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Instructions:
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Read the article below and consider purchasing a Body Fat Monitor (See link at the bottom of the page.)
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Body Composition & Body Fat Percent
How to measure and interpret body composition
By Jennifer R. Scott, Reviewed by Richard N. Fogoros, MD
February 26, 2018
Body composition is the proportion of fat and fat-free mass in your body. A healthy body composition is one that includes a lower percentage of body fat and a higher percentage of fat-free mass, which includes muscle, bones, and organs.
Body composition is measured to assess your health and fitness level. Often, you will have body composition measured at the start of a weight loss or fitness program and checked periodically to monitor your progress.
What Is Body Composition?
Your body is composed of two types of mass: fat mass and fat-free mass (aka: lean body mass).
Body fat can be found in muscle tissue, under the skin (subcutaneous fat), or around organs (visceral fat). Some fat is necessary for overall health. It is called essential fat and it helps protect internal organs, stores fuel for energy, and regulates important body hormones. But you may also have excess storage of fat and non-essential body fat.
Fat-free mass includes bone, water, muscle, organs, and connective tissues. It may also be called lean tissue or lean body mass. These tissues are metabolically active, burning many calories for energy per day, while fat tissue has a very low metabolic rate, burning very few calories for energy per day.
Body fat percent is a measurement of body composition telling how much of the weight of your body is fat. The percentage of your body that is not fat is fat-free mass. There are normal ranges for body fat, which differ for men and women and change with age.
Weighing yourself on a regular bathroom scale does not assess your body composition because a regular scale cannot tell how much of your total weight is comprised of water, fat, or lean body mass, such as muscle.
To know if your body composition is healthy, you should get an estimate of your body fat percent.
Healthy Body Composition
The American Council on Exercise (ACE) gives a range of values for different populations:
Body Fat Percent Norms for Men and Women
February 26, 2018
Body composition is the proportion of fat and fat-free mass in your body. A healthy body composition is one that includes a lower percentage of body fat and a higher percentage of fat-free mass, which includes muscle, bones, and organs.
Body composition is measured to assess your health and fitness level. Often, you will have body composition measured at the start of a weight loss or fitness program and checked periodically to monitor your progress.
What Is Body Composition?
Your body is composed of two types of mass: fat mass and fat-free mass (aka: lean body mass).
Body fat can be found in muscle tissue, under the skin (subcutaneous fat), or around organs (visceral fat). Some fat is necessary for overall health. It is called essential fat and it helps protect internal organs, stores fuel for energy, and regulates important body hormones. But you may also have excess storage of fat and non-essential body fat.
Fat-free mass includes bone, water, muscle, organs, and connective tissues. It may also be called lean tissue or lean body mass. These tissues are metabolically active, burning many calories for energy per day, while fat tissue has a very low metabolic rate, burning very few calories for energy per day.
Body fat percent is a measurement of body composition telling how much of the weight of your body is fat. The percentage of your body that is not fat is fat-free mass. There are normal ranges for body fat, which differ for men and women and change with age.
Weighing yourself on a regular bathroom scale does not assess your body composition because a regular scale cannot tell how much of your total weight is comprised of water, fat, or lean body mass, such as muscle.
To know if your body composition is healthy, you should get an estimate of your body fat percent.
Healthy Body Composition
The American Council on Exercise (ACE) gives a range of values for different populations:
Body Fat Percent Norms for Men and Women
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Description
Essential Fat Athletes Fitness Acceptable Obese |
Men
2-5% 6-13% 14-17% 18-24% > 25% |
Women
10-13% 14-20% 21-24% 25-32% > 33% |
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Athletes tend to have lower body fat percent, which may be beneficial for performance in sports such as running and cycling. But having an extremely low body fat percent is a health problem. The female athlete triad increases the risk of injury and health issues. It includes eating disorders, amenorrhea and decreased bone mass with an increased risk of stress fractures and osteoporosis.
If you are overweight or obese, you have an excessive amount of body fat and a high body fat percent. You can improve your body composition by gaining lean body mass through building muscle and bones, and through losing excess body fat.
How to Measure Your Body Composition
There are several ways to get an estimate of your body fat percent at home, at the gym, or from your doctor:
Factors Affecting Body Composition
Your body composition can be influenced by some factors that you can't control and others that change day to day:
Should You Change Your Body Composition?
If your body fat percent is too high, you may want to try to decrease it to improve your health, athletic performance, and wellbeing. You may also be able to decrease your risk of disease. If you are losing weight and your body fat percent is too low or even nearing essential fat levels, you should make changes to increase your body fat level in order to reduce your health risks.
To change your body composition for better health and fitness, aim to increase muscle mass and decrease excess fat mass. You can change your diet, start an exercise program, or do a combination of both.
Your body composition and body fat are important measurements when you are on a weight loss program. In some cases, you could lose fat and gain muscle and not see a change in your weight. Although your clothes should start fitting a lot better. Tracking your fitness efforts and weight loss results with body composition measurements is a good way to monitor your progress. It’ easier than ever now with the wide availability of high-quality body fat scales at reasonable prices.
If you are overweight or obese, you have an excessive amount of body fat and a high body fat percent. You can improve your body composition by gaining lean body mass through building muscle and bones, and through losing excess body fat.
How to Measure Your Body Composition
There are several ways to get an estimate of your body fat percent at home, at the gym, or from your doctor:
- Bioelectrical Impedance: This is the method used by handheld units and by BIA body fat scales you step onto like a regular scale. A small electrical current passes through your body. Fat, water and lean tissue impede the electrical current to different degrees. The speed of the current is measured and analyzed from which an estimate of body fat percent is calculated and a reading is given. Many scales are sold for home use and no special training is required. Some scales, like the Fitbit Aria 2, even sync with your fitness tracker so that you can see how changes to your daily activity and diet affect your weight.
- Skinfold Measurements: This method is often used by fitness trainers or as part of a weight loss program. Calipers are used to take measurements of standardized skinfolds at different parts of your body.
- DEXA Scan (Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry): This scan is performed in a medical setting and can also be used to check for bone density.
- Hydrostatic Weighing: It's harder to find this gold standard for body fat measurement that involves being dunked in a water tank.
- Body Fat Calculators: There are calculators that use various body measurements, including body mass index to estimate body fat percent.
Factors Affecting Body Composition
Your body composition can be influenced by some factors that you can't control and others that change day to day:
- Age: People lose muscle mass as they age if they don't maintain it with sufficient weight training. This results in a slower metabolism and a higher body fat percent.
- Sex: Women have more body fat than men as nature's way of supporting pregnancy and nursing.
- Genes: These play a role in whether you are naturally lean or have a tendency to retain fat, including where you store it (fat distribution patterns).
- Hormones: These can influence water retention and body composition measurements.
- Hydration: This can be altered depending on diet, sleep, stress, exercise, and medications.
Should You Change Your Body Composition?
If your body fat percent is too high, you may want to try to decrease it to improve your health, athletic performance, and wellbeing. You may also be able to decrease your risk of disease. If you are losing weight and your body fat percent is too low or even nearing essential fat levels, you should make changes to increase your body fat level in order to reduce your health risks.
To change your body composition for better health and fitness, aim to increase muscle mass and decrease excess fat mass. You can change your diet, start an exercise program, or do a combination of both.
Your body composition and body fat are important measurements when you are on a weight loss program. In some cases, you could lose fat and gain muscle and not see a change in your weight. Although your clothes should start fitting a lot better. Tracking your fitness efforts and weight loss results with body composition measurements is a good way to monitor your progress. It’ easier than ever now with the wide availability of high-quality body fat scales at reasonable prices.
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