At the beginning
of this article must first clarify the basic misconception that prevails in
understanding weight loss. For most people, the goal is to lose excess fat and
keep as much as possible useful tissue.
However, most of
the diets that are circulating the Internet, women's magazines, etc. is focused
on an entirely different thing - weight loss. A weight loss can mean the loss
of fat, muscle loss and water loss.
For years, the
scales would measure the effectiveness of a particular child, and unfortunately
all too often today, because it is in the nature of an average human being with
these things preferred quantity (number of lost pounds) rather than quality
(type of tissue they lost).
From the
foregoing, therefore, it is clear that we need to focus on changes in body
composition comprising fat. Total body fat mass is the sum of subcutaneous
adipose tissue and visceral adipose tissue.
Visceral adipose
tissue is the one that lines the internal organs. Even though it's in this
article is not the primary issue, it is worth mentioning because it has a major
impact on the health of the individual.
In fact, all that
fat has extremely negative effect on the body because it enhances the
inflammatory response in the internal organs. It does so by secreting substances
called adipokines, which are in fact signaling proteins that increase blood
pressure and interfere with insulin balance.
Also, visceral fat
reduces the amount of adiponectin, a hormone that is essential for burning fat
and that speeds metabolism. The combination of reduced insulin sensitivity,
hypertension and increased triglycerides creates preconditions for
atherosclerosis, elevated LDL cholesterol (the undesirable fraction of
cholesterol in the blood), and all together is an important factor for the
development of diabetes.
Subcutaneous
adipose tissue is the one that is located directly beneath the outer layer of
skin. This is what the fat that you can catch your fingers when pinched. The
abdominal subcutaneous fat covering the abdominal muscles, and if it's too
much, they do not see.
Very often the
question is asked in the gym that abs should work to get the famous tiles? Full
answer is: all of them have chips (because such holdings abdominal muscle) are
just some undercover, under cover! To be seen, to remove the fat that hides
them, and that we will achieve the combination of diet and aerobic exercise.
MEASURING
subcutaneous (subcutaneous) HALL
Through many years
during which people deal with this problem, developed a variety of methods to
measure body fat. Some are simpler and more accessible to a wider audience,
while others are more complicated and require professional equipment and some
experience of one who administers them. However, no method is perfect, and each
has its advantages and disadvantages.
Hydrostatic or
underwater weighing measurement
Underwater
weighing (underwater weighing) is considered the gold standard in the
measurement of subcutaneous fat, even if it was a more modern and reliable
methods have made obsolete.
It is based on the
fact that fat floats better (plovnije a) of muscle tissue. The reason is that
fat has a much lower density than muscle.
First person weigh
on dry land. After that, he sits in a special tank. While sitting on a special
scale in the tank, tank is lowered into the water, and the person being
measured exhaled all the air. The procedure is repeated three times, and as a
result of taking the average of measurements. After that, the data are entered
into a special equation to determine the mass without fat.
Disadvantages of
this method are contained in a number of assumptions that must be taken into
account. First, a person can never exhale all the air from your lungs and
presumed amount of air remaining in the lungs should be assumed (the
possibility of errors, because 0.5 liters of air can change the result as much
as 3-5%).
Then, it should be
an estimate of bone density, muscle and adipose tissue, and it varies depending
on the breed, age, stage of a person's activities, etc. Many of these
assumptions are incorrect.
Method for
measuring skinfold caliper
In this method, at
several characteristic areas of the body, measured with callipers size
skinfold. Size matters in the folds of the thickness of the subcutaneous
adipose tissue. By entering the measured values into the equation, we obtain
data on the percentage of body fat. There are 7 characteristic spots (streaks)
on which the measurement is done:
abdominal vertical
crease
triceps - the
vertical crease
chest - diagonal
crease
midaksilarni
vertical crease
subskapularni
diagonal crease
suprailijakalni
diagonal crease
thigh - vertical
crease
What is needed is
adequate well trained, that experience person who performs the measurement. It
is of utmost importance measurement performed on precisely defined anatomical
sites because if you measure just 1cm crease above or below the prescribed
places, possible error of 5-15mm, which ultimately gives the wrong result.
Bioelectric
impedance
This method works
on the principle that different tissues conduct electricity differently, or
give her a different resistance. Two electrodes are attached to the body and
let the body weak currents. Lean tissue (muscle), which contains a lot of water
is a good conductor, while the fat poor conductor because it contains no water.
The degree of hydration of the body is an important factor that can cause an
error in the method.
Volume measurement
Used bands at
characteristic points based on which, taking into account the weight determines
the amount of fat in the body. They are typically used volume of the wrist,
waist and hip circumference and neck circumference. The method is very
inaccurate because it does not distinguish individuals with excess body fat,
more muscle - or simply wide bone structure.
There are lots of
methods, one of the most interesting is called. Bod Pod. Bod Pod is a large
cabin that looks like an egg, and measured the volume of body of the person
sitting in it. Instead buoyancy used in hydrostatic measurement used here
changes in air pressure.
The ratio of body
weight and body volume provides information on the density of the body. The
method is also called air displacement Plethysmography (ADP).
Other methods:
infrared radiation
- fat thickness measured on the basis of the principle of absorption and
reflection of light
Body mass index
(BMI) - is inadequate because it does not take into account the type of tissue
elektrolipografija
(ELG)
anthropomorphizes
elektrolipografija (AELG)
Of all these
methods, the most prevalent method of measurement seems callipers.