Makenzie Griffin

SER 311 01 Testing & Exercise Prescription

Module 3: Body Composition

30 March 2023

Dr. Brian Larouere

 Griffin 2

Background

Body composition is used in health and fitness to characterize the percentages of fat,

bone, and muscle in human bodies. The body fat percentage is of particular significance since it

may be quite useful in determining an individual's health and health problems that can occur in

the future. Those problems include type two diabetes, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular

disease. Body composition is also one of the five components of fitness. Body composition is

important to assess for health care workers and individuals for these reasons: working and

looking to develop fitness, understanding the subject to help take care of health, monitoring fat-

to-muscle ratio, and observing a high-fat percentage that can lead to cardiovascular disease.

First, assessing body composition is critical for people trying to improve their fitness.

Unlike a BMI calculator, which cannot distinguish between fat and muscle mass, a body

composition test can properly determine the amount of fat, lean muscle, and water in your body.

Next, the ability to track measurements as you lose weight or gain muscle is very important in

planning your workout routine and attaining optimum performance. The more you know about

your body composition, the easier it is to create a strategy. Following that, understanding your

body composition will assist you in avoiding losing too much fat, which can also create

difficulties for your health. Losing weight too quickly may raise your risk of complications such

as muscle loss, decreased metabolism, vitamin shortages, and a variety of other risks. Finally,

understanding your body composition is critical for good health. It is widely acknowledged that

having too much body fat can pose severe health concerns, resulting in issues such as high blood

pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and a variety of other illnesses. Body composition is vital

in evaluating your health and fitness since it distinguishes between leanness and excess fat. This

enables you to analyze your health correctly and adjust your lifestyle and nutrition accordingly.
 Griffin 3

Data

Name: Makenzie Griffin Age: 20 Sex: Female Height: 67 inches Weight: 258 lbs

Name of Test Date of Test Score Interpretation of Score Confidence in Accuracy

Test

Body 3-17-23 29% 20th %ile; Poor for age and sex Moderate: Administrator was not very
Composition (table 3.5, p. 74) confident when it came to marking my
(Sydney) body and pinching my skin. It was one of
her first tests and she was light with her
pinches

Body 3-17-23 36% 5th %ile; Very poor for age and High: Administrator accurately marked
Composition sex (table 3.5, p.74) my body, pinched to wear he did not grab
(Dan) muscle, and his calculations were
accurate

BIA 3-17-23 50% > 1st %ile; Very poor for age High: Administrator accurately tested for
Sydney and sex (table 3.5, p. 74) height and weight and in return, put in
Kanuch those accurate values into the Tanita
scale. Very little room for human error

BIA 3-17-23 50% > 1st %ile; Very poor for age High: Administrator accurately tested for
(Dan) and sex (table 3.5, p. 74) height and weight and in return, put in
those accurate values into the Tanita
scale. Very little room for human error

Waist 3-17-23 113.5 cm Very high for sex High: Administrator made sure the tape
Circumference (table 3.2, p. 67) was horizontal and the tension was not
(Sydney) too tight for both trials

Waist 3-17-23 110 cm Very high for sex High: Administrator made sure the tape
Circumference (table 3.2, p.67) was horizontal and the tension was not
(Dan) too tight for both trials

BMI 3-17-23 67 inches or Obesity class III for sex and High: Administrator was very accurate
(Sydney) 170.2 cm extremely high risk for disease with measuring my height and weight and
263 lbs or relative to normal weight and double-checked calculations to be sure of
119.3 kg waist circumference accurate results
41.18 kg/m2 (table 3.1, p. 64)

BMI 3-17-23 67 inches or Obesity class III for sex and High: Administrator was very accurate
(Dan) 170.18 cm extremely high risk for disease with measuring my height and weight and
265.2 lbs or relative to normal weight and double-checked calculations to be sure of
120.54 lbs waist circumference accurate results
41.27 kg/m2 (table 3.1, p. 64)
Sources Used in Background and Data Table:
American College of Sports Medicine. (2022). ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and
Prescription (11th ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
 Griffin 4

Discussion of Test Results:

For variability in my body fat percentage, the values within the different tests were

relatively close to each other, except for the skinfold tests, but other than that, I believe that to be

accurate. With my BIA and BMI results, the two administrators ran the tests on me on the same

day. Because of this, my height and weight were relatively the same for both trials and in return

gave BIA results that were both 50% and BMI results that were about 41 kg/m2. The same

process goes for the waist circumference values. The two administrators ran the tests on me on

the same day and because of this, my waist circumference did not change in that small amount of

time. The values were relatively close together. With the values for the skinfold tests run on me,

those values were not as close together. I believe this is because the administrator was not

confident in the procedure and was too afraid to pinch me. Because of this, she did not grab my

skin hard enough and got smaller values when compared to the other administrator that tested me

and got a more accurate measurement. The two values received were 29% body fat for the more

inaccurate test and 36% body fat for the more accurate test.

In my opinion, I believe that the BIA test would be the more accurate body composition

test to run on an obese client. This is because there is less source of error when measuring an

individual's height and weight and in return, there is even less source of error when it comes to

inputting those values into the Tanita scale. For an individual that is very lean and muscular, I

would use the skinfold test and waist circumference test. With the skinfold test, because the

individual is lean and muscular, their body fat is more distributed throughout their body; it is

easier to get a more accurate reading on the different sites on their body. With the waist

circumference test, because the individual is lean, they have a more defined small circumference

of their waist so getting a more accurate measurement is not as complicated.

 Griffin 5

Learning

Personally, the seven-site skinfold test was the most difficult test for me to run in this

module. Before I got a true understanding of how to perform the test accurately, there were quite

a few things I performed incorrectly, and it shows in the observations I received. First, I would

fold certain sites incorrectly, specifically the chest and suprailiac sites. Before I understood what

measuring perpendicular to the skinfold and body surface meant, I would just clamp the skin

how I thought it should go. In return, I did not meet the criteria for that section, and I agreed with

the observer’s comments. After I received those comments, I learned from them and performed

more accurate tests on other clients in the future. There was one time when I forgot to ask my

client’s hydration status before allowing them to step on the Tanita scale and in return, I did not

meet the criteria for that section. After that one time, I never forgot to ask a client about their

hydration status again and I agreed with the comment my observer gave to me. Finally, when I

was first starting to run my tests, I was not confident in the procedure, especially the skinfold

tests. I was not the best at explaining the procedures and purposes of running the tests to the

client and my observer made note of that. I asked her how I could better myself in that category

and she gave me some great tips and helped me to better understand the lab and better myself.

For this module, testing non-exercise science students was a lot more difficult. This is

because today, there is a so-called “perfect body” and not everybody has that. Also, it is

obviously not thrilling to hear that you are an obese individual even if you know you exercise

frequently and eat relatively healthily. When asking around to friends if I could test them, they

were relatively hesitant because they did not want other people to see them without a shirt and

did not want to know their values. It was even difficult for me to test non-exercise science majors

because I worried, I would make the individual uncomfortable.

Griffin 6
Griffin 7
Griffin 8
Griffin 9
Griffin 10
Griffin 11