As someone who wants to stay fit, you’ve probably weighed yourself countless times. After working hard at the gym and eating a healthy diet, it feels great to see those numbers on the scale go down!

While body weight is one measurement of your overall health, it’s not the end-all, be-all assessment of your fitness level. You should also focus on your body composition to identify where your weight is coming from.

A body composition test will not only tell you what your body fat percentage is, but it can also help you fine-tune your exercise and nutritional program to lose fat and gain muscle. It can also identify certain health risks you might be facing.

But what exactly is body composition and how do you measure it? There are various methods available — including the InBody 770 Body Composition Analyzer at AFAC gym. We are the only facility in the Thornton, Colorado, area with an InBody 770. This easy-to-use device gives you a comprehensive analysis of your entire body in minutes. Read this blog to learn more about what body composition is, why it’s important, and how to use the InBody 770 at our Thornton gym!

What Is Body Composition?

Body composition breaks down the human body into its individual parts, including body fat mass, muscle mass, bone mass, tissue, and water.

To determine whether you are a healthy weight for your particular physique, doctors and other medical practitioners might look at your body composition.

In addition, by revealing your body fat percentage, bone density, and lean muscle mass, a body composition analysis can help you better comprehend what’s behind the numbers on your scale.

You’ve probably heard people at the gym say that they’re working on a “body re-composition” or “recomp.” That means they want to reduce their body fat and increase or retain their lean body mass at the same time. InBody 770 assessments at AFAC gym can help them measure their body composition changes and achieve their goal.

Why Is Body Composition Important?

The term “body composition” is used frequently in the health and fitness sector. To determine what proportion of your body weight is fat, doctors may utilize a body composition test. This aids them in determining your state of health. Measuring body composition is crucial because even if someone is the same height and weight as you, they could have less muscle and more body fat — and a range of health problems as a result. ‌ Risks including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other health issues can arise from having too much body fat.

How much of your body is made up of muscle and fat cannot be determined by a single step on a scale. But you can reveal it by analyzing your body composition. Less body fat and higher muscular mass indicate a healthier body composition. A higher lean body mass can also give you a better metabolism because muscle is more metabolically active than fat. Having a higher percentage of muscle in your body means that you burn more calories at rest, which can help you manage your weight.

The Scale Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

People following a weight loss plan frequently discover early on that they aren’t losing weight as quickly as they want to, which causes them to get frustrated and give up. This is typical if you use the scale as your primary tool for measuring weight loss. The scale, however, is merely one data point and does not provide you with the full picture.

Even if you aren’t losing a lot of weight, you may still be losing fat. You are likely changing your water weight or possibly growing muscle while losing fat. Body composition testing comes in handy in this situation.

Is All Body Fat Bad?

There are several types of fat in your body, and not all of them are bad. Your body actually needs fat cells to survive. Some fat can have a negative effect on your health, while other fat is beneficial and necessary for your health.

There are three main types of fat cells in your body:

White — This is the type of fat that most people think of. It’s made up of large, white fat cells that are stored under the skin and in the belly, arms, thighs, and bottom. White fat cells are the body’s way of storing energy for future use. These cells also play a large role in the functioning of hormones like insulin, estrogen, cortisol (a stress hormone), and leptin (a hunger-stimulating hormone). While some white fat is essential for good health, too much can be very harmful and put you at risk of Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, kidney disease, liver disease, and cancer.
Brown — Brown fat is primarily found in babies, but adults do have a small amount of brown fat around the shoulders, neck, kidneys, and chest. Brown fat keeps you warm when you get cold. It burns the energy it stores to create heat right before your body begins to shiver. In this regard, brown fat helps you burn calories.
Beige — Beige fat is a combination of white fat cells and brown fat cells. Beige fat cells burn calories to regulate body temperature by converting white fat cells to brown.

Fat can also be stored in three different ways — as essential, subcutaneous, or visceral fat.

Essential fat — Essential fat is just that, essential for your life and health. Essential fat is found in your brain, bone marrow, around your organs, and in your nervous system. It plays a major role in hormone regulation, vitamin absorption, and temperature regulation.
Subcutaneous fat — Subcutaneous fat is stored under the skin. This fat is a combination of white, brown, and beige fat cells. Some healthcare professionals use calipers to measure subcutaneous fat as a way of estimating total body fat percentage. Having a certain amount of subcutaneous fat is healthy and normal, but too much can lead to imbalanced hormone levels.
Visceral fat — Visceral fat, also known as belly fat, is white fat stored in your abdomen and around all your major organs such as your intestines, liver, kidneys, heart, and pancreas. High levels of visceral fat can increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.

How Much Body Fat Should I Have?

Healthy body fat percentages can vary depending on your gender, age, fitness level, and amount of physical activity. Our bodies tend to lose muscle mass as we get older, and women naturally have a higher body fat percentage than men . According to the American Council on Exercise, the following body fat percentages can be used to assess your body composition status. If you’re concerned that your body fat percentage is at an unhealthy range, make sure to see your doctor for a checkup.

Minimum Essential Fat to Be in Good Health

Male – 2-5%
Female – 10-13%

Athletes

Male – 6-13%
Female – 14-20%

Fitness Enthusiasts

Male – 14-17%
Female – 21-24%

Acceptable

Male – 18-24%
Female – 25-31%

Obesity

Male – Over 25%
Female – Over 32%

How Can I Find Out My Body Composition?

There are several tests available to find out your body composition.

InBody 770 at AFAC Gym — The InBody 770 at AFAC gym measures fat mass, muscle mass, and body water through a 60-second test. It’s non-invasive and easy – just stand on the device and hold the hand electrodes. Each InBody 770 test provides a full-page results sheet with incredible detail on the user’s body composition, even breaking down the user’s intracellular water, extracellular water, and analysis of the torso, each arm, and each leg. This is the best test for monitoring changes in your body composition over time.
Skin calipers — Health professionals can use skin calipers to measure skinfold thicknesses. They’ll measure areas on the body where fat is commonly stored. When done properly, this method can be accurate, but it’s vulnerable to human error.
Underwater weighing — When you’re underwater, fat tissue floats and lean tissue sinks. Your underwater weight can give you an estimate of how much fat tissue you have. Underwater weighing can be an accurate method of measuring body composition, but it requires special equipment, is inconvenient, and can be expensive.
DEXA scan — A dual X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan uses low-level X-rays to measure how much muscle, fat, and bone are in your body.
Body pod — This machine measures how much air your body displaces. It’s similar to underwater weighing but is more convenient.

How Can I Improve My Body Composition?

Knowing your body composition and having it measured regularly is the first step to transforming your body.

Whether you’re just getting started on your fitness journey or have been working out at the gym for a while, get a body composition test at AFAC gym and use this as a benchmark moving forward.

Check back with us every 8-12 weeks (or more frequently if you prefer) to see if your body fat percentage is going down and your muscle mass is increasing. Then, fine-tune your nutrition and gym workout habits based on your body composition results.

Track Your Calorie and Nutrition Intake

Diet and exercise both play key roles in improving your body composition, but nutrition makes the largest impact. If you want to lose body fat and gain muscle, learn how many calories your body needs and start tracking the calories in the foods you eat.

There are many apps, like MyFitnessPal, that make calorie and nutrition tracking easy. If you want to lose weight, you’ll need to decrease your calorie intake — but don’t cut calories too much because you could end up losing muscle mass and slowing down your metabolism in the process. You’ll also want to make sure that your diet includes lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, and other nutrient-dense foods so that you get the nourishment you need while keeping calories in check.

And finally, consume plenty of lean protein (chicken, fish, Greek yogurt, beans, peas, lentils, cottage cheese, tofu, low-fat milk, shrimp, egg whites) to help you maintain and gain muscle mass while you lose body fat. Before you make drastic changes to your diet, however, make sure to consult with your healthcare provider.

Exercise to Burn Calories and Build Muscle Mass

Getting regular exercise can help you burn extra calories to lose fat, and it also can help you maintain and build muscle mass.

Cardiovascular exercise is best for burning calories and improving your heart and lung health. There are many cardiovascular machines available to choose from. Walking is another effective cardiovascular exercise that doesn’t require any special skills or equipment. Try to get at least 30 minutes of cardio, 5 days per week.

Strength training is best for building lean muscle mass. The more lean muscle mass you have, the more calories your body will burn at rest, which helps you lose even more body fat. You should strength train your entire body 2-3 days per week. If you’re new to this type of exercise, the personal trainers at AFAC gym would be happy to help you start a strength training program that challenges your muscles and builds your strength.

AFAC Gym Members Receive Free InBody 770 Assessments

One of the most exciting ways that AFAC gym supports our members’ fitness goals is by providing them with free body composition assessments with our InBody 770. This allows our members to receive a clear view of their body composition to save and compare to future readings.

Non-members can also schedule an InBody 770 body composition session for just $25.00. Please contact our gym for assistance.

To find out more about becoming a member of AFAC gym — the best gym in Thornton, Colorado — and about our InBody 770, please stop by or give us a call at 303-920-2030 anytime. We’ll be happy to assist you. You can also contact our gym owner, Susan, at 720-849-0245 or susan@adventurefitness.club for assistance.