S B Coaches College
Tip of the Month
March 2008
 

Body composition changes are an extremely important part of training.  One of the goals of a well designed training program should be to increase lean muscle mass within the individual.
Improving lean muscle mass can occur by increasing bodyweight while keeping body-fat levels constant, or vice versa, by maintaining bodyweight and decreasing body-fat.

There are a number of health and performance benefits from having a lower body-fat percentage.  Excess body-fat is not only detrimental to heart health but also can increase the chance of injury.  Body-fat does not contract, does not require oxygen and does not improve force production capabilities.  Therefore it is simply extra weight that forces the body to expend more energy to produce movement.  When training athletes to be more efficient at movement, carrying excess body-fat is counter intuitive.  Carrying extra body-fat will make athletes less efficient as every movement will cost more (energy), reducing the capacity of the individual to perform. 

Here are general body-fat recommendations from the American Council on Exercise:

General Body Fat Percentage Categories

As health and fitness professionals, we know to reduce body-fat the following must be done:

1. Strength Training - strength training is designed to increase lean muscle mass which increases one's metabolic rate.  An increased metabolic rate burns more calories at rest.

2. Energy System Development - both aerobic and anaerobic conditioning can decrease body-fat as the body is forced to work which will increase the amount of calories burned.

3. Eat more protein - protein increases the thermic effect of food, which means that eating protein forces the body to expend energy just to break down and digest the protein. 

4. Eat smaller meals more often - eating smaller meals tends to keep energy levels more stable which reduces the large fluctuations of insulin which can wreak havoc on the body and be detrimental to fat loss goals.  The body's metabolism is like a fire...to keep the fire going we need to keep throwing small pieces of wood (meals) on the fire constantly.  If we throw a big piece of wood on three times a day, the fire is going to slow down and eventually go down.

5. Drink more water - we've talked about drinking more water in a previous tip of the month, so be sure to check it out.

The first two tips are examples of what coaches and trainers can control as they deal with exercise and energy expenditure.  The last three tips are completely on athletes and clients as they make up the nutritional component of fat loss.  We can give recommendations and all the advice in the world, but if the athlete or client is not committed to improving their nutrition, they will not improve their body composition.

It is my personal opinion and from what I've seen, that to improve body composition nutrition is 90% of the equation, while training is 10%.  Many of our athletes train hard and do the correct things in the gym, but are not committed to giving it their all outside to make changes.  I've seen first hand how body fat levels can drop when athletes are committed to taking control of their diet and making lifestyle changes.  It's amazing to see how by simply reducing refined sugars, eating more fruits, veggies, protein and drinking more water can change one's body and improve performance.  If your athletes and clients are complaining and whining about their body composition when you test their body-fat, explain to them that they must be committed to improving their nutritional intake if they want to make changes.   Improving lean mass takes discipline, effort and consistency both with exercise and nutrition. 

 -Brijesh

                                                                      ©2004-2008 S B Coaches College, LLC.  All Rights Reserved