Body Composition and Somatotype

Introduction

At the end of the Season it's good to relax a bit physically and mentally. Let the blisters and aches heal before the Base Training begins again. It is also a good time to head for Doctor's office and take some tests to see what's going on in the body and to see which direction should you tweak your plans next Season. I had a blood exam taken of me, a cardiology test of gradual exercise on a bike, and an anthropologic exam to measure my Body Composition and Somatotype. Ask for as thorough as possible exams. My blood tests came out all lights green. I had some pretty good METS (Metabolic Equivalent of Task) values in the cardiology test. But if there were signs of warning found in these tests, now would be the perfect time to adapt. Adjust training program, check your nutrition and so on. I have been eating kind of whatever I feel like, and I have noticed that by adding more and more Training Load my body craves healthier food. But I will discuss my experiences on nutrition and food in a separate blog entry. There are tons of small details that add up in the equation of performance and health. And yes, one CAN be fit and unhealthy at the same time or the other way around.


Body Composition

In physical fitness, Body Composition is used to describe the percentages of fat, bone and muscle in human bodies. Because muscular tissue takes up less space in our body than fat tissue, our Body Composition, as well as our weight, determines leanness. Two people of equal height and body weight may look completely different from each other because they have a different Body Composition.

Doctor A. Cernadas, a specialist in sports medicine, measured my dimensions according to the methods of Heath & Carter. 25 different measurements were made and entered to Excel to calculate certain anthropological values. My stretched height (standing as straight as I could with my lungs full of air) was 185,4 cm and my weight 79,4 kg. A recent photo of me and my current Body Composition are presented below in the Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 1: Recent photo of me.

Figure 2: My current Body Composition, 8.11.2013.

Translations for the elements in Figure 2: Masa adiposa is body fat, masa muscular is muscle mass, masa residual is residual mass, masa ósea is bone mass, and masa de la piel is skin mass. My body fat is 19,5%, muscular mass is 49,6%, residual mass (entrails, organs, lungs) 13,3%, bone mass 12,3%, and skin mass 5,4%. In the Figure 2 on the right side can be seen a comparison of me to the average unisex human being calculated as if everyone's height was 170,18 cm. The line in the middle at value 0 is the average. I weigh just a notch less than average, I have very little fat, my bone mass is about average, I have little bit more than average muscular mass and my residual mass is high, which means that my lungs, heart, entrails and other organs are large. Fun fact: The most out of line value of the measurements was the perimeter of my head. It was found out that my head is exceptionally small, to what my wife replied: "that explains so much".


Somatotype

"The technique of somatotyping is used to appraise body shape and composition. The somatotype is defined as the quantification of the present shape and composition of the human body. It is expressed in a three-number rating representing endomorphy, mesomorphy and ectomorphy components respectively, always in the same order. Endomorphy is the relative fatness, mesomorphy is the relative musculo-skeletal robustness, and ectomorphy is the relative linearity or slenderness of a physique." -Heath & Carter

Table 1: Anthropometric dimensions, 8.11.2013.

Ten anthropometric (study of humankind) dimensions are needed to calculate the anthropometric somatotype: stretch stature, body mass, four skinfolds (triceps, subscapular, supraspinale, medial calf), two bone breadths (biepicondylar humerus and femur), and two limb girths (arm flexed and tensed, calf). My anthropometric dimensions measured 8th of November 2013 are listed on the left in the Table 1.


1. The equations used for Somatotype Analysis from the measured anthropometric values:

Endomorphy = -0.7182+0.1451(X)-0.00068(X^2)+0.0000014(X^3)

Mesomorphy = [0.858(HB)+0.601(FB)+0.188(CAG)+0.161(CCG)]-[0.131(H)]+4.5

Ectomorphy:
If HWR>40.75, then Ectomorphy = 0.732(HWR)-28.58
If HWR<40.75, and >38.25, then Ectomorphy = 0.463(HWR)-17.63
If HWR<38.25, then Ectomorphy = 0.1 (or recorded as ½),

where
X = (sum of triceps, subscapular and supraspinale skinfolds) multiplied by (170.18/height in cm);
HB = humerus breadth;
FB = femur breadth;
CAG = arm girth (corrected);
CCG = calf girth (corrected);
H = height;
HWR = height / cube root of weight.

2. Plotting somatotypes on the 2-D somatochart:

X-coordinate = ectomorphy - endomorphy

Y-coordinate = 2 x mesomorphy - (endomorphy + ectomorphy)

3. Somatotype attitudinal distance (SAD) is the exact difference between two points in a 2-D somatochart. 

SAD between two points, a and b, in a somatochart:

SAD(ab) = {[ENDO(a)-ENDO(b)]^2+[MESO(a)-MESO(b)]^2+[ECTO(a)-ECTO(b)]^2}^½,

where

ENDO = endomorphy;

MESO = mesomorphy;

ECTO = ectomorphy.

Figure 3: 2-D Somatochart: typical elite marathon runner (red)
and my current (blue) somatotypes.

According to Figure 3 my current somatotype is close to typical elite marathon runners' somatotype. There is in fact very little I should change if I aim to run a marathon as fast as I possibly can, which I do. But let's say I want my somatotype to be exactly the average elite marathon runner's somatotype, then what should I do. My current somatotype coordinate is 0,9-4,0-3,0 (endo-meso-ecto) and the average elite marathon runner has 1,8-4,4-3,7. My endomorphy (relative fat) is lower, my mesomorphy (musculo-sceletal strength) is just a little bit lower, and my ectomorphy (relative linearity) is somewhat lower as well. In the Figure 3 we can see that my mesomorphy is higher than the comparation point. And that is because of my lower endomorphy. In other words my lack of fat compensates for the lack in strength and leanness. And that makes my current somatotype almost perfect for marathon running.

Well then, my somatotype is suited for running marathon, that's good, because I want to excel in that sport. But then it got me wondering, what other sports are there that would be perfect for my body structure, and what should I do to transform myself to a rugby player, high jumper or sumo wrestler. The relation between different sports is also interesting. Closest to my interest is the fact that the distance runners on track running 5000 and 10000 meters are leaner and have less fat than marathoners. I dug some images of the somatotypes for male athletes in different sports (see Figures 4 and 5).

Figure 5: Male somatotypes in different sports.

Figure 4: Male somatotypes in different sports.

This is all somewhat obvious if you just look at a person, or the elite athletes in different sports. The elite athletes all possess the stereotypic somatotype or body structure which just happens to be close to optimal for given sport. Indeed, there are methods of Somatotype Analysis from photographs. The sports that require more skill (say soccer or tennis) are not that dependable that the elite athlete has the optimal somatotype. Although running is a skill that takes years and years to master, and still you can always improve, it's a lot more simple than almost any other sport.

Running is such pure form of physical stimulant and so efficient that you can go from being fresh to destroyed in less than a minute (400 m running). For comparison: a one minute football game sounds silly, doesn't it? Why is it essentially impossible to play one minute of football with such intensity that after the one minute you need to come out of the game and call it a day? That's because the ball is a huge distraction. The more physically demanding and less skill-oriented the sport, the closer to the optimal somatotype one should be to make his personal best. This is a video of probably the highest level of competition in distance running on our planet: 12K cross-country championships of Kenya. Their heights and weights differ, but they all share a similar somatotype.