Body Composition 101: The Beginner’s Guide
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Editor’s Note: This post was updated on August 14 , 2018 , for accuracy and comprehensiveness. It was originally published on June 16, 2015.
- Detailed body composition analysis uses the 4C Model that breaks the body into body water, protein, minerals, fat.
- Fat and muscle may weigh the same, but muscle is significantly denser than body fat.
- The four common methods of measuring your body composition are calipers, hydrostatic weighing, DEXA, and BIA.
At your recent physical, your doctor mentions that you should get body composition tested. You’ve overheard trainers tell their clients how much their body composition has improved. You keep seeing the term pop up on fitness or health blogs (like yours truly ). You may smile and nod knowingly when it comes up in conversation, but secretly, deep down, you’ve always been thinking:
“What exactly is body composition?”
If this sounds like you, fear not, you’re in the right place.
Body composition analysis is a trending topic in health, medicine, and fitness because it is a whole body assessment that gives you the blueprint for improving your health.
Think about when you take your car into the shop for an inspection. In order to examine the condition of the car, the mechanic opens the hood, checks the fluids, and inspects the working components.
Body composition analysis is the same idea, except instead of examining your engine oil level or testing the battery life, you are getting a measurement of your fat, muscle mass, and body water levels.
By “looking under the hood” and understanding what areas you need to improve on in order to achieve a healthy body composition, you will look and feel so much better!
This Is What You Are Made Of
Let’s start with the basics. The first thing to know is that there are several different models of body composition. Below we will explore the two most common models.
What are the 2 components model of body composition?
1. fat mass.
The substance everyone seems to always have too much of and is always doing their best to get rid of. However, body fat is necessary for the body to function: Body Fat allows the body to store energy, protects internal organs, acts as an insulator and regulates body temperature, among other things. Nobody can have 0% body fat, and maintaining body fat percentages lower than 4% is generally regarded as inadvisable for long-term health .
2. Fat-Free Mass (FFM)
Fat-Free Mass is what it sounds like – all the mass in your body that is not attributed to fat. Your FFM contains a variety of different components, all your internal organs, skeletal muscle mass, water, etc. Everything that is not fat can be lumped into the category of Fat-Free Mass.
From these two values, your body fat percentage can be deduced by dividing your fat mass by your total body weight. If your goal is to determine only your body fat (not lean body mass, muscle mass, etc), procedures that utilize the 2C method can be used to determine your body composition.
What are the 4 components model of body composition?
For a more detailed body composition analysis, you have to use methods that break the body into more components, such as the 4 component (4C) model. The 4C model divides your body weight into water, protein, mineral, and fat.
1. Body Water
Adults are more than 50% water. Your body fat, muscles, blood, and other bodily fluids all contain water. These components can be further broken down into the water contained inside your body’s cells (intracellular water) and the water outside your cells (extracellular water).
This is a reflection of the protein contained in your body’s muscles.
3. Minerals
Your body contains minerals that are primarily contained in two places: in the bloodstream and inside the bone tissue.
Here are some less common (but important) body composition terms:
- Dry Lean Mass (DLM): Your Dry Lean Mass is the combination of the weight attributed to the protein and the bone mineral in your body.
- Lean Body Mass (LBM) : Your Lean Body Mass is the combination of your DLM and body water.
- Skeletal Muscle Mass (SMM): Not to be confused with DLM or LBM, Skeletal Muscle Mass are the muscles that are connected to your bones and allow you to move. These are all the muscles that can be grown and developed through exercise (your pectorals, biceps, quadriceps, and so on).
These terms together give you a more sophisticated way to think about and approach both your body weight and your health. Put simply, you’ve got to know your body composition if you are serious about reaching your health goals and improving your quality of life. Without knowing what you’re actually made of, you can only guess at how much muscle and body fat you actually have. Guessing leads to frustration, frustration leads to indifference, and indifference leads to quitting.
What’s So Important About Body Composition, Anyway?
At this point, you might be a little overwhelmed with these new terms, and think, “Thanks, but no thanks. I will just stick with something traditional and easy like Body Mass Index.”
But the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that while BMI can be used to categorize people into weight categories that have a higher chance of developing health complications, it is not an accurate tool to measure body fatness or assess health because it does not differentiate what your body weight is made up of.
The reason why that is important is that although fat and muscle may weigh the same, muscle is significantly denser than body fat . That means that 15 pounds of muscle takes up much less space than 15 pounds of fat.
So what does this mean for the average person who is looking to stay healthy? Well, if you’re simply just that: average (neither athletic nor overweight), then BMI can be a fairly good indicator to measure if you are at a healthy weight. But if you are even a little bit athletic, or if you lead a fairly sedentary lifestyle, BMI can be misleading.
Take a star NFL tight end. At 6’6”, 262 pounds he would have a BMI of 28.8 – and according to the World Health Organization, an individual with a BMI score of 30 is classified as “obese.” But you wouldn’t consider him almost obese when you see him sprint away from NFL defensive backs.
And when we look at this muscle and body fat levels, his body composition results agree.
The muscle mass and percentage muscle mass measurements show an individual with high Skeletal Muscle Mass and low Percent Body Fat (12.7%).
The reason his body weight is so high is that more than half of his body weight is made up of muscle. Although BMI may not be an accurate measurement tool for rich professional athletes, you might be wondering what does this have to do with me.
Well if you are like 150 million American office workers who aren’t getting enough exercise, BMI may be giving you a false sense of security.
For example, picture your average office worker as 5’4” and 140 pounds for a BMI score of 23.1: solidly in the “normal” BMI range. This person may want to improve their fitness level, but it’s not a high priority because her BMI is still pretty good.
Sedentary adults working in offices who do not exercise are known to lose Skeletal Muscle mass, especially in their legs. Coupled with a similar increase in body fat This can lead to high body fat percentages, even in individuals with “normal” body weight and BMI. This condition is called skinny fat , and because of our reliance on body weight measurement and BMI, it often goes undetected.
The muscle mass and percentage muscle mass measurements show an individual with low Skeletal Muscle Mass and High Percent Body Fat (31.1%).
These individuals are at risk for some of the same health complications as people who are visibly overweight, with BMI values above 25. These health complications can include cardiovascular disease , high blood pressure, diabetes, and more.
It then makes sense that in a Canadian study of 50,000 people, it was found that a low BMI did not necessarily correspond with a lower mortality rate .
How Can You Check Your Body Composition?
Hopefully, by now we have convinced you the importance of using something more advanced than a weight scale or BMI. Luckily, there are many methods to determine your body composition. Some are quick and easy but provide basic information only. Some are lengthy and expensive and require the assistance of a trained technician to administer a test.
Here are four common methods:
Skinfold Calipers
Image Credit: Flickr
This is a method that many people have encountered in their local gym. Calipers are widely used because they are portable , easy to use, and can be administered by almost anyone as long as they have had proper training and sufficient experience.
Calipers work by pinching external body fat in several places around your body and measuring how much skinfold can be grasped by the caliper’s arms. These results are taken and used in mathematical calculations, which determine the fat mass in your entire body.
If this sounds simple, that’s because it is. Calipers are an example of 2C body composition analysis. Calipers will tell you how much fat you have, but that’s about it.
The other thing to be aware of when you are using calipers to test your body composition is that the accuracy of your results may vary across tests , and the reproducibility (having consistent test results when back-to-back testing) won’t be as high as tests performed on medical-grade machines, which are designed to reduce variance across tests and increase accuracy.
Hydrostatic Weighing
Image Credit: Chemistry Land
Hydrostatic weighing (also known as underwater weighing ) calculates your body fat percentage using you underwater body weight. To get your underwater weight, you first need to expel all of the air in your lungs and then submerge yourself in a pool while sitting on a special scale. Your underwater weight is compared with what you weigh on land, and these numbers, together with the value of the density of the water in the pool, are put through a series of calculations. These calculations produce your body fat percentage.
When done properly, hydrostatic weighing is a very precise method for measuring your body fat percentage , and it is often regarded as “Gold Standard” for body composition analysis. However, just like calipers, hydrostatic weighing cannot report anything beyond body fat, like skeletal muscle mass, body water, and dry lean mass.
To get a hydrostatic weighing test performed, you will need to make an appointment at a facility such as a university or high-end sports complex that has built a hydrostatic weighing pool and a trained staff.
Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA)
Image Credit: Nick Smith photography
DEXA (sometimes abbreviated as DXA), is a medical test that involves lying on a table while a machine sends X-rays through your body and measures the difference in the amount of energy initially sent through the body and the amount detected after it exits the body. Although DEXA was originally designed to measure bone density, it is now used to measure body fat and muscle mass.
Along with hydrostatic weighing, DEXA scans are regarded as a “Gold Standard” for measuring body fat percentage. Unlike calipers and underwater weighing, DEXA scans have the ability to measure the body segmentally, scanning each arm and the trunk separately in order to accurately measure fat mass, soft lean mass, and bone density in each segment.
In order to get a DEXA scan performed, you will typically need to make an appointment with a hospital or clinic that has a DEXA device. You may need to do some research; because of the cost, not all hospitals and clinics will have a DEXA machine.
Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA)
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) works by sending a small electrical current into a person and measuring the opposition of that current (impedance) as it travels throughout the body’s water. Once impedance is measured, body composition is calculated. Unlike other methods, a technician does not always need to be present at a BIA test, and you can use BIA devices with just by following the directions on the device.
BIA devices range widely in quality and accuracy , and you should be aware that not all BIA devices test the entire body. Consumer body composition scales, use BIA to directly measure leg impedance only and use estimations to determine results for the upper body. Handheld devices only directly measure arm impedance and estimate results for the lower body.
By contrast, modern, medical-grade BIA devices are able to measure the entire body directly and can be extremely accurate – with measurements that are closely aligned with “Gold Standard” procedures – without the complications that those procedures sometimes entail. The most advanced BIA devices are even able to perform segmental analysis .
Because BIA measures work by measuring body water, a lot of useful information can be reported. Although nearly all BIA devices will tell you your body fat percentage, some devices can go much further and report the body water weight, skeletal muscle mass, lean body mass, and much more.
Hopefully, this helps you a general understanding of body composition. Knowing your body composition is the first step towards improving it, so if you’re able, schedule a body composition test soon. Your body composition test results can aid you immensely in understanding your weight, improving your overall health, and helping you achieve your fitness goals.
For a recap, check out this video:
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What is Body Composition? 5 Ways to Measure Body Fat
By EMMIE SATRAZEMIS, RD, CSSD March 23, 2021
Your body weight is only one measurement of your overall health and not always the end all be all. You should also be focusing on your body composition by identifying exactly where that weight is coming from. A body composition test will not only tell you your body fat percentage but can also help you fine tune your nutrition needs for fat loss and muscle gain , and point out any health risks you might be facing.
Here’s your go-to guide for understanding what is body composition, how to measure body composition, and how to improve body composition.
What is Body Composition?
Body composition is the practice of breaking down the human body into its individual components including body fat mass, muscle mass, bone, tissue, and water. Body composition is essentially dissecting exactly what you’re made up of.
Undergoing body composition analysis can help you understand your body weight on a deeper level by telling you your body fat percentage, bone density, and lean muscle mass.
When someone says they want to improve their body composition or "recomp" (recomposition), it typically means they want to lose body fat and maintain or increase their lean body mass .
Why is Body Composition Important?
Body composition is the best way to tell if you are losing body fat or gaining muscle.
Oftentimes people on a weight loss plan will find that they aren’t losing weight early into their journey, which leads to frustration and giving up. This is common if you rely on the scale as the best way to measure weight loss. However, the scale is only one datapoint and doesn't give you the full picture.
Just because you aren't losing pounds doesn’t mean you aren’t losing fat. More often than not you are experiencing changes in water weight, or potentially gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time. This is where body composition testing comes in clutch.
The scale can tell you how much you weigh, but body composition tells you where that weight is coming from (aka fat, muscles, or bone).
Your body composition is also one of the best measurements of how physically fit you are and a predictor of increased risk for certain chronic diseases.
The higher your percentage body fat, especially visceral fat that lines the organs in your abdomen, the greater your risk for developing nutrition related chronic diseases such as metabolic syndrome, heart disease, obesity, and diabetes ( 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ).
On the flip side, a higher lean body mass can often mean a better metabolism because muscle is more metabolic than fat and promotes a higher basal metabolic rate.
What is a Healthy Body Composition?
A healthy body composition depends on your gender, age, and fitness level. The "normal" range can also vary depending on the accuracy of the body composition assessment you choose. Generally speaking, you can use the following chart to assess your body composition status. Anything at or below average would be considered a healthy body fat percentage.
How to Measure Body Composition
There are five main body composition analysis tests on the market and each varies on the method and accuracy used. Here are five ways to measure your body composition and learn your body fat percentage.
1. Skinfold Tests
Skinfold tests are one of the oldest and most basic ways to measure the amount of body fat you have. Of course, because of the simplicity to this approach, it also tends to be the most inaccurate ( r , r ).
This method uses skinfold calipers to pinch the body in specific areas (chest, thigh, and abdomen) to measure the skinfold thickness. This can be done through a 3-point measurement or 7-point measurement that expands the test to other body parts including the triceps, below the armpit (Midaxillary), the shoulder blade (subscapular), and hip (suprailiac).
These measurements are then combined with a person's age and gender and input into a specific formula to provide a percent body fat estimate.
Skinfold tests are limited because it only measures subcutaneous fat (fat below the surface of the skin) and does not do a full body assessment. Not everyone stores fat in their body the exact same way. It is also subject to human error depending on who is performing the test.
You can get a skinfold test from many gyms or fitness centers and costs will vary.
2. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA)
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) uses a low electric current that travels through the body to estimate fat free mass.
Since electricity can only travel through water, and each bodily tissue contains varying amounts of water, the flow of the electric current is impacted by the conductivity of each tissue type. For example, muscle holds more water than fat, so the flow of the current becomes less interrupted (low impedance) when a person has more lean mass and more interrupted (high impedance) when they have more body fat.
Then through a fairly standard algorithm/calculation the machine will then guess your body fat percentage.
Because of the way these tools function, hydration status can significantly impact the accuracy of the results. This also includes whether or not you’ve eaten or done any exercise before the test.
There are multiple types of BIA tools available on the market. Many are portable and extremely affordable, including bathroom scales and handheld machines. There are also more advanced BIA machines that use electrode placement on the body.
The margin of error for BIA body composition analysis is 3-8%, however this number is likely increased when using at home scales ( 5 , 6 ).
You can easily get an at home BIA scale or handheld machine for $30 to $50 and perform a body comp test any time you need.
3. Hydrostatic (Underwater) Weighing
Hydrostatic or underwater weighing is a form of densitometry that uses your body weight on land and in water, along with water displacement to estimate your body composition.
This method is based on Archimedes' principle, the buoyant force on a submerged object is equal to the weight of the fluid that is displaced by the object.
Muscle does not weigh more than fat , but it is denser and takes up less volume per pound.
In other words, muscle sinks and fat floats, so a person with more muscle mass will weigh more underwater than a person with a higher percentage body fat ( 7 , 8 , 9 ).
When performing underwater weighing, a person is required to expel all air from their lungs during the test, as any extra air will impact water displacement. The test is typically repeated three times and the average underwater weight is used.
To get a Hydrostatic body comp test look for fitness companies or online companies that have a traveling van or station on site to perform the test. It will run you about $35 to $50 a test.
This method is praised for being pretty accurate and has a margin of error around 1-3%.
4. Air displacement BodPod
Air displacement works similar to water displacement except an air controlled chamber resembling an egg-shaped pod is used. A BodPod uses a mechanical diaphragm to create small volume changes in a confined and controlled space and then measures pressure responses.
A person's weight, age, gender, and height are recorded before the test and the chamber is calibrated.
Then using the basic understanding, density equals mass over volume. A person’s mass is recorded with their body weight. Volume is measured using air displacement in the BodPod. Then since both fat mass and fat free mass have known densities, the BodPod can estimate how much fat mass and fat free mass a person has.
To get a BodPod test, you'll need to find a facility that will perform the test for you, and this is no easy feat. Most BodPods are found in medical or health facilities and are not widely available to the public. If you can find a fitness facility that offers them, they’ll run you about $40 to $50 a test.
The margin of error for BodPods is similar to underwater weighing at 1-3% ( 10 ).
5. DXA/DEXA Scan
A DXA or DEXA scan is the most accurate and advanced form of body composition analysis available.
It uses x-ray technology to scan your body and provides a detailed assessment of how much muscle mass and fat mass you have (down to the pound), and exactly where fat and muscle is stored on your body. For example, if your right arm has 0.5 more pounds of muscle than your left arm, a DEXA scan will identify this. This also means a DEXA scan will differentiate between subcutaneous and visceral fat. It can even tell you your bone density.
You can find many gyms that have DEXA machines on site or online companies that offer remote DEXA scans in a van, similar to hydrostatic weighing, and they will cost you about $50 a test.
The margin of error for a DXA/DEXA scan is 1.6% ( 11 ).
How to Improve Your Body Composition
Knowing your body composition is the first step in transforming your body and understanding your progress. If you’re just getting started on your weight loss or fitness journey, get a body composition test performed and use this as a benchmark moving forward.
Check back in every 8 to 12 weeks (more frequently if using an at home body composition scale) to see if your body fat percentage or muscle mass is changing. And then fine tune your nutrition and fitness habits based on your body composition results.
Here’s how to do it:
Track Your Calorie Intake
Diet and exercise both play a key role in improving your body composition, with nutrition making the largest impact. If you want to lose body fat, learn your daily calorie goals and start tracking your intake.
If your goal is weight loss , you’ll need to continually decrease your calorie intake to lose body fat. But you don’t want to cut calories too low because you may end up losing muscle mass in the process. Not to mention, very low calorie diets can be difficult to stick to and don’t set you up for long term success.
If you want to gain weight , you’ll need to do the opposite and make sure you are eating a lot of additional calories to support muscle growth.
And if your goal is to maintain your weight and recomp (change your body composition at your current weight), you’ll need to figure out how many calories you need to maintain your current weight and eat that amount.
Using a nutrition tracking app is one of the easiest ways to learn your calorie and macro goals, and to track your progress.
Learn Your Body Composition Macro Goals
While calorie control is crucial for changing your weight, your macro balance is critical for supporting your body composition goals.
If looking to lose weight, your goal is to lose more fat than muscle, and when gaining weight your goal is to gain more muscle mass than fat - and macros can help you achieve this.
Your unique macro requirements are dependent on your age, height, weight, gender, starting body composition, how much you exercise, and your individual health needs.
You’ll want to get enough protein to support your lean mass and potentially help you build some additional muscle mass. And adjust fat and carbohydrates according to the type and amount of exercise you engage in.
Once you know your goals, you can then track your daily macro intake using a nutrition tracking app to ensure you are staying on top of your nutrition needs.
You can easily get your daily macro goals using an online macro calculator or with a macro friendly tracking app .
Exercise to Build Muscle Mass
Exercise is not just to burn calories and fat, when looking to build or maintain muscle mass , the type of exercise you choose becomes pretty important. Just moving more can help you burn calories and lose body fat, but in order to build muscle you need to incorporate strength or resistance training.
Lifting weights is a great way to support your lean mass and help you burn fat. But if you’re new to this type of exercise, you can start with bodyweight movements or any type of exercise that challenges your muscles and builds strength.
Stay Consistent
Lastly, consistency is everything. Anyone can stick to a plan for a few weeks, but the real changes happen after months of consistency and hard work. Of course this doesn't mean that you need to change everything all at once or suffer to see changes in your body - its finding the small adjustments that work for you and continually working on improving.
Pick a small goal, like hitting your daily macros, and keep working on that one thing until you master it. Then reassess your goals to add new ones or fine tune existing ones as needed.
You also need to be patient and give your body time to see results. You cannot change your body composition in just a few weeks, it takes time and dedication. You get out what you put in, so hang in there and be patient. The body of your dreams is coming.
Want to make things easier on yourself? Get all of your nutrition taken care of with macro perfect meals cooked and shipped right to your door. Plus get free access to nutrition caching to help you achieve your body composition goals faster.
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Body Composition Analysis
Body composition basics.
A certain amount of body fat is important to all individuals. We typically are concerned with three areas of fat storage:
- Fat found in muscle tissue
- Subcutaneous fat – that which is just under the skin
- Visceral fat – that which surrounds organs.
A certain amount of essential fat in these areas protects organs, is used as fuel for energy, and regulates body hormones. However, monitoring your levels of excess fat is important for a full picture of your total health and fitness.
Lean tissue, aka fat-free mass, is what we refer to as the portions of your body mass that excludes fat – that is bone, water, muscle, organs and tissue. Lean tissue actively burns calories for energy, while fat is not metabolically active.
By measuring your body composition, we can determine your body fat percent: the ratio of lean tissue to fat in your body. We then compare your personal body fat percent to the generally-accepted normal ranges, taking into consideration differences between men and women, ages, personal health history, and overall athletic performance goals.
Healthy Ranges
It is important for athletes to keep in mind that even though the overall goal is to have a low body fat percent, there is a risk of having too little body fat. Extremely low body fat can be especially detrimental to female athletes. Athletes with extremely low body fat increase the risk of injury, illness, low bone density (osteoporosis) and increased likelihood of fractures. Obsessing over a low body fat percent can quickly lead to eating disorders of a wide variety.
In some cases, it will be important for athletes to lose weight for optimal performance. In other cases athletes seek to gain weight for competition. Managing your weight and increasing protein for muscle mass is a process best done under strict guidance of trainers, medical experts, and nutritional counselors. Please talk to the coaches at NJ FASSST about your weight management goals and nutritional needs in order to set up a personalized program to reach your goals.
These are the medically-accepted standard ranges, as determined by the American Council on Exercise (ACE)
How We Perform Body Composition Analysis
A regular weight scale cannot tell you your body composition analysis. To truly find out the proportions of water, fat and muscle within your body, we use a series of simple measurements and a body fat percentage calculator. You can do this at home, with a coach at the training center, or with your medical doctor.
There are specialized scales and handheld devices that utilize bioelectrical impedance to send a small electrical current through your body to measure your body composition. Fat, water, and lean tissue are each read differently with the current and can therefore offer a general picture of your body fat index.
Another method used to measure your body composition is called a skinfold measurement. Painless instruments called calipers take measurements at different parts of your body by gently pinching portions of your skin.
A DEXA scan (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry scan, bone density scan) is typically performed in a medical doctor’s office to check for bone density. This helps track any loss due to osteoporosis, improper weight management, or other factors.
Hydrostatic weighing is a highly-effective analysis for measuring your body composition. An individual fully submerges under water, and the water’s displacement is measured. Combining a bone density measurement with water displacement, the body composition can be calculated.
To learn more about the Body Composition Analyses Unit utilized at Comprehensive Medical Care visit our friends at BodyLogic .
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September 18, 2017
Body composition analysis: learn what your scale isn’t telling you, jack rabbit --> in fit-tech.
Stepping on the scale at the gym, in your home or at the doctor’s office tells you an important piece of information about your health: your weight. But that number alone has some limits. Two people of the same weight could be in two very different stages of health, after all. We are not just made of up body fat and bone, but also of muscle and water too. Those individual numbers play some key roles in fitness. This is where the process of Body Composition Analysis can help to provide a more complete, and more accurate, image of your health and makeup.
What is Body Composition Analysis?
Body Composition Analysis is the process of breaking down the number on the scale into its contributing components of fat, muscle, and water. This can be done in a clinical setting with X-Rays, in a Personal Training office with calipers, in water or air chambers through displacement, or through the use of special high-tech scales. However the analysis is done, the goal is the same: to accurately estimate how much fat, muscle and water makes up the mass of an individual, and even where those components are located on their physical frame.
How does it work?
Perhaps the most practical method of Body Composition Analysis today is through the use of a Tetrapolar Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) Scale, such as InBody . These scales utilize four points of contact with the body, or poles. Through them they administer small, undetectable (by you) electrical currents. With the measured rate of resistance to those currents, the scale estimates the amount of water, fat and muscle mass present – as well as where it is present. Users simply step onto the scale base, grab onto a pair of hand electrode pads, and stand still for a few minutes while the scale administers the current. This data is then combined with height, age, sex and overall weight measurements for a result.
What does it tell you?
In general, Tetrapolar BIA scales offer measurements in three categories:
- Water/Fat/Muscle percentages – This measurement tells the user what percentage of their body is composed of fat, how hydrated they are, and how much muscle mass they have.
- Fat and muscle locations – This measurement tells the user where their body fat is concentrated, IE in their trunk region, arms, legs, etc. Similarly, it shows where their muscle mass is concentrated.
- Basal Metabolic Rate – This measurement is an estimate of a user’s daily calorie requirement, at rest. A good body composition analysis increases the accuracy of this number.
How is it useful?
At its core, Body Composition Analysis is a more complete picture of an individual’s general state of health and fitness. However, its real advantage is what can be done with that picture:
- For personal trainers , knowing their client’s muscle mass, and the location of it, can help them to better target workouts. Over time, continued analysis can help track the effectiveness of exercise routines.
- Nutrition coaches and Registered Dieticians benefit from knowing a client’s visceral fat level, basal metabolic rate, and water retention score. This information can help them to create personalized target weights, tailored nutrition plans, offer more effective coaching and advice.
You don’t need to be a fitness or health professional to benefit from Body Composition Analysis however. Anyone, from beginners to seasoned athletes, can use the information. Use it to set nutrition goals, realistic target body weights, strength training goals, hydration levels, etc. It can even help you decide if programs, like personal training or nutrition counseling, are right for you. When it comes to your own health, knowledge is both powerful and important.
Are you ready to see beyond the single number on the scale? Do you want a more complete picture of your fitness? Right before starting a new fitness or nutrition program is a great time. A body composition analysis can serve as a benchmark for how you progress. Check out our fitness assessment options to get started!
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Body Composition: What It Is and Why It Matters
Jill is a registered dietitian who's been writing about nutrition, health, and fitness for more than 20 years.
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- What is Body Composition?
- What is Body Fat?
- Body Composition vs. BMI
How to Measure Body Composition
Factors to consider, changing your body composition, frequently asked questions.
Do you have a love-hate relationship with your bathroom scale? The bathroom scale may be a good tool for measuring weight, but it may not accurately reflect your true health. Body composition takes your weight measurement one step further, figuring out what percentage of your weight comes from fat, muscle, and bone.
The difference between fat mass and non-fat mass (muscle and bone) paints a more complete picture of your health and fitness. This article reviews the basics of your body composition, what it means, and what you can do about it.
We've tried, tested, and reviewed the best bathroom scales . If you're in the market for scale, explore which option may be best for you.
What Is Body Composition?
Body composition is the phrase used by medical professionals and the health community to refer to the percentage of fat, water, bone, muscle, skin, and other lean tissues that make up the body. Knowing your body composition provides more detailed information about your health. Two people can weigh the same, but have very different wellness and fitness needs because of their body composition.
Why It’s Important
Body composition is important because it measures your overall health and fitness level in terms of your body fat percentage. Your bathroom scale can’t tell the difference between how much of your weight comes from fat and how much from muscle. But body composition measurements can.
Less fat and more muscle tends to point toward a better level of health.
What Is Body Fat?
Body fat includes all the stored fat in your body. There are two types of body fat:
- Subcutaneous fat : This is the layer of fat under your skin. It insulates and protects your body.
- Visceral fat : This is the fat that surrounds and cushions your abdominal organs.
In addition to insulating and protecting your body, fat provides energy, carries fat-soluble vitamins , makes certain hormones, and serves as a building-block for cell membranes.
You need a certain amount of body fat to perform these functions—this is known as essential fat.
Body Fat Percentage
Body fat percentage is the percent of fat that makes up your total body weight. Many factors influence your body fat percentage, including sex, age, fitness level, and lifestyle.
The body fat percentage ranges come from the American Council on Exercise (ACE).
Athletes tend to have a lower body fat percentage than people who are physically fit because having less fat improves their athletic performance. However, when body fat percentages dip too low, athletic performance suffers and immune function declines.
On the flip side, a body fat percentage that’s too high is a risk factor for chronic illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
Body Composition vs. Body Mass Index
Body composition and body mass index (BMI) are tools that assess body fatness. However, the methods used to measure body composition and BMI differ. Additionally, BMI may not provide accurate results in all situations.
Body Mass Index (BMI) is a dated, biased measure that doesn’t account for several factors, such as body composition, ethnicity, race, gender, and age. Despite being a flawed measure , BMI is widely used today in the medical community because it is an inexpensive and quick method for analyzing potential health status and outcomes.
Body Mass Index
BMI is a tool that has been used by health professionals to assess body fatness and health. It’s a mathematical equation that compares your weight to your height.
- BMI = (weight in pounds)/(height squared) X 703
For example: (150 pounds)/(66 inches x 66 inches) X 703 = 24
This BMI table is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
- Less than 18.5 = underweight
- 18.5 to 24.9 = healthy weight
- 25.0 to 29.9 = overweight
- 30 or higher = obesity
You don’t need any special equipment to measure BMI, making it a quick tool to assess body fat and health.
There are a number of ways to measure body composition. However, you need more than a bathroom scale and calculator to figure out what percentage of your weight comes from fat and what percentage comes from muscle.
Bioelectrical Impedance
Bioelectrical impedance (BIA) is a tool that estimates your body composition by measuring your body’s resistance to a low-level electric current, or impedance. Muscles have a lower resistance to an electric current than fat.
Painless, quick, and easy
You can purchase scales with BIA technology to use at home
Not a good predictor of body fat percentage in all people
Hydration affects results
Skinfold Measurements
Skinfold measurements involve the use of special calipers that measure the skinfold—subcutaneous fat—on different parts of your body. Fitness trainers use skinfold measurements to assess body fat because it’s quick and convenient.
You can wear shorts and a t-shirt when getting measured
The test is quick and painless
Difficult to get accurate results when performed by someone without proper training
Not a good tool for measuring body composition in people with weight challenges
The DEXA scan, or dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan, uses a low-level X-ray to measure bone, muscle, and body fat.
Fast and painless test
Provides regional body composition
Measures bone mineral density
Requires trained medical professionals for testing
Not suitable for all body types
Hydrostatic Weighing
Hydrostatic weighing involves full submersion in a water tank, using water displacement to measure body composition. Since fat floats and muscle sinks, a person with more lean body mass weighs more underwater.
Gives the most accurate results
Not widely available
Requires special equipment and professional testers
Bod pod is similar to hydrostatic weighing, but uses air displacement instead of water displacement to measure body composition. For this test, you sit in an egg-shaped chamber, which uses your body weight and volume to determine your body composition.
Test is quick and provides a print out of your measurements, including calorie needs
Results are accurate
Overestimates body fatness in lean individuals
Clothing and facial hair may affect results
Body composition provides valuable information about body fat percentage. However, your body shape is unique to you and there are uncontrollable factors that affect your body composition including:
- Age : You lose muscle as you get older, which affects your body composition. However, age-related muscle loss is most often due to a decrease in physical activity.
- Genes : Your genes determine your body type and composition and your inherited body type may have more body fat that’s hard to lose.
- Hormones : Hormones also influence body composition. Testosterone is a male sex hormone that increases muscle mass.
- Sex : Due to a combination of genetics and hormones, women have more body fat than men.
To change your body composition, you need the right balance of physical activity and nutrition to reach your goals. Slow and steady changes work best when you want to increase muscle and lose fat. It's important to remember that some factors will remain out of your control.
Before making any changes to your diet or workout routine, consult with your primary care provider or a registered dietitian for guidance.
A Word From Verywell
Your body composition may help you better understand your current level of health and fitness. It can also serve as a measuring tool to monitor progress when starting a new fitness or wellness program.
When trying to change your physique to improve your fitness level, it’s important to implement a safe and effective workout routine and a balanced eating plan. Seek advice from a health care professional before making any major changes to your diet or exercise routine.
The three somatotypes include ectomorphs, endomorphs, and mesomorphs. These body types are determined by your genetics.
A person with an ectomorph body type has very little body fat and muscle and struggles to gain weight. Someone with an endomorph body type, on the other hand, has a high percentage of body fat and muscle and has no problems gaining weight. Mesomorphs have an athletic build and can gain and lose weight easily.
The 4-component model of body composition measures body fat, water, mineral, and protein content to assess body composition. By comparison, the traditional 2-component model only uses fat mass and fat-free mass to assess body composition.
Because the 4-component model measures multiple components to assess fat mass and fat-free mass, it provides more accurate measurements for those who don’t fit the traditional body composition references.
This model is often used to measure body composition in children.
According to data from the American Council on Exercise, body fat percentages for males generally range from 18% to 24% and for females 25% to 31%. Body fat percentages that measure higher than that range classify someone with obesity.
If you’re an athlete or regular gym-goer, it’s possible to have a body fat percentage lower than the acceptable range for your sex and still be healthy. However, a body fat percentage less than 5% for males and 10% for females is unhealthy.
University of California at Davis. Sports Medicine. Body composition .
Mittal B. Subcutaneous adipose tissue & visceral adipose tissue . Indian J Med Res . 2019;149(5):571-573. doi:10.4103/ijmr.IJMR_1910_18
American Council on Exercise. Percent body fat calculator: skinfold method .
Mehta J, Thompson B, Kling JM. The female athlete triad: It takes a team . Cleve Clin J Med . 2018;85(4):313-320. doi:10.3949/ccjm.85a.16137
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About adult BMI .
Duren DL, Sherwood RJ, Czerwinski SA, et al. Body composition methods: comparisons and interpretation . J Diabetes Sci Technol . 2008;2(6):1139-1146. doi:10.1177/193229680800200623
Holmes CJ, Racette SB. The utility of body composition assessment in nutrition and clinical practice: an overview of current methodology . Nutrients . 2021;13(8):2493. doi:10.3390/nu13082493
Wilkinson DJ, Piasecki M, Atherton PJ. The age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function: Measurement and physiology of muscle fibre atrophy and muscle fibre loss in humans . Ageing Res Rev . 2018;47:123-132. doi:10.1016/j.arr.2018.07.005
Schnurr TM, Gjesing AP, Sandholt CH, Jonsson A, Mahendran Y, Have CT, et al. (2016) Genetic correlation between body fat percentage and cardiorespiratory fitness suggests common genetic etiology . PLoS ONE 11(11): e0166738. doi.10.1371/journal.pone.0166738
Karastergiou K, Smith SR, Greenberg AS, Fried SK. Sex differences in human adipose tissues - the biology of pear shape . Biol Sex Differ . 2012;3(1):13.doi:10.1186/2042-6410-3-13
University of Houston. Center of Wellness Without Borders. The 3 somatotypes .
Wells JC, Fuller NJ, Dewit O, Fewtrell MS, Elia M, Cole TJ. Four-component model of body composition in children: density and hydration of fat-free mass and comparison with simpler models . Am J Clin Nutr . 1999;69(5):904-912. doi:10.1093/ajcn/69.5.904
Kravitz L, Heyward VH. The University of New Mexico. Getting a grip on body composition .
Nuttall FQ. Body mass index: obesity, BMI, and health: A Critical review . Nutr Today . 2015;50(3):117-128. doi:10.1097/NT.0000000000000092
By Jill Corleone, RD Jill is a registered dietitian who's been learning and writing about nutrition for more than 20 years.
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Results Sheet
Learn how to interpret your results sheets and gain insights into your health and fitness., results sheet interpretation.
The following interpretations will help you understand the outputs on your Body Composition Results Sheet. These results can be one of the most powerful tools to help you gain huge insights about your body fat, muscle, water, metabolism, health and fitness levels. Click on any heading to learn how to interpret your results sheet data.
Body Composition Analysis
Muscle-fat analysis, obesity analysis, segmental lean analysis, ecw/tbw analysis, body fat - lean body mass control, segmental fat analysis, basal metabolic rate, visceral fat level.
The first section, Body Composition Analysis provides a whole –body snapshot of your Water, Dry Lean Mass, Lean body Mass and Body Fat Mass.
Starting from the top, you have Intracellular Water and Extracellular Water. Intracellular Water is the amount of body water held within the body’s cells; Extracellular Water is the water outside the cells. Added together, these make up Total Body Water.
After ICW and ECW you find the Dry Lean Mass (DLM). This is the weight of the protein and mineral content in the body.
Below DLM is Body Fat Mass. This reports all of your body fat, including both the surface level (subcutaneous) and internal (visceral) fat.
By adding ICW, ECW, and DLM together, you get the total Lean Body Mass (LBM), which is the weight of everything in the body that is not body fat. This includes muscle, water, bones, organs, etc. – everything that is not Body Fat.
The Muscle-Fat Analysis section provides a snapshot of three very important metrics.
- Weight: is the total body weight.
- Skeletal Muscle Mass: (The total weight of your Skeletal Muscle). These are the muscles that can be grown and developed through exercise and weight training.
- Body Fat Mass: This is how much body fat mass you have, and combines both the surface level and internal fat.
The 100% mark, as well as all the percentage marks, are all based on what would be considered normal for an individual at their specific height when tested. The arrows above the results shows how you compare to others of the same height and gender. While the healthy range varies, 100% designates the average for individuals with the same height and gender. So, if the weight bar extended to 130%, this means you are 30% above average. Similarly, if your weight bar extended to only 70%, this means you have 30% less mass than is considered normal for your height.
The Obesity Analysis section includes one of the most important metrics of any body composition analysis: Percent Body Fat (PBF). It’s a fairly simple metric, division of body fat mass by total weight (*PBF = Fat (lb) / Weight (lb) x 100). However, it is much more informative and better indicator of the risk of obesity than BMI, which is one of the major reasons BMI is still included in the analysis – to highlight its limitations by comparing it to PBF.
For PBF, the ranges differ between men and women. Women tend to carry more body fat than men due to their reproductive system as well as genetics. A graph that represents a female individual should fall in the normal ranges between 18-28%, with the average being 23%. For men, the healthy range is between 10-20%, with an average being 15%.
In the Segmental Lean Analysis section, the body into 5 body segments: the two arms, two legs, and the trunk, which can be thought of as covering the area between the neck and legs. There are two bar graphs for each body part in the Segmental Lean Analysis graph. The display of the two bar graphs provides an assessment of your current lean mass distribution.
The numbers beside the upper bar graph indicates your lean mass weight in the designated segment. If the length of the upper bar graph reaches 100%, it indicates you are at the ideal lean mass for that segment, based on your ideal weight. The length of the upper bar graph shows the relative ratio of the ideal lean mass based on his or her ideal weight. Segmental Lean Analysis compares the pounds of Lean Body Mass against the average expected amount of Lean Body Mass for that person’s height.
If the lower bar graph reaches 100%, it indicates you are at the ideal lean mass in relation to your current weight. Therefore, the length of the lower bar graph indicates the relative ratio of the ideal lean mass for their current weight, while the number beside the lower bar graph shows that ratio. This shows whether or not you have enough Lean Body Mass to support your own body weight, where 100% is sufficient.
Segmental Lean Analysis provides you with the ability to observe your upper/lower lean balance, left/right lean balance, and lean body mass distribution, segmentally. This allows for close monitoring of the distribution of lean body mass to help determine if the distribution of lean mass is adequate or if changes need to be made.
ECW/TBW Analysis section looks at the ratio of Extracellular Water. Total Body Water is composed of Intracellular Water and Extracellular Water. Extracellular Water (ECW) is the plasma water, interstitial water, transcellular water, and water found in bone, cartilage, and dense connective tissues. Intracellular Water (ICW) is the water found in the cytosol of every cell in the body.
In healthy individuals, intracellular fluid takes up roughly 62% of the body water, extracellular fluid takes up roughly 38% of the body water. A healthy individual is expected to have a ratio of ICW to ECW is 3 to 2, which is 0.38 when calculated as ECW/TBW. Most healthy people will have an average ratio of around 0.380, with the acceptable range being between 0.360 – 0.390.
Body Fat & Lean Body Mass Control
Segmental Fat Analysis is a derivative of the segmental lean analysis and is presented as a segmental breakdown, similar to the segmental lean analysis. This portion of the result sheet provides both the weight value, as well as a percentage value. The segmental fat analysis evaluates where fat is adequately distributed throughout the body, based your ideal body weight and height. Each bar shows fat mass in comparison to the ideal.
In the above example, the person above has 3.3 pounds of body fat in their left arm. For a person of their height and gender, that’s 158.9%, or 58.9% more body fat than the average person with the same height and gender.
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What Is Body Composition?
Body composition is a term used often by doctors and health professionals. It refers to the percentage of fat, bone, and muscle in your body. Doctors use body composition to see if you’re at a healthy weight for your individual body.
Why Is Body Composition Important?
Body composition is a universal term used in the health and fitness industry. Doctors use body composition to find what percentage of your body weight is fat. This helps them find out your level of health . Body composition is important because someone else can be the same height and weight as you, but they might have more body fat and less muscle. This could lead to different health issues in them.
The scale won’t tell you how much of your body is made up of fat and muscle mass. But assessing body composition can help you find that. Healthier body composition is less fat and more muscle mass. Too much body fat can lead to risks like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems.
What Is Body Fat?
Your body is made up of water, protein, fat, and minerals. There are two types of fat in your body.
Non-fat mass. This is also known as essential fat. This kind of fat is in your bones, liver, kidneys, intestines, and muscles. Fat in these places is required for your body to function normally.
Fat mass. Also known as stored fat , this is found in your adipose tissue. This type of fat is used as energy for your body. It insulates and cushions your body. It surrounds your organs and is just under your skin.
Excessive stored fat can be harmful to your health. Having too much stored fat can lead to chronic diseases and conditions.
These may include:
- Heart failure
Checking your body composition lets you know the shifts in your body fat and muscle mass. If you exercise less or more but your weight stays the same on the scale , your internal body composition could have changed.
How Body Mass Index Is Different
When thinking about body composition, body mass index (BMI) might come to mind. But BMI doesn’t measure body fat. Doctors use BMI to find out your weight status. There’s a range of healthy to unhealthy BMIs. BMI only tells you the ratio of your weight to your height, however, so it's not an incredibly accurate tool to know if you’re at a healthy level or not.
Typically, a high BMI of more than 30 does indicate obesity. If you have a BMI of over 30, you may have a higher body fat percentage. This could put you at risk for health problems like hypertension (high blood pressure), osteoarthritis, stroke, or type 2 diabetes.
Doctors use BMI to measure your height and weight, and to find if you are underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese . BMI is associated with body fat percentage but doesn’t give an accurate picture of your body makeup.
BMI is more helpful as a global index for nutrition. When used to help determine if a person is overweight, obese, or has an eating disorder, it can be useful. But if it’s used for body composition, it’s not as accurate or helpful.
Determining Body Composition
To find out what your body fat percentage is, a health professional might use skin calipers to measure your stored fat. However, there are other more accurate ways of measuring your body composition.
Skin calipers. A health professional will use skin calipers to measure your skinfold thickness. They’ll measure areas where stored fat is commonly found. When done with a good technique, skin calipers can be very accurate. But human error can cause many fluctuations.
Underwater weighing. When underwater, your lean tissue sinks, and fat floats. Your underwater weight helps estimate how much fat mass you have. This is a very accurate method of finding body composition. But it requires special equipment.
A body pod. This kind of machine measures how much air your body displaces. It’s a more convenient option compared to underwater weighing. It also takes less time.
Dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan. A DEXA scan uses low-level x-rays to find how much body fat, muscle, and bone are in your body. It's quick and also includes bone in the assessment.
Bioelectrical impedance. This analysis sends electrical currents through your body. It then measures the speed at which it travels. It’s the cheapest method of measuring your body fat, after skin calipers. However, the accuracy depends on a lot of factors. It’s best for monitoring changes in your body fat.
According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, there are healthy body fat percentages based on your age. For people aged 20 to 39, women should aim for 21% to 32% of body fat. Men should have 8% to 19%. For people 40 to 59, women should fall between 23% to 33% and men should fall around 11% to 21%. If you’re aged 60 to 79, women should have 24% to 35% body fat and men should have 13% to 24%.
Women naturally have a higher body fat percentage than men. Their body fat will also naturally increase as they age.
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Body Composition | UC Davis Sports Medicine |UC Davis Health
Body composition, fundamentals.
With respect to health and fitness, body composition is used to describe the percentages of fat, bone and muscle in human bodies. The body fat percentage is of most interest because it can be very helpful in assessing health. Because muscular tissue is denser that fat tissue, assessing ones body fat is necessary to determine the overall composition of the body, particularly when making health recommendations. Two people at the same height and same body weight may have different health issues because they have a different body composition.
DXA body composition analysis
Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) is a quick and pain free scan that can tell you a lot about your body.
Example analysis from a DXA scan (PDF)
Fat: function, metabolism and storage
Although body fat endures a negative reputation, fats and lipids play critical roles in the overall functioning of the body, such as in digestion and energy metabolism. Fat is the body's energy provider and energy reserve, which helps the body maintain a constant temperature. Fats and lipids are also involved in the production and regulation of some hormones such as, steroid hormones . These are essential in regulating sexuality, reproduction, and development of the human sex organs, as well as in regulating the water balance in the body.
Fats and lipids also have important structural roles in maintaining nerve impulse transmission, memory storage, and tissue structure. Lipids are the major component of cell membranes.
Fat serve as an energy reserve for the body, particularly as exercise progresses past 20 minutes. Fats are used, as an energy source as exercise progresses in duration is the major contributor of energy for endurance events, 30+ min. Fat also act as an insulator and protector of organs as approximately 50% of all fat deposits are in and around organs.
Health and performance considerations
From a performance stand point, excess body fat lowers your work to weight ratio, This means that a heavier person would consume more energy per minute of work resulting in a lower energy economy during activity. In addition, excess body fat can lead to additional loads placed on joint during weight bearing activities such as running, causing joint distress. Healthy or athletic body fat percentages typically allow for more optimal performances, due to the improved economy and reduced injuries.
The immune system is often impaired when body fat stores are too low. A reduced ability to fight infections means more interruptions in training and more chance of being sick on race day. For female athletes, there are some very immediate consequences of a low body fat level, including a fall in circulating oestrogen levels. This in turn can lead to a loss of bone mass, causing problems for women in later life through an increased risk of bone fracture.
Assessing body composition
Assessing body fat can be done using the following methodologies: Hydrostatic weighing, skinfold assessment and bio-electrical impedance. Of these methods, one that is both accurate and practical is skinfold measurement. The measurements are taken with calipers, which gauge the skinfold thickness in millimeters of areas where fat typically accumulates (i.e., abdomen, hip, arm, back, and thigh). Once the measurements are recorded, the numbers are inserted into an equation that calculates a body fat percentage and alternatively body lean mass. When measurements are performed with good technique, the skinfold test can accurately predict body fat with a plus or minus 3% margin of error. Skinfold is a preferred method of body fat measurement for non-clinical settings because it is easy to administer with proven accuracy and is not obtrusive with regards to the patient. It also provides much more data than just the final composition measurement - it also yields the thickness of many sites, which can be used as bases of comparison with future results. For example, an abdominal skinfold improvement from 35mm to 24mm would show a significant improvement in that site even if the overall body fat percentage may have only reduced minimally.
Body Mass Index (BMI)
BMI is often mistaken as measurable guide to body fat. However, BMI is simply a weight to height ratio. It is a tool for indicating weight status in adults and general health in large populations. BMI correlates mildly with body fat but when used in conjunction with a body fat measurement gives a very accurate presentation of your current weight status.
With that being said, an elevated BMI (above 30) significantly increases your risk of developing long-term and disabling conditions such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, gallstones, stroke, osteoarthritis, and some forms of cancer. For adults over 20 years old, BMI typically falls into one of the above categories (see table above).
Benefits of Taking a Body Composition Test
Directly related and associated to your overall health, a body composition test can provide insights into how to change your lifestyle, exercise plan, or healthcare practices.
By measuring body composition, an individualized health plan can be created to best fit your goals and personal needs. Not only will it help you become healthier and have more self-esteem, but it can reduce the risk of deadly diseases and cancers. You will have more energy once the muscle to fat ratio is balanced. Learn why a body composition test is important.
Why a Body Composition Test?
A body composition analysis is the technique of measurement used when examining the body to determine the percentage of body mass that is fat compared to muscle. It can also indicate where the fat and muscle are carried within the body. You want to know how much muscle you have as it indicates how lean or fit you are, comparatively. Results will vary based on body structure and proportions.
The goal is to minimize the amount of excess body fat you carry around. Some fat is essential and needed to complete daily functions like temperature regulation.
One of the differences between body composition and Body Mass Index (BMI) is accuracy. BMI measures body fat based on height and weight. However, it is considered to be outdated and muscle to fat ratio is said to be more helpful to overall fitness and health.
A body composition test goes beyond typical and traditional analysis, as it can indicate: body fat percent and weight, water percent and weight, general body weight, bone mass, basal metabolic rate, body fat percentage, and other body measurements.
Health Benefits Associated with Measuring Body Composition
Having the ability to burn more calories and build muscle will significantly reduce the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other health concerns. Your range of motion, movement, and function will be increased because you have more energy. If you are concerned or want to lose weight and keep it off, start by testing your body composition.
Improve Your Overall Body Composition
Simple changes in your daily lifestyle like increasing the amount of physical activity by participating in resistance exercises can help you improve your muscle to fat ratio which ultimately impacts your body composition. Another way is to incorporate cardiovascular exercises combined with healthy eating.
Additionally, body composition results can be helpful for patients who are recovering from cardiovascular complications or a recent fall as it can help a doctor project recovery time and best practices when compared to a baseline.
What to Expect from a Body Composition Scan?
If you want to know your muscle to fat ratio, talk to your doctor the next time you have an appointment. It might require you to make an additional appointment, depending on the type of test. Some evaluation measurements or practices take a few minutes and are simple, while others can be extensive and more detailed. It solely depends on the type of equipment your primary physician has and the information you are seeking.
Everyone can have a body composition scan; however, if you have any medical hardware installed within your body it is not recommended. Prepare to receive the results by fasting before completing the test and make you are well hydrated.
About Elevated Health
Not every clinic in Huntington Beach, CA offers body composition tests. As a direct primary care clinic (DPC), Elevated Health specializes in measuring body composition because we want you to get the healthcare you deserve without paying extra to learn about your health and wellness. With gold standard testing and services, we ensure a more personal approach to medical care.
This service is included for our members, once a year, and we encourage them to take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about their health and reach personal goals. Body composition scans can cost over $100 at some clinics, but we include it in our membership. If you need more than one scan annually, it is just $10. Using one of the best scales in the industry, we use SecaIf for a quick but reliable scan.
If you are not a member, we hope you will become part of our family and experience DPC for yourself.
Learn More About Elevated Health Huntington Beach
About the Author
Matthew Abinante is a board-certified family physician providing direct primary care to patients of all ages. Offering excellent care, diagnosis, and techniques, he continually participates in educational opportunities to best serve his patients. Working in Huntington Beach, he analyzes common aches and pains, proposes innovative treatment plans, and provides specialized services for each individual patient.
After excelling for years, Matthew received his DO and MPH from Touro University in Vallejo, CA. Matthew completed his residency training at PIH Health Hospital in Downey, CA, where he became a board-certified and trusted family physician who values patient-doctor relationships and clear communication.
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Body composition is used by health professionals to evaluate a person's weight by breaking it down into its core components: fat, protein, minerals
Body composition analysis is the same idea, except instead of examining your engine oil level or testing the battery life, you are getting a measurement of your
Undergoing body composition analysis can help you understand your body weight on a deeper level by telling you your body fat percentage, bone
Body composition analysis is the assessment of the proportion of fat to fat-free mass in your body. Even though it's important for the health of all
Body Composition Analysis is the process of breaking down the number on the scale into its contributing components of fat, muscle, and water.
Body Fat Percentage ; Essential Fat, 10% to 13%, 2% to 5% ; Athletes, 14% to 20%, 6% to 13% ; Fitness, 21% to 24%, 14% to 17% ; Acceptable, 25% to
The first section, Body Composition Analysis provides a whole –body snapshot of your Water, Dry Lean Mass, Lean body Mass and Body Fat Mass.
Learn what body composition is, including how it's different than body mass ... This analysis sends electrical currents through your body.
With respect to health and fitness, body composition is used to describe the percentages of fat, bone and muscle in human bodies. The body fat percentage is of
A body composition analysis is the technique of measurement used when examining the body to determine the percentage of body mass that is fat compared to muscle