Learn about Body Composition and Measure your Body Fat at MXNUTRISHOP
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 data point 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 (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 of 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.
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 your Body Composition
“The margin of error for INBODY "body composition analysis" is 3-8%, however this number is likely increased when using at home scales”
Our INBODY "Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis" 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.
I recommend you to determinate the time for measure (Ex. Morning on empty stomach, before workout, etc); on this way it will be easy to compare results.
初期画面 MAIN SCREEN
初期画面ではモード設定を選択します。下記で示すように3つのカテゴリーに分かれています。
On the main screen, select the mode desired. It is divided into three categories as shown below.
① 「体重測定」"Weight measurement (KG)"
体重計に乗ると体重を表示するモードで、体重測定以外の機能はありません。It is a mode that displays only body weight.
② 「体成分測定」"Body Composition Measurement"
体成分測定を行うモードで、体重測定後に体成分の測定が行われ、体成分測定結果が表示や印刷されます。It is the mode for measuring the body composition, after measured, the result is displayed and it can be printed.
③ 「着衣量（PT）設定」"Clothing weight setting"
体重測定値から引く、衣服など一定の着衣量を予め設定します。Set first the weight of your clothing, it is drawn from the weight measured value.
② 「体成分測定」"Body Composition Measurement"
1) 名前/ID 番号 Name/ID number
↓を押すとスキップします Skip it pressing ↓
2) 年齢 (6～99歳) Age (6-99 years old)
数字ボタンを使います。Use the number buttons.
3) 身長 (110～220cm) Height (cm)
数字ボタンで身長を入力して下さい。Use the number buttons.
4) 性別 Gender
M/Fアイコンを使用して性別を選択して下さい。Select your gender using the M/F icon.
5) 体重 (10～200kg) Weight (kg)
測定された体重はこの欄に自動的に表示されます。The weight (Kg) will be automatically displayed in this field.
結果を自動的に印刷されます。Your result will be printed.
適切な測定姿勢 Appropriate measurement posture
誤差を最小にして、信頼性を最大にするために、以下の方法を守って下さい。
To minimize errors and maximize reliability, please observe the following methods.
1-手電極の握り方 How to hold the hand electrode
2-足電極への乗り方 How to step on the foot electrode
How to Improve Your Body Composition
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 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 recap (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.
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.
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.
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