This book surveys the entire field of body composition as it relates to performance. It includes a clear definition of terminology and a discussion of the various methods for measuring body composition. The authored papers represent a state-of-the-art review of this controversial field and address questions such as: What is a better measure of body compositionâ€"body fat or lean body mass? Does being overweight for one's height really affect performance? The book also addresses the issue of physical appearance as it relates to body fatness and performance. It includes an in-depth discussion of many of the topics of interest to those involved in sports medicine and exercise physiology.

The essays in this book, stemming from a national conference of the same name, focus on the single subject required of nearly all college students--composition. Despite its pervasiveness and its significance, composition has an unstable status within the curriculum. Writing programs and writing faculty are besieged by academic, political, and financial concerns that have not been well understood or addressed. At many institutions, composition functions paradoxically as both the gateway to academic success and as the gatekeeper, reducing access to academic work and opportunity for those with limited facility in English. Although writing programs are expected to provide services that range from instruction in correct grammar to assisting--or resisting--political correctness, expanding programs and shrinking faculty get caught in the crossfire. The bottom line becomes the firing line as forces outside the classroom determine funding and seek to define what composition should do. In search of that definition, the contributors ask and answer a series of specific and salient questions: What implications--intellectual, political, and institutional--will forces outside the classroom have on the quality and delivery of composition in the twenty-first century? How will faculty and administrators identify and address these issues? What policies and practices ought we propose for the century to come? This book features sixteen position papers by distinguished scholars and researchers in composition and rhetoric; most of the papers are followed by invited responses by other notable compositionists. In all, twenty-five contributors approach composition from a wide variety of contemporary perspectives: rhetorical, historical, social, cultural, political, intellectual, economic, structural, administrative, and developmental. They propose solutions applicable to pedagogy, research, graduate training of composition teachers, academic administration, and public and social policy. In a very real sense, then, this is the only book to offer a map to the future of composition.

Interest in the relationships between body structure and function in physical activity has persisted for centuries. Body Composition: Health and Performance in Exercise and Sport advances understanding beyond simple descriptions of body physique and composition of athletes and fills gaps in our understanding of the important role of muscle, fat, and bone in facilitating physical performance and health in sports and physically demanding occupations. lt addresses basic, practical, and applied topics in body composition, performance, and health with comprehensive reviews organized in four logical parts: Body Composition Assessment; Physical Activity and Body Composition; Body Composition in Sports and Occupations; and Moderating Factors. This book integrates state-of-the-art knowledge by international experts in the field and produces an evidence-based practical guide for a balanced understanding of the role and use of body composition assessment in physical performance and health for youth and adults. It also provides a needed link between the practice of body composition assessment and its application by members of public health advisory committees that develop national guidelines for diet, physical activity, and health. This book is suitable for students and professionals in sports nutrition, exercise science, kinesiology, and athletic training. Sport administrators and policy-makers for international and national sport federations and organizations, and national intercollegiate and scholastic federations, would also benefit from this book.