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Body composition, or fat vs. fat-free (lean) mass, has long been considered by fitness and medical experts as one of the best determinants of health status and disease prediction. Body composition reflects the results of a person’s physical activity and nutritional practices. Purely using body weight can be very misleading, because a scale can't tell the difference between a kilogram of fat and a kilogram of muscle. Sedentary people can easily gain fat and lose muscle without any noticeable change in their weight. A person undertaking an exercise/weight training program may also not experience a significant change in weight, yet their muscle mass is most likely increasing, while they are also probably losing body fat. A body composition analysis would reveal these important shifts in body composition that a scale cannot.
It is important to acknowledge that a certain amount of body fat is needed to ensure good health and that whilst health goals may include reducing body fat, the ultimate goal should not be to try to eliminate body fat. Whilst acknowledging that, it is important to note that excess body fat has been linked to increased prevalence of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Impotence and sexual dysfunction, as well as reduced libido, energy levels and overall quality of life are also often associated with excess body fat. Worldwide overweight and obesity numbers amongst adults in developed nations have reached epidemic proportions, and don’t be fooled; Australians are amongst the world leaders. Adding further to this dilemma is the increasing rate of childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity.
Only by accurately assessing body composition can we know exactly what makes up someone’s weight. This information can then be used to guide individuals regarding nutrition and exercise. It’s the single best way for a person to get the "whole picture" of what's really going on in their body, and to then make changes leading towards better health.
Many potential clients will let pride or fear get in the way of undergoing a body composition analysis. And we suggest that if you are aware that you may be overweight and your goal is to reduce body fat, then it is imperative to get baseline measures so that we can monitor your progress. There is no other way to determine whether your body is responding to the changes you have made in exercise and nutrition. Without monitoring progress (or lack of progress), people become locked in cycles of training for zero results. Wouldn’t you want to know if you were wasting your time, and if there were other options to overcome plateaus?
There are many options when it comes to measuring Body composition. Measurement techniques can vary greatly, however many methods can become very difficult to perform, are relatively invasive, and many field methods used are highly inaccurate. For example, Skinfold Callipers and Bioelectric Impedance (as used in body-fat scales) have error factors of up to +/-8%. This means that a Skinfold or Bioelectric Impedance measurement of 20% body fat could actually be as low as 12% or as high as 28%. Whilst using experienced technicians and following proper protocol can reduce this error, these methods still present as problematic, as inaccurate information can be very dangerous if used for developing nutrition and training programs. This exemplifies the importance of using an accurate method when assessing body composition.
This is what makes the BOD POD so unique in its field. Its Air Displacement Technology offers the unbeatable accuracy of a laboratory technique, along with the simplicity of a field technique, making it the only practical gold standard for measuring body composition available in the world today.
Due to differences in visceral fat (deeper fat tissue located around internal organs) levels and body fat distribution, males and females have different levels of desirable body fat percentage.
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