Already a week into our challenge, and I finally found a place up here in Washington state that does hydrostatic weighing. So, I drove an hour and a half last night to Central Washington University to have a fitness test and get a body composition analysis. It started out with the skin fold body fat % - they took measurements on my tricep, hip, and thigh (quadriceps). Results – 22.4% body fat, which is average for a woman. Then I took a ride on a stationary bike where they calculated my VO2 max. This was not a difficult ride but about 5 minutes into it, I started sweating. I really want to believe that you sweat more the more in shape you are…am I kidding myself? Some day I’ll show you a picture after a Bikram class. I’m already sweating during the first breathing exercise! But alas, no “ball sweat”. So anyway, I’m in the 30-40th percentile for VO2. Shitty! I always felt I had crappy lung capacity, now it is confirmed. I scored excellent on the push up, partial curl up (sit up), and flexibility (thanks Bikram) tests. Last test was the hydrostatic weighing, which I was a tad worried about doing. I’m not a swimmer and have a difficult time, breathing/not breathing/holding my breath/not holding my breath under water. So expelling all of the air from my lungs and staying under water was a challenge! I tried three times. The last time, they got a reading, but I had not gotten all of the air out of my lungs. Results – 26.4%. If I had gotten more air out, they said this value would have been lower. So, my starting BF% is likely somewhere between 22 and 26%. That’s way better than what my body composition scale has been telling me (33-34%). So, if any of you are just relying on a bioelectrical impedance device to tell you your BF%, I highly recommend getting either the skin fold or the hydrostatic weighing test. I was fully ready to have the guys doing the test take a picture of me in the tank (bikini and all), but after my perceived failure getting an accurate reading, I felt defeated and went without. Tyler, sorry for letting you down! I promise to get you some pictures to post on the blog. Anyone else want to put up some “before” pictures now? I’ll do it if you do! As an added reminder of my sugar-free/shred challenge, I’ve changed my laptop wallpaper to one of my before pictures. Good luck to you all and thanks for the motivation! Tyler and Ashley, next time I’m in Cali, I want to get on the Kane Train. Those workouts look KILLER!
Here's a different kind of before and after photos:
Before: Hard at work tagging fish
After: Following a 2-hour cardio workout (no, this isn't after a shower).
No comments:
Post a Comment