Edited by Dr. Simone Losi
The first step to be able to organize a truly personalized training schedule, and an "appropriate diet, is the objective knowledge of body composition.
Plicometry, which is based on the use of a skin meter through which the percentage of fat mass of the subject is extrapolated, has a very significant limit: it assumes that the subject is well hydrated, ie that he has a percentage of total body water of the 60%. Otherwise all the values that come out of the test are not reliable!
This means, in practice, that if we do not know a priori the client's hydration condition, we risk making gross errors of evaluation because, if by chance the subject is dehydrated (but we do not know), all the values of the plicometry would be unreliable.
To know the hydration status of the person it is necessary to use an instrument that "measures" the body water. Among the various possibilities, the BIA is certainly the easiest to use and least invasive method for the personal trainer.
In a few minutes this tool gives the technician the possibility to know, in addition to the state of hydration, a series of fundamental values in order to then be able to propose a correct training and an appropriate "diet, both from a qualitative and a quantitative point of view. .
As you can see from the figure on the side, the subject is made to lie down and through the positioning of 4 electrodes, two on the hand and two on the foot, the resistance and reactance of his body is measured.
These two values will then be inserted into the supplied software, thanks to which a series of data will be extrapolated that I will now explain in detail.
BCM: (CELL MASS): it is the metabolically active component of the organism.
Each person has a minimum BCM below which it is not recommended to go down, due to a decrease in both lean muscle mass and metabolism.
It is the fundamental value that must be monitored over time, and which allows us to understand if the person is malnourished and overtrained.
TBW: (TOTAL BODY WATER): it is the major component of the organism, for this reason the correct determination constitutes the basis for estimating the parameters of physical fitness. If the water is normal all the parameters measured by the BIA will be reliable, therefore consequently also the plicometry will be correct.
BCMI: (BODY CELL MASS INDEX): is the ratio between the BCM AND the HEIGHT of the subject. It indicates the nutritional status of the subject.
Values below 8 for women and 10 for men indicate malnutrition.
PA: (PHASE ANGLE): measures the relationship between resistance and reactance.
In a healthy person this value is between 6 and 7 degrees. Values below 5 degrees indicate a rupture of cell membranes or an accumulation of extracellular fluids (water retention).
Values around 10 degrees indicate severe dehydration or higher than normal BCM, as in the case of professional athletes.
NA / P: (SODIUM POTASSIUM EXCHANGE): it is a very important value that indicates whether the cell is functioning properly or not. The ideal value is a one-to-one ratio of sodium to potassium.
If the value rises up to 1.6 it means that 60% more sodium has entered the cell, therefore we are in the presence of strong water retention (hyperhydration) and protein malnutrition.
If the value drops to 0.6 we are in the presence of severe dehydration and energy malnutrition (it is necessary to increase the daily calories).
In addition to these values, the BIA is able to measure the Basal Metabolism, which is directly related to the amount of BCM of the subject, the intra and extracellular water, and the ratio between intra and extracellular mass.
As you can see, this highly professional tool allows the Personal Trainer to know even before proposing a training scheme, a series of very important data, and to be able to distinguish a subject who tends to be under stress from one with a good cell mass, rather than a dehydrated person. one in water retention.
These values then, of course, will have to be verified over time, but the big advantage of having a tool like the BIA is that it allows you not to make gross errors in the evaluation of the subject, since I can immediately dose my training and my nutrition according to of the "real" situation of the subject, then propose truly personalized workouts both in terms of intensity and duration.
Obviously it is a machine that has a certain type of cost, but if you want to offer your customers the best in terms of body composition assessment, the BIA fully responds to this concept.
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