Wellness Center

Body Composition (body fat) Testing

Refers to the relative proportions by weight of fat and lean tissue. Your body is composed of five major “components”, fat, muscle, bone, fluid, and organs/special tissues. All of those tissues other than fat are classified as lean tissue, fat-free weight or lean body mass. Each of the methods below have varying ways to assess an individuals body fat percentage and also vary in validity and reliability.

Bioelectrical Impedance

B.E.I. is an easy to use method relying on body water. Our body, specifically muscle, is mostly made of water and water and its properties are very good at conducting electrical signals. The more muscle you have the faster the signal will pass through your body. A variety of factors can influence the validity of the B.E.I. test including hydration and water retention.

Skinfold Measurement

The skinfold method uses a pincer device called a caliper to measure subcutaneous, below the skin, body fat. Approximately 50% of our stored bodyfat is in this subcutaneous area. We also store bodyfat intermuscularly, intramuscularly, or in the internal visceral compartments in our body. It is a very reliable estimate based on comparing these thicknesses to densitometry tests or underwater weighing.

Hydrodensitometry (Hydrostatic or underwater weighing)

A hydrostatic weighing is one of the more accurate ways to estimate body fat. The purpose behind the test is to determine body density by measuring a person’s mass – dry weight on a scale, and a person’s volume – underwater weight. Lean body mass (LBM) is composed of bone, muscle, fluid, connective tissue, and your organs. Fat weight (FW), as it pertains to density, is from essential and non-essential body fat. A person is weighed before going into the tank and then weighed under water. Because fat is less dense than water, it floats; thus, a person who has more body fat will be more buoyant or float more than someone who has more LBM.

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