Bod Pods and Birthdays
A Bod Pod is a great way to measure body composition progress. Rather than simply step on the scale to ascertain if we’ve gained or lost weight, the Bod Pod can tell us what percentage of our body weight is muscle (lean body mass) versus fat. Of course, our goal is perpetually to increase our lean muscle mass and minimize our fat mass.
A Bod Pod is a great tool to assess our long-term biological aging. As we age, people tend to lose muscle (we lose about 5-6 pounds of muscle per decade after 40 years of age, and this accelerates at 60) and gain fat.
For the last 8 years, I’ve made a habit of performing a Bod Pod on my birthday (or the day before my birthday). I turn 45 tomorrow and I performed a Bod Pod this morning. I’m excited to strive to have more muscle and less fat on my 50th birthday (and if this doesn’t happen, I won’t be writing about it ).
Take Action: Perform a Bod Pod every year (or every 5 years) and connect it to your birthday as a means of tracking long-term progress and healthy aging. And if the score isn’t what you wanted, (1) keep in mind it doesn’t define you; it is simply a data point from which you can make a tactical shift, and (2) I encourage you to review my simple, “Bad” Bod Pod checklist:
You recently performed a body composition analysis via the Bod Pod (or DEXA or InBody). Your body fat percentage, defined as the percentage of your body weight that is comprised of lean muscle mass versus fat mass, is not as low as you expected or hoped. Take a deep breath and consider walking through this short mental checklist.
I wore the correct testing attire (if in a Bod Pod) and the testing attire is consistent with what I wore last time.
I fasted (no food or drink) for a minimum of three hours leading up to the test.
I avoided all forms of exercise on the day of the test (before the test).
Over the previous weeks and months, I have been consuming 0.7-1.0 gram of protein per pound of my body weight.
My protein intake is spread out over the course of the day; I avoid prolonged fasting periods in which I don’t consume any protein.
I’m consuming a small dose of creatine monohydrate daily or nearly daily.
I have an awareness of my total calorie or food intake (perhaps tracking in an app).
I strength train twice per week (or at least once every five days on average).
I’m pushing to muscle failure on nearly every exercise (occasionally, joint pain or an injury on a particular exercise may prevent muscle failure, and the exercise still has value).
I focus on eccentric contractions (lowering the weight slowly).
I’m sleeping between 7-9 hours per night. Not just in bed but actually sleeping (sleep trackers are becoming more accurate in assessing this).
Don’t overcomplicate it. Until you have executed the above bullets, don’t waste mental energy, worry, time, or money. In almost all cases, this simple list will get you 98% of the way there.
