Whether from a doctor or relative, we’ve all been told at some point in our life to “watch our weight.” Or you may have been advised to monitor your body mass index (BMI). Unless you follow the latest scientific findings in health and fitness, you may not have been aware that body composition testing technology in the form of bioelectrical impedance (BIA) offers a much better means of monitoring your health.
So why is body composition testing important? We’ll explore some of the basics behind the term while providing an overview of the benefits of BIA body composition analysis. We promise that you’ll never look at health metrics the same way again.
What Is Body Composition?
Body composition is what your body weight is made up of. Your body weight is actually made of two parts, lean body mass which contains skeletal muscle mass, water, bone and protein and fat mass. While watching your weight and BMI may help you monitor an obesity risk in a very broad format, it can’t determine the make of your total body weight.
For example, if you were to gain skeletal muscle mass weight and keep your body fat mass levels the same, according to the BMI scale, your obesity risk would increase when in fact, it should lower your obesity risk. Knowing and understanding the composition of your total body weight is important for overall health and especially important if you are on a transformation journey.
- Lean Body Mass
Our lean body mass is made up of skeletal muscle mass which are the functioning muscles in your body that allow you to be mobile.
Most people aren’t aware that increasing or maintaining skeletal muscle mass can be super beneficial for fat loss, especially when you are trying to maintain lower body fat for the long term.
Muscle Mass isn’t just for men or for people who are serious gym-goers, it is actually an important part of maintaining good health and supporting your immune system as proven in science.
Some of the many benefits include –
- Increased metabolism of lean muscle assists with the reduction of obesity
- Maintaining muscle over the lifespan can aid in reduction in obesity and weight gain as a result of aging
- Improved ability to tolerate high-stress environments
- Improved responses to critical illness and disease
- Decreased osteoporosis
- Improved bone density
- Improved independence and activities of daily living in older adults
- Decreased risk of falls in older adults
- Protection against injury from bumps and knocks
Your bone and protein mass is directly correlated with how much skeletal muscle mass you hold.
Total body water will change depending on how much skeletal muscle mass you hold, your gender and your hormone profile.
- Fat Mass
Our fat mass is made up of subcutaneous fat mass and visceral fat mass.
A visual inspection in the mirror or fitted clothing is often the gauge for people to determine their body fat level. The reality is that a visual inspection can only give you an indication of your subcutaneous body fat level rather than your visceral fat level.
Visceral fat sits within the abdominal cavity and surrounds internal organs and can’t be seen externally. High visceral fat levels are associated with a high risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other obesity related diseases.
This is where BIA body composition testing is superior to a BMI calculation as it is one of the few non-invasive methods of testing how much visceral fat a person holds. It’s especially important as a measurement for tracking improvements and ultimately in the prevention of lifestyle diseases.
All of these important metrics are essential to determine the best unique approach to nutrition, exercise, lifestyle habits, sleep and medical interventions to be able to establish a new approach and monitor the changes.
Why Should I Monitor Body Composition?
Although the concept of body composition has been around since the early 20th century, the proven formula for evaluating health has only recently come into the mainstream as medical science and professional health trainers have begun relying on the method.
Having a baseline measurement is important to establish new behaviors and give you metrics to measure your improvements. It is important to understand what your total body weight is made up of. Without it, it is like trying to find a destination without a GPS.
Why is the Evolt 360 body composition method the favored testing technology around the world?
- It is a medically approved, scientifically validated method of testing body composition.
- The device is portable and lightweight, voice-activated, and easy to use.
- The scan is completed in less than a minute with over 40 metrics
- All results are digitally delivered to the user’s app within seconds where they can track their results, use the lifestyle questionnaires and other important goal retention features.
- It is the only device whereby the user can access their individual calorie and macronutrient profile based on the goal, body type, activity level and activity type.
- The report provides an overall Bio Wellness Rating out of ten which takes into account the integrity of lean body mass vs fat mass in an easy format to measure progress.
Ready to start seeing results? Contact our team and schedule your quick and easy body composition analysis today.
