Personal Assessment via InBody by Biospace

I have been a fitness nut for as long as I can remember.  No I do not run 250 marathons a year like Martin Parnell but I remain active in some manner on most days.  I like going to the gym.  I like outdoor pursuits.  I like keeping my fitness level in balance with the activities that I am doing.  And I'm a pretty active person.


So as a function of my membership at the Westside Rec Centre and a marvelous expansion thanks to a recent infusion of Canada Infrastructure dollars, I took a personal assessment on some of their new technology, an InBody520 by Biospace which provides comprehensive body composition analysis.  Takes all of fifteen minutes of standing on the places for your feet and holding the wands by your side.  All is accomplished using 5, 50 and 500hz pulses through your body.  This model also provides skeletal distribution of lean body mass.  Data outputs include aforementioned body composition analysis, but also water balance (I'm in need of more extracellular water), obesity diagnosis, and segmental lean development.


In almost every respect I am so called normal, or in the normal range.  13.1% Percent Body Fat.  21.5 Body Mass Index.  My basal metabolic rate is 1682kcal.  The segmental lean development has some interesting results.  It compares the left and right sides of the legs and arm, as well as the trunk.


The results of my exercise regime of the last year plus are evident.  Upper body strength is over 100% as is the trunk.  But the legs are less than 100%.  This reflects that I do no specific leg oriented weight training - only stairs, skating, swimming, cycling, hiking, etc.  The recommendation is that I bring leg specific weight training back into my program to add to the lean segmental development of my legs.  And I have to drink more water regularly - the one news years resolution I made.


The other interesting observation is the imbalance of measured lean body mass left versus right.  I broke my ankle severely in 1994 and have had chronic pain ever since - sometimes worse, sometimes better - you live with it.  But the body has compensated by taking more of the weight of every day life on the right leg.  Similarly, I had an injury in my left shoulder many years ago that is only slightly noticeable every now and then.  Again, my right arm is measured with greater lean body mass.


Just as nature adjusts and accommodates changes in its midst, so do our bodies.  Imperceptibly adjusting to maintain a balance in energy, trying to take away pain, and deliver stability and confidence.  As I wrote in my recent Christmas letter, I have come to view the financial markets in a similar manner.  A flow of energy.  Just as in all relationships, individually, or collectively, there is energy always exchanging hands.  Constantly dynamic, seeking a balance.