales we used cost about $3500 (Tanita SC-330), and can weigh people accurately up to 300kg, and some doctors/hospitals or gyms may have them. The impedance methods (Bia-corpus/Tanita scales) rely on electrical current, and hence will be influenced by hydration status. The one big difference is the Bia-corpus allows for hydration staus which the Tanita scales do not. This means accuracy can be compromised with the Tanita scales.  We completed all the tests in a fasted state in the morning at a Dr’s clinic.

My body fat was about 13%, and Pauls about 19%. If you are interested, check out the table of our results shown below.

COMPARISON OF BODY FAT % VIA 3 METHODS:

*Of note:  Paul was not quite pre-competition at the time our measures were done, and did intend to sleek himself down a little prior to his upcoming body building event.

It was interesting to reflect on the different journeys our bodies had been on in the last couple of years.  One thing that struck me was that it seems ironic that in a society where obesity is recognised as the big issue, leanness (in a man) is clearly met initially with hesitance.  I could relate to the Sunday Star times Magazine article dated 1.2.15 and titled “Here’s the Skinny”.  To quote it: “to be thin is to be weak; vulnerable; New Zealand was built by stocky farmer and rugby players.  

Having said that, I am extremely happy at my new weight, and this looks likely to be a long-term situation for me. I love my new way of eating to nourish and heal the body, and I love the philosophy of overall life balance for good health. I also achieved my goal of a sub-3hr marathon in Queenstown in 2014, which was a big win after my surgeon (and mate) had advised me longer distance running would have to be carefully managed after my knee injury. I am running pain free and feeling more energetic and dynamic than ever before.  Paul wasn’t quite so sure about whether he would try to maintain his highly muscled body mass in the longer term, due to the pressure of training and the pressure to eat a lot, even when he didn’t feel like it. However, he was extremely pleased with his body building achievement and the strength/power he was able to exhibit in the gym (I am sad to admit he could beat me doing push-ups to failure).

So, if you ever wished for a different body shape? – If you ever wondered if you could run again after that knee/ankle/hip injury? - If you ever wondered what it would feel like to be stronger/faster/bigger? – The answer is possibly right at your fingertips (literally) with what you EAT and how you LIVE and blend your training in. Be what you want to be, spend time developing daily habits that will move you towards your athletic goals. You probably do have the power to gradually morph your body form to suit your choice of athletic function in a controlled progressive way. Often the only thing stopping you may be what's between your ears. And don't forget that your body is the greatest tool you will ever own. Use it wisely and treat it well.

Thanks to my wife Coral for the editing. Chris Willett for the bia-corpus testing, and Laura for the calliper pinch testing.