Transcript Body Composition and Somatotypes - ESmith-PE

Body Composition and
Somatotypes
Monday October 6th 2008
“The percentage of body weight which is
fat, muscle and bone” body composition
As previously seen, body composition is
important to both professional athletes and
normal everyday people
Body weight is assessed by 2 factors:
% of body fat (skinfold callipers)
Lean body mass (bones, muscles, organs etc)
Body composition is genetic but can be changed
This can be done through dieting (loosing weight) and
partaking in an intense training programme (body
builders)
An individuals diet is dependent upon a number of
factors: natural build, sport (position) e.g. prop & scrum
half in rugby- a rugby players weight varies from position
to position (see below)
Effects of under/overeating on body
weight & performance
Optimum: “most favourable” or “best
compromise”
Professional athletes all know their
optimum weight at which they perform
best at and try to keep within this area
What effects our optimum weight? height,
sex, bone structure, muscle girth
This is tested through skinfold callipers
(P.54) and wrist girth (P.41)
Obesity and Eating disorders
Many people in everyday life struggle to keep at
their optimum weight
Some people are pushed towards disorders like
anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa
Anorexia: chronic illness, no appetite
Bulimia: fear of becoming fat
Being underweight can also affect ones
performance in sport
Some sports categorise with weight limits
Jockeys: deliberately underweight
Boxing: certain weight class
How one looses weight can be a determining
factor
Crash dieting, exercising wearing sweat suits,
going in saunas resulting in loss of fluid
Drugs also aid individuals-Diuretics
This all results in dehydration-poor performance
Read (P.42-43 & P.50) on dieting
Somatotypes
Performance of athletes come under 3
categories classified as your somatotype
These are:
Endomorph – sumo wrestler
Mesomorph – 100m sprinter
Ectomorph – high jumper
Task: Categorise as many different
sporting people as you can into the 3
categories
Endomorph:
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Round physique/soft body
Underdeveloped muscles
Weight loss difficult
Mesomorph:
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Athletic/muscular body
Gains muscle easily
Excellent posture
Mature muscle mass
Ectomorph:
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Delicate built body/thin
Lean/lightly muscled
Small shouldered
Difficult to gain muscle
Identifying your somatotype can be done
through measuring your:
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Height
Weight
Bone size
Muscle girth
Fat
Scores out of 7 is given in each category:
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Fatness – endomorphy
Muscularity – mesomorphy
Linearity – ectomorphy
Measuring fat
Fat lies just beneath the skin and covers
most of the body
The amount varies between individuals
and position on the body
We measure our body fat % using skinfold
callipers
This is done on 3 specific sites on right
hand side of the body:
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Biceps/triceps
Subscapula
Supra-iliac
Bicep/Tricep – Upper arm
Subscapula – Just below shoulder
blade
Supra-iliac – Just above hip bone
(iliac crest)
Skinfold measurements
Taking measurements is done by raising
skinfold at specific site with thumb and
forefinger (left hand)
Open callipers by squeezing trigger with
forefinger (right hand)
Put calliper over skinfold and release
gradually
Measurements are taken in millimetres
Testing
In pairs you will now take measurements
of the 3 sites
Please follow the instructions on P.55 and
in the booklets provided and record your
results in your jotters