It is quite possible that you have heard on occasion or other about this strange word: Anthropometry. In this article, we are going to define what it is and why it is a more effective way to measure our body condition compared to the measurement of weight.
What is anthropometry or anthropometric study?
The anthropometric study or anthropometry is an evaluation of body composition. Generally, when we want to measure our progress on a diet, what we do is weigh ourselves.
However, we know that weight is an inaccurate and unreliable measure. Through an anthropometric analysis, we can obtain data such as our amount or percentage of muscle mass and fat mass, or the percentage of body fat that we have in the human body.
Anthropometry: definition
The definition of anthropometry brings together the set of reference measurements that we take into account when making a body analysis: perimeters and folds, body indices, height, BMI, hydraulic composition, basal metabolism, etc.
Anthropometry and ergometry
Some people confuse the concept of anthropometry with ergonometry and although they may be related, they are not the same.
Ergometry is what is popularly known as a stress test. It consists of checking the performance of our heart (electrocardiogram) when we are subjected to a medium-level physical effort.
Nutritional anthropometry
Nutritional anthropometry is nothing more than an anthropometric analysis from which we will be able to draw conclusions to later modify a diet or eating style.
For example, if after an anthropometric study we get a body fat index above the established health ranges, we must start a diet that is hypocaloric until we establish ourselves in a suitable body fat range.
How to measure body fat
Fat mass in humans is divided into two sections: visceral body fat and subcutaneous body fat. The visceral body rose is the typical “michelin” that we can ask to pinch ourselves, while subcutaneous body fat is the fat found between organic tissues.
Subcutaneous body fat is not physically appreciable. When we begin a process of weight loss, the usual thing is that the percentage of visceral body fat gradually decreases, and perhaps, the subcutaneous body fat.
Anthropometric tables
The anthropometric tables help us to establish cut-off values for certain populations through the normal curve.
What is Kinanthropometry for?
Kinanthropometry is related to anthropometric analysis, in order to know the body composition and determine what physiological and nutritional needs are necessary in order to generally change sports performance.
This is not applicable only to elite athletes, a sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity is something of concern in any case.
Sometimes, our body composition is not the most appropriate to move or exercise, through an anthropometric study we will know the balance between our body fat and our muscle mass.
The conclusion is clear if we have more body fat than recommended and a very low muscle mass index, our motor capacity, as well as our health, will be reduced.
About muscle mass
There are many reasons why it may be necessary to increase our muscle mass. For example, in the case of those people who for aesthetic reasons want to be more muscular or muscular.
But also, in the case of many athletes, it is necessary to know the amount of localized muscle mass, since it is possible that increasing this helps the athlete to protect themselves from injury.
What are anthropometric measurements for?
One of the big mistakes people who want to lose weight is to do cardiovascular exercises like crazy, forgetting about working with loads or weights.
The greater our muscle mass, the faster we will lower our body fat levels. The reason for this is that by having more muscle in our body, our basal metabolism also increases, and therefore, we consume many more calories for the same movement.
For this reason, anthropometric measurements serve us not only to see if we have lost fat but to know if we have gained muscle mass.
