Understanding Your Body Composition Scale Measurements
A scale that measures your body fat percentage, body water percentage, and total body weight is only helpful if you know how to understand the results you’re given. Understanding body composition in scale measurements will help you set realistic goals and execute them. It will also teach you what a healthy body composition consists of.
What Is a Body Composition Scale?
Body composition scales look and function like a standard bathroom weight scale. However, you will get a reading that includes much more than just your body weight when you step on the scale. Body composition scales provide your body weight, body fat measurement, body water percentage, muscle mass percentage, bone mass, and basal metabolic rate.
Unlike a standard bathroom scale that only provides your body weight, a body composition scale can help you get a better understanding of your overall health so that you can develop a weight loss plan that targets your specific body type and body composition.
The INEVIFIT body composition scale uses Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA) technology to calculate all of the readings taken on the scale. The body fat scale has a user auto-identification feature that will identify which user is stepping on the scale according to the user history.
When you step on a body composition scale, the technology reads all the information with +/- 3% accuracy. You will need to manually input some information when you create a profile so that the body composition scale will produce accurate values.
What Values Are Provided by a Body Composition Scale (And What Do They Mean)?
Again, the values provided by most body composition scales include body weight, body fat percentage, total body water percentage, muscle mass percentage, bone mass, and basal metabolic rate. Let's take a closer look at each of these below.
Body Weight
This is the most basic function that both a bathroom and body composition scales will measure. This value is the total weight of your body as a whole. This value gives you an understanding of how much your body weighs without breaking it down to fat percentage, water percentage, etc.
The INEVIFIT body composition scale gives a body weight reading accuracy of +/- 0.2 pounds.
Body Fat Percentage
Body fat mass percentage will explain your overall health compared to other body composition values, including water percentage, bone mass, and muscle mass percentage. The body fat percentage value uses bone mass, muscle mass, and body water percentage to calculate the correct value.
When reading the body fat percentage on the body composition scale, you need to know that the value is calculated by looking at these other areas of your body density as well.
Total Body Water Percentage
Your body is more than half water, so it’s important to know your total body water percentage to understand how hydrated or dehydrated your body is. The total body water percentage value indicates how much water is within your body.
Muscle Mass Percentage
The muscle mass percentage comprises all of the body's muscles and the water contained within them. Take a look at the muscle mass percentage if you notice your weight has increased. Muscle is dense and can increase your total body weight as your muscle mass increases.
Bone Mass
The bone mass value indicates how many minerals are found in the bones, which will help you understand just how strong your bones are. A healthy bone mass will have a high calcium content.
Basal Metabolic Rate
This number refers to how many calories you burn when you are inactive. Unlike the calories you burn during active exercise, which can be a large number, the Basal Metabolic Rate accounts for the calories you burn when you’re not engaged in activities or exercise.
When choosing how many calories you need to take in on a daily basis, you will need to know your Basal Metabolic Rate to account for the calories that are burned during the normal functions of the body, such as breathing.
A good, active metabolism should give you a high Basal Metabolic Rate. This means that your body burns calories at a higher rate when not doing anything. A good Basal Metabolic Rate for women is between 1,200 and 1,600 Calories per day and for men is between 1,500 and 2,000 per day.
How Does a Body Composition Scale Help Users Reach Their Fitness Goals?
Because a body composition scale measures more than just your body weight, you can create fitness goals specific to your body composition analysis.
Let’s look at body fat percentage as an example.
If you have a high body fat percentage, you can choose to focus on weight loss goals like diet, exercise, and cardio to help lower your body fat percentage. Not knowing this value means you wouldn’t be able to develop a weight loss goal specific to this area of your body composition.
In other words, you can set yourself up for failure by not having this information or not understanding this information after reading it off your body composition scale.
This concept applies to all areas of body composition, not just body fat. Knowing the different factors of your body composition, including your body water percentage and Basal Metabolic Rate, will help you create a more accurate and successful fitness plan for your body and overall health.
When you’re ready to lose weight and create a healthy lifestyle, you don’t need anything getting in your way or slowing you down. Using a body composition scale and understanding the measurements are so important.
You cut out all the time wasted on learning what works for your body because you have all of the information you need to make a plan right in front of you.
Conclusion
The INEVIFIT body composition scale will give you readings that you understand so that you can make a fitness plan for the type of body you have. The readings are accurate and will help you understand all the different areas of your body rather than just a single body weight reading provided by a standard bathroom scale. An accurate body fat measurement helps you decide the best fitness plan for your body type.
