Taking skinfold measurements is a method often used by fitness trainers or as part of a weight loss program. Whether your main focus is rocking a bikini at the beach or living to be 100 there is one important piece of information that may get in the way. Body composition and growth are key components of health in both individuals and populations. Body composition is used to describe the percentages of fat bone water and muscle in human bodies. Body composition is the bodys relative amount of body fat to fat free mass the latter of which is made up of your organs bones muscle and body tissue. This means that future research should aim to determine.
Body composition reference values for a larger range of sports including positional differences in sports where this may be significantly different. There are many different ways of measuring the amount of body fat or body composition which vary in accuracy ease of measurement costs and equipment requirements. As measures of body composition are developed more accurate measurements of fm and ffm can be established in various athletic populations. Other factors additional factors beyond nutrition and exercise may affect body. Body composition analysis is a method of describing what the body is made of differentiating between fat protein. Two people of same sex and body weight may look completely different from each other because they have a different body composition.
Body composition is the proportion of fat and lean tissue in your body and a better indication of your health and fitness. Air force photo by joel martinez. Body composition is known to be associated with several diseases such as cardiovascular disease diabetes cancers osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. This method is known as a gold standard because it allows body composition analysis and produces accurate measurements using volume just like underwater weighing. Body composition measurements are useful in assessing the effectiveness of nutritional interventions and monitoring the changes associated with growth and disease conditions. Body composition has a fundamental place in improving our understanding of health and disease states.
However while much progress is being made there is much work to be done to optimize the biologically and clinically important information that can be derived from valid and reliable body composition measurements. 9 body composition measurements and what they mean. Below is a list of popular and not so popular body composition tests that are used in a variety of settings from simple tests for use at home and in fitness gyms to professional practices and research institutions. This is another example of why thinking about your body composition rather than just body weight is a good idea. If your ratio of body fat is much higher than your fat free mass then you could be putting yourself at risk for severe health problems such as obesity high blood pressure type 2 diabetes heart disease fatigue cancer and more.