#622: Body Composition Testing: Methods & Interpretation – Prof. Grant Tinsley

Danny Lennon (0:00)

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Sigma Nutrition Radio. This is episode 622 of the podcast. My name is Danny Lennon. You're very welcome to the show. Today, we're going to be talking all about body composition and testing, the interpretation of those results, what they're actually telling us, and then some of the intricacies of what we're actually doing with this variety of testing. Some of the things to be aware of when we're interpreting individual-level data as well as group-level data within studies, and then some of the things you should be aware of if you are, indeed, using this with yourself, athletes, clients, patients, etc., or if you are more interested in interpreting the results we see from body composition measures within research studies, being aware of some of those intricacies as well. To talk through this topic, there's probably no one better I could think of talking to than Professor Grant Tinsley, who is Professor of Human Performance at Texas Tech University, where he is the Director of its Energy Balance and Body Composition Laboratory. He has done a whole range of excellent research in this area, has done more body composition analyses than I can care to even try and guess at this point through a range of different measures and is best placed to talk through some of these aspects around body composition testing, estimation and interpretation. For those of you who are Sigma Nutrition Premium members, you will of course get a set of detailed study notes to accompany this episode, which you can get either in the description box where you're listening right now or over on the website. If you go to this particular episode, you'll also receive an email with those details as well. If you're listening on the free public feed of the podcast and you're interested in getting more educational materials to supplement your podcast listening, including the study notes that we offer for each episode, as well as an edited transcript. And then every month you also get a premium exclusive episode of the podcast, not available on the public feed. For more of the information, just check the link in the description box where you're listening right now. That will tell you a bit more about what you can expect as a premium member and some of the things you may get from that. Also in the description box, I will link up to the episode page at which you can go and find all the relevant resources for this episode, including any studies that might be referenced or anything that relates to some of the topics discussed. You'll also get a bit more about Professor Tinsley's background and places to find him online. All of those resources that relate to this episode will be linked up in the episode page so you can find that linked in the description box where you're listening right now or of course, just by going to this episode on sigmanutrition.com.

So with that out of the way, let's get into this conversation between myself and Professor Grant Tinsley.

A very big welcome to the podcast to Dr. Grant Tinsley. Thank you so much for taking the time to join me.

Grant Tinsley (3:08)

Absolutely. It's my pleasure. Thanks, Danny.

Danny Lennon (3:10)

Very much looking forward to this and as maybe regular listeners, podcasters will know your work has reared its head on several occasions on previous episodes. So for me, it's a particular honor to be able to talk to you directly about some of that today. Before I get to my questions though, can you give people a bit of a background to your academic background, your research interests, your current work, and anything else that might be relevant for them to hear?

Grant Tinsley (3:34)

Yes, I'd be happy to. So my academic background started with studying physiology and nutritional sciences in my undergraduate work. I had always loved science. I've been a science nerd my whole life. Increasingly, fell in love with exercise and sport and nutrition through adolescence. So it felt natural to study the body through a physiology degree and add in that nutrition component. From there, I got a master's in biomedical sciences, which was a lot of anatomy and physiology. I got to dissect cadavers for a year, which is a huge honor really as one of my best years of my education, just because it gave me a different appreciation for the human body and continued to lay these foundations of body composition, which I'll mention is my major area of interest. Seeing the human body taking apart physically really gave me some direction towards what I wanted to study further beyond that. So in my PhD, I studied kinesiology and exercise nutrition. And after that, I came out here to Texas Tech. So actually, as of a few weeks ago, I've been out here 10 years. So I'm now a professor of human performance at Texas Tech University, and I direct the Energy Balance and Body Composition Lab. So we have multiple lines of research, but the big umbrella interest is the assessment and modification of body composition. So that includes, on the modification side, nutrition, exercise. In the last few years, I've gotten pulled more into the pharmaceutical space as well, particularly with the substantial interest in NGLP-1-related medications. And kind of related to that, in addition to my academic role, I'm the chief science officer for Vineyard Health, which is an online medical clinic that provides comprehensive care for patients with obesity and cardiometabolic concerns that provides them with nutrition support, exercise support, and physical therapy, in addition to the traditional medical support. Beyond that, I do some scientific advising for different companies and whatnot. But yeah, that's the gist of me and my background.