The number of fats and other non-fatty mass present in someone’s body define body composition. A balanced body structure has a lower proportion of fat and a more significant proportion of non-fat mass, including skin, bones, and different organs. Understanding that your body structure will assist you in evaluating your health and wellness standards. Typically, you can assess your body composition just at the beginning of a weight-loss or wellness regimen and only review it regularly to monitor your improvement. This is your go-to resource for learning what body composition is, and what is the method to measure your body fat percentage:
How to Measure Body Composition?
Following are best three ways to measure body composition:
- Analysis of Bioelectrical Impedance
Bioelectrical Impedance or known as (BIA), estimates fat-free mass by using a low electric flow of current across the muscle. Although electricity may only pass-through water, and that each body tissue includes different quantities of water, and the conductivity of every kind of tissue influences the movement of the electric charge. Since muscle carries more fluid than fat, the current movement is less disrupted (low Impedance) when an individual has more lean body weight and more disrupted (high Impedance) when an individual has more muscle mass. The device will then calculate the body fat percentage using a reasonably simple algorithm/calculation. Furthermore, because of just how these devices work, hydration state will have a considerable effect on the quality of the data. This covers whether or not you consumed anything or exercised prior to the test.
- Hydrostatic Weighing
Hydrostatic weighing is just a type of densitometry that estimates the body composition by using your body mass on both the land and in the water, as well as water displacement. According to Archimedes ‘ concept, the force exerted on an underwater object is proportional to the weight of a liquid displaced by the object. Muscle weighs the same as fat, although it is heavier and occupies less bulk per pound. To put it another way, since muscle sinks but the fat floats, a human with much more body fat would weigh more underneath the water than an individual with a higher proportion of body fat. Underwater weighing requires an individual to extract all oxygen from their lungs while exercising since excess air would affect water displacement. The procedure is usually performed three times, with the average submerged weight is used.
- DXA Test
The DEXA scan is unquestionably a medical norm for determining body structure. A person lies down upon the examination table, and the DEXA scanner passes over them. This phase takes 10 to 15 minutes and will get you to feel like you are in a fantastic Sci-Fi film. A DEXA scan, which was initially designed to calculate bone mineral density, has been commonly used to assess body structure. DEXA does this by passing two light beams across the bone and measuring how much radiation is absorbed. The thicker the substance (i.e., higher muscle-to-fat ratio), the fewer the rays will reach the bone. This measurement is then turned into a proportion of body fat.
