Anthropometrics

This has certainly been one of the more anticipated days. Josh and myself just completed our final body measurements. I'll repost all this material again after we finish the trip so we can compare our pre and post trip body measurements. Lets get right to the good stuff...

Ross

Height- 5'11'' (180.3cm)
Weight- 217 lbs (98.4 kg)
Body Fat Percentage- 23%
Body Mass Index (BMI)- 30.3

Circumferences
Neck-40cm
Arm- 36.3cm
Forearm- 31cm
Waist- 102.4cm
Hip- 108cm
Leg-59.6cm
Calve- 41.5cm
Waist to hip ratio- .95



Josh

Height- 5'9'' (175.3cm)
Weight- 148.5 (67.4)
Body Fat Percentage- 6%
Body Mass Index (BMI)- 21.9

Circumferences
Neck- 36.1cm
Arm- 29.1cm
Forearm- 25.5cm
Waist- 76cm
Hip- 92.8cm
Leg-48.1cm
Calve- 33.8cm
Waste to hip ratio- .82

So there's the hard data. Now, as an exercise scientist, all these measurements make total sense to me, but for you people with useful degrees and knowledge of other subjects, let me explain some of these.


Body Fat Percentage: This is a measurement of what percent of your body weight is composed of fat as compared to muscle, bone, organs, etc. There are many ways to measure this, such as bioelectrical impedance or skinfold measurements. Josh and myself used what's called hydrostatic weighing which is typically considered the most accurate form of measurement. I summary, you fill a box with water and completely submerge yourself in it after expelling all air from your lungs. Fat is buoyant and will float and muscle is dense and will sink. So, the fatter you are, less you weigh underwater (the more you float). Typical males have about 18% body fat I believe, while obesity is typically considered over 25%. Elite athletes tend to fall at about 2% body fat. Any lower and body function would likely start being impared. For a male that is. No going anorexic on me ladies, a healthy body fat percentage for a woman is 15%. So pack on those pounds, toots! So as you can see, I've fallen quite out of shape while Josh is ripped out of his mind. Lets see if you people can guess how much I weigh underwater on my new poll.


Body Mass Index (BMI): This is a rather unreliable unit of measuring general health. To determine one's BMI you need to take their weight in kilograms and divide it by their height in meters squared. So in general it compares height and weight. This makes sense in that fat people will have more weight per height that skinnier people. But on the same hand muscular people will have more weight per height that skinnier people. Thus, this measurement is moderately flawed. Anyway I put it up there just to compare in case anyone cares. A BMI of 18-25 is considered normal healthy BMI, while 25-29 is considered overweight, and 30+ is considered obese. So as you can see again, I'm quite unhealthy while josh is the spitting image of male perfection. What a bastard.


Waist to Hip Ratio: This is simply the circumference of the waist (as measured around the navel) divided by the circumference of the hips (typically measured around the butt. Technically the largest measurement you get below the navel). Based upon the number a general state of health can be predicted. A ratio of .95 or lower in a male (.8 or lower in a female) is considered low risk for health issues. .95 - 1.0 is considered moderate risk (.8 - .85 for women) and greater than 1.0 for males (greater than .85 for females) is considered high risk.


As for the circumferences... those are just general information. I think it might be interesting to see how much our thighs beef up or waists thin down at the end of the trip, but I'm not going to go into the statistics on the healthiness of these values. Just simply enjoy their mathematical perfection.


Now, I did take some pre-trip picture of myself and Josh, but I fear they'll be serving no great purpose until the end. No reason to feed you all ammo to make fun of me with. Be good and you'll get them at the end. If there's anything else you think we should measure, just let me know, but I think we have it all covered.

So what's next? Well, tomorrow Josh and myself leave for Gowanda, a small town about an hour south of Buffalo where Josh is from. We'll spend the day there, and about 3 in the morning on Tuesday we'll wake up and head to Buffalo to catch our 6AM flight. I'll have no internet until I get to the airport, so maybe I'll take some early morning departure pictures and give you all the update as officially depart for the west coast.