Body composition is a method of breaking down the body into its core components: fat, protein, minerals, and body water. It describes your weight more accurately and provides a better glimpse into your overall health than traditional methods.
Body composition analysis can accurately show changes in fat mass, muscle mass, and body fat percentage.
Most diet and fitness goals focus on weight loss or gain, overlooking that two people of the same sex and body weight may look completely different from each other because they have a different body composition. Body composition describes the amount of fat, bone, water, and muscle in the body. Measuring your body composition will tell you your own body’s unique makeup and help you identify areas to work on to improve your overall health and wellness.
Body composition analysis is a method of describing what the body is made of, differentiating between fat, protein, minerals, and body water to give you a snapshot of your health. InBody is in the business of body composition analysis, and we’re here to help you reach your health goals from the inside out.
You may not have heard of body composition before, but you’re probably familiar with BMI. What’s the difference? Body Mass Index (BMI) is a popular method used to assess the health of an individual by comparing the amount of weight they carry to their height: BMI – kg/m2
Despite the widespread use of BMI in clinical practice, BMI has many limitations and is a poor tracking tool for weight change because there’s no way to identify if changes in your weight are in fat or muscle. Predicting health or mortality using a single number such as BMI oversimplifies health risks and ignores important factors that contribute to optimal health.
When you set out to get healthier, you likely focus on losing fat and gaining muscle. Scales or BMI cannot tell you how much of your weight loss is fat, muscle, or body water, but body composition can.
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) is a method of measuring impedance by applying alternating electrical currents to a user to measuring their volume of water through impedance values.
This non-invasive method involves the placement of electrodes on a person’s feet, hands, or both. A low-level electrical current is sent through the body, and the flow of the current is affected by the amount of water in the body.
Percent Body Fat is a more accurate indicator of your health than your body weight or BMI because it tells you exactly how much fat makes up your total body weight.
For a healthy body fat level, aim for a PBF within 10 – 20% (for males) or 18 – 28% (for females).
Skeletal Muscle Mass is crucial for mobility, posture, and strong immunity for long-term health. Body composition analysis shows you precisely how much Skeletal Muscle Mass you have in each body segment, so you can focus on building more muscle or correct imbalances to ensure you have a healthy muscle mass balance.
Your Total Body Water (TBW) is divided into two groups: extracellular water (ECW), which is the water outside your cells, and intracellular water (ICW), which is the water within your cells. A healthy balance of body water is critical for good health. With body composition analysis, you can identify any changes and address them to maintain a healthy balance.
You may be aware of the healthy weight ranges, but how do you get there? If you only focus on losing weight, you may end up losing muscle mass and eventually sabotage your efforts. By differentiating between muscle and fat, body composition removes the guesswork of determining what your weight fluctuations mean, be it muscle gain, fat loss, or anything in between.
Whatever your goals may be, an important thing to keep in mind during your health journey is there’s more to being healthy than looking thin.
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