Unless you’ve been living under a rock for most of your life, you’ve probably heard of the term body composition. But just exactly what is body composition, and what does it mean in terms of your health and well being?

Well let me explain.  The body is composed of the following two elements:

• Lean tissue – This consists of your muscles, organs, blood and bones.
• Body fat – You are probably already familiar with body fat!

The actual proportion of lean tissue and body fat is what makes up your body composition.  What is important to note here is that your body composition is much more important than your actual body weight, since two people might be the same height and weight, but have much different body compositions.

Let me show you an example:

These two guys in the picture below are the same body weight… But you can see that it’s obvious that one is extremely lean while the other is excessively fat.

Now you can see why it is important that you do not rely only on your scale weight to track your weight loss progress!

How do I Measure my Body Composition?

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, simply taking your height and weight measurements will not cut it if you are trying to determine your body composition with some degree of accuracy.

In order to get a more accurate idea of your body composition, I recommend that you consider using one of the following methods:

• Underwater weighing - This is by far the most accurate method of testing your body composition with a 97-98% accuracy level.  It involves being submerged in water in a swing seat.  After expressing as much air as possible from the lungs, your weigh is recorded.  Unfortunately this method is very inconvenient, and relatively expensive.

• Caliper testing – Using skinfold calipers to test your body composition is quite common and is used at most health clubs.  The calipers measure the layer of fat located just under the skin on specific areas of the body including the arm, shoulder blade, waist, thigh and calf.  Once the numbers for each area have been recorded, they are plugged into a scientific equation that will ultimately give you your approximate body fat percentage.  Assuming that the person performing the body fat caliper test is accurate, this method is a good bet since it can be performed with relative ease, and little cost.

• Bioelectrical impedance – BIA is a mild electrical current that works by measuring the conductivity of the body.  Since lean body tissue is a good conductor of electricity and fat isn’t, measuring the current that runs between electrodes that are placed on different points of the body can give you an estimated body composition.  Although this method is fast and simple, it’s accuracy level is relatively poor since hydration levels play a large role in the results.

Remember, none of these methods are 100% accurate, but this level of accuracy is not necessary if you are simply trying to lose weight and want to track your progress.  My top choice would be a combination of body fat caliper testing, in combination with both scale weight measurements, and body part measurements.

Have you ever had your body composition tested?  If so, what methods have you used?

If not, are you happy with your current body composition?