Pod hatches at HAWC

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Neil Samson
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  Whether you're a housewife, maintainer on the flight line, avid athlete, combat-ready F-15E pilot or even a fax-ready desk jockey; the Health and Wellness Center now has a powerful tool to help measure fitness progress.

The Bod Pod, an egg-like container that calculates a patient's percentage of body fat, was recently acquired by the HAWC staff in light of new Air Force-wide fitness standards. It's available to all base military personnel, civilians and dependents.

"It [Bod Pod] calculates total body fat and basal metabolic rate, or metabolism at rest," said Richmond Myhre, Health and Wellness Center exercise physiologist. "It helps to see improvements that are not normally seen."

Customers sit in the pod, while the computer calculates body fat and metabolic rates. The whole process takes no more than two minutes.

According to one HAWC technician it's not so important as how much weight a person is losing as it is other important factors.

"It's about how much body fat you are losing and how much muscle mass you are gaining," said Debbie Bross, Health and Wellness Center program support technician. "The wrong move individuals make is base their level-of-fitness from solely looking at a weighing scale every morning."

Mr. Myhre agrees with his HAWC co-worker that weight scales can prove to be inaccurate and don't measure a person's level of fitness. He also mentioned that with the Bod Pod there's a new standard of accuracy for measuring a person's body fat composition.

"Before the Bod Pod, hydrostatic weighing was the gold standard, or the most accurate method of measuring body fat composition," said Mr. Myhre. "The Bod Pod is now the gold standard of gauging body fat composition."

Other tools used to calculate body fat percentage are dual energy x-ray, hydrostatic weighing, bioelectric analysis and skinfold calipers.

The Bod Pod is aimed toward Gunfighters who are on a fitness program or wish to start a fitness regimen. The results are surprising to the HAWC staff and Bod Pod clients.

"Individuals who look thin and don't have much weight, can have unhealthy, excessive levels of fat," said Mrs. Bross. "There are also people who perceive themselves to be fit who have unhealthy levels of fat."

On the other side of the spectrum, "there are people with very little body fat, which is very unhealthy," said Mr. Myhre. "When a person has little amounts of body fat, they can have a weaker immune system to support their daily functions.

"Even elite athletes cannot have very low body fat percentage for an extended amount of time," added Mr. Myhre.

The HAWC staff wants all Gunfighters, active-duty, spouses and civilians to know the Bod Pod is available to use as part of their fitness program.

"Everyone from elite athletes and those starting a fitness program over the age of 18 with base access can use this tool, free-of-charge," said Mrs. Bross. "Working with a trained health care professional at the HAWC after receiving a Bod Pod test results will help HAWC staff design a nutrition and fitness program suited to anyone's goals."

To learn more about the Bod Pod, and how to arrange an appointment, call the HAWC at 828-1238.