Cover Me! I'm Going In (the DUNK Tank) Body Fat Test Time

My first time...dunking!

There are several ways to determine precise body fat in us humans, here are the ones I know about:
1) Air Compression Chamber

This makes me laugh

2) Calipers (those naughty squeezers have NO right to pinch me in those places!)

Oh hell no.

This is not me

3) A warm big-ass bath tub AKA a dunk tank, or hydrostatic body fat test. I chose this way because it was half price testing day, $25 and it was with a mobile testing facility. This meant I got to watch the Crossfit Masters Event at Front Range Crossfit, catch up with some old friends and get my dunk on. Indeed, good day in the life of Steph.

And the winner is:  Hydrostatic body fat testing 

Two things that made my test more amiable:

1) You get to wear your swim suit - YES! 

2)  Got to hold my nose under water  - Can't take life too seriously when you are plugging your nose

Mobile Body Fat testing, bring it!

The test began with me sitting in a tub of warm water (swim suit required!) then you loop your feet under a bar to keep you secure. You can chose to wear a heavy weight "belt" across your lap to help remind you to stay under the water. When in the dunk tank, AIR=FAT so you want to get rid of all the air in your lungs. You get 3 dunks (or more if needed) to exhale all you've got in your lung reserves.Your goal is to try to get rid of most of your air while above water since it's less time under the water.

As you feel you are getting close to emptying your lungs, slowly lay down on your back under the water (with your nose plugged!) and continue breathing air out. Once you think you are out of air, and have used your abs to push it all out, then give yourself 2 last seconds under the water before coming up for breath. Totally painless but being out of oxygen still messes with your head.

My body fat average came to 17.9% body fat. Happy Steph. Here are my results below:
Resting Metabolic Rate: 1574 Calories - This is my calories burned if I was in a coma or just laying
                                                                  in bed all day. Not gonna happen.
Daily Calories burned: 2249 Calories (this is without exercise) Bring on the steak and potatoes, this is more than I thought!


Did some math and determined:
Burning 2249 Calories means I could:
A) Eat 11.5 Donuts a day
B) Eat 59 Cups of Brussell sprouts - imagine the orchestra of music I could play if I did this.
C) Almost an entire large pepperoni pizza, tempting
D) Eat a whole jar of Almond butter **

** Not ideal but yummy for sure **
I suggest this for everyone not just because it's fun but because you can also find out how many calories you burn during exercise, specifically tailored to you. I burned over 3500 calories during my Pikes Peak hike. No wonder I was hungry!