CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE –
During the past few months, Charleston AFB has been using a new system called the "Bod Pod" to quickly and accurately measure people's body fat.
Charleston's Health and Wellness Center acquired the body fat measurement system to assist Airmen and the base populous to keep fit and plan accurate exercise programs to target problem areas.
"We use the Bod Pod to help individuals who are exercising regularly and losing weight, but not body fat," said Laura Markuly, HAWC exercise physiologist. "After analyzing their body fat measurement with the Bod Pod, we suggest adding weight training to their exercises to help burn the fat."
The Bod Pod is a 99.9 percent accurate, dual-chambered, egg-shaped fiberglass machine designed for recording the volume of the body.
The Pod determines body volume by measuring changes in pressure within a closed chamber and it also measures a person's metabolic rate. The front has a seat that forms a common wall separating it from the back reference chamber. The door to the front is secured by a series of magnets during the four-minute data collection period. The Bod Pod also has a large acrylic window, providing the subject with a wide field of view, making the test period more comfortable.
Tech. Sgt. Elliot Reed, 437th Medical Group NCO in charge of human performance training team, recently went through the Bod Pod team's hands-on training course to learn the how to operate the Bod Pod.
"When I was first introduced to the Bod Pod for training, I thought it looked more space age, planet-of-the-apes spacecraft, than a machine for measuring body fat," said Sergeant Reed.
Individuals are encouraged to wear tight fitting clothing such as, swimsuits, spandex, sports bras and biking shorts. Clothing worn in the Bod Pod must have no padding or wires, and all individuals being analyzed must wear a swim cap to compress the hair to reduce the amount of space it occupies to acquire an accurate reading.
"The tight clothing and swimming caps are meant to reduce the space the individual occupies in the chamber," said Laura Markuly. "If there are conflicting readings we will have to run more tests to get a more accurate reading so it's always better to get it right the first time."
After completing the analysis, people will receive a 99 percent accurate reading on body fat measurement, resting metabolic rate, which is the amount of calories a person burns at rest during a 24-hour period and ways to improve their health.
"A few minutes after I got into the machine, I received a detailed analysis of my body fat, and resting metabolic rate and some suggestions on how to improve my health," said Sergeant Reed.
Customers can schedule an appointment on "Bod Pod Wednesdays" by calling the HAWC at 963-4007.