How do you like your bod?

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Thomas Dow
  • Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs
MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  With today's ever-increasing focus on fitness, healthy living and staying in shape, Airmen are constantly looking for ways to improve their fitness progress. The Minot AFB Health and Wellness Center recently received a state-of-the-art tool which aides base personnel in tracking and monitoring their improvements.

The tool is called the Bod Pod. While it looks like an egg-shaped space ship, it is an easy and convenient way to assess and monitor an individual's body fat composition.

"We've had some awesome results with the Bod Pod," said Stephanie Wheeler, a health educator with the HAWC. "People are coming back for their follow-ups and actually getting to see the results."

The Bod Pod arrived to the base in early February 2010. After the initial set up and training certification, the HAWC staff immediately put the pod to use.

"To date we have done more than 300 Bod Pod assessments," Wheeler said.

The Bod Pod measures an individual's volume similar to the hydrostatic body fat testing procedure. The main difference is the Bod Pod uses air displacement, rather than water, to get the results.

"It is literally measuring how much space an individual takes up," said Wheeler. "We say muscle weighs more than fat, but fat is going to have a higher volume. So as you lose fat and gain muscle, you're going to lose volume."

According to Wheeler, this is why many people can get frustrated when they are first working out. They are focusing on weight loss, rather than reducing the amount of fat they are losing. But this is where utilizing the Bod Pod comes into play. It shows the individual on paper the actual amount of fat volume they have lost during their period training.

"Maybe on a scale it is only a 5 lbs difference," she said. "But then they look and see they lost 10 lbs of fat, gained 5 pounds of muscle and their volume went down. It keeps up that motivation."

She added that people are able to see what they have been doing is working.

A key factor to the success of the Bod Pod is it is easy to use and according to Wheeler, much more accurate than calipers, which are operator dependent.

"[The Bod Pod] is accurate to within one to two percent," said Wheeler. "And with this system just about anybody can test you as long as they know what buttons to push."

Another reason for the success of the pod is it is relatively quick to come in for a measurement. An individual must not eat, drink or exercise two hours prior. Because the system works on air displacement, males wear spandex shorts and females wear spandex shorts and sports bra or a bathing suit. A weight measurement is taken and the machine is calibrated. The individual then sits in the pod for two to three measurements of 50 seconds each. Following the test, the tester and a HAWC representative go over the results.

"It has been really fun for me just being able to talk to clients," said Wheeler. "People are trying to lose weight and they are literally starving themselves. You are able to show them with numbers, according to their body weight, size and muscle mass, this is how many calories they should be getting."

She added. "It's that logical data, right in front of them that says, 'yes, it is working, yes, this plan is valid. Keep going!'"

For more information about the Bod Pod, contact the HAWC at 723-2991 or email minothawc@minot.af.mil.