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Whether you are a performance athlete, starting a weight loss plan, bodybuilding, trying to catch someone’s eye or striving for physical fitness, BFA IS THE first step to evaluating where your body is to determine what it is going to take to get it where you want it to be. It’s also ideal to identify your goals and make sure you are on the right track.
A standard height and weight chart cannot accurately determine if you are overweight and provides no information as to whether you are healthy, but body fat percentage, on the other hand, can.
It’s important when you are trying to measure fitness or lose weight that you don’t just look at a number on a scale. Does it tell you how healthy you are? NO. Scale weight is so yesterday. Body weight alone is not a clear indicator of health or fitness because it does not distinguish how many pounds are fat and how many are muscle. It’s about quality not quantity. Scale weight serves a purpose but is primitive and crude.
The popularity of body fitness analysis (BFA) is growing as savvy consumers recognize its superiority in determining health risks and showing progress, where the scale and charts cannot. Total body composition is a much more sophisticated way to measure your body. Want to know how much fat you have in your arms compared to legs? Hips compared to gut?
What will you learn?
You'll learn your body fat percentage which is a relationship between the amount of fat you have compared with your lean body mass.
You'll learn how many pounds of your total body weight are fat. And how many pounds are lean body mass.
And you'll learn your true ideal body weight.
Although two people can share the same weight or body fat percentage, that does not mean they face the same health risks. Where body fat is located can place a person at far greater risk for fat-related health conditions such as: cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and diabetes, all constituents that link obesity, aging, and chronic disease with subsequent morbidity and mortality. BFA is a fast and effective tool for risk stratification.
Traditionally, people measure fitness, body fat and body composition by skin fold measurements, and some by a series of 3-9 skin pinches throughout the body by a fitness professional to determine an estimation of body fat. The estimation results obtained from skinfold measurements vary widely from technician to technician. Currently, over 100 different equations are available to estimate body fat when using skinfold calipers. The wide variety of equations reflects the problem with the reproducibility of this method. Not great to monitor changes, and as an absolute number, it is not terribly accurate.
BMI is very rough and does not take into account frame or muscle content. Because it does not differentiate between fat and nonfat weight, it may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build. In the same way, it may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle mass.
Another test is the dunk tank or underwater weighing method. With this method, one steps on a scale with clothing removed and then is dunked into a tank of water. All air must be exhaled from the lungs while submerged. It is a fairly accurate measurement of body fat but if all air is not exhaled, a consistent reading cannot be obtained, not to mention you are wet, naked and cold. Not a whole lot of fun and very time consuming, complicated and cumbersome. It does work but is very inconvenient and not super reproducible especially since it is so dependent on the subject being able to expel all of the air from their lungs. The equipment required is bulky and its maintenance is intense. Fear of immersion in a tank of water and fear of infection from the water, are additional barriers to this technique.
Another method is Bioelectrical Impedence (BEI). You may have seen bathroom scales that feature a body fat measurement mode. These send a tiny electrical current through your body and this current is altered by water, fat and muscle, which all have different densities and resistance so it can provide a rough calculation of your body fat by the measuring of the current coming back. Bioelectrical Impedance can have a large margin of error. It is essential to follow a very specific extensive protocol. If not followed, the results will be inaccurate. Inconsistency in hydration, time of day, body fluids, body temperature and intestinal content can result in high degree of variation from day to day. This makes Bioelectrical Impedance less suitable for repeated testing.
So if you want an average indirect estimate of your body fat percentage and how you compare with the masses, then these modalities might be right for you, but it you are looking for THE Gold Standard of measuring body fat and lean muscle, BFA is the most advanced method for accuracy.
BFA is the only comprehensive, gender-specific, multi-component technology that is precise, noninvasive, safe and reproducible.
In just one easy 10-minute session, you will not only learn how much of your weight is comprised of fat but an
amazingly accurate picture of true fitness levels!
* Muscle Mass
* Bone Mineral Mass
* Total Body Water %
* Visceral Fat
* Metabolic Rate Indicator
* Segmental Assessment
* Physique Status
BFA is the only way to measure how lean you are. Gains in muscle mass will increase your metabolism. For every pound of muscle mass your body can burn 50 extra calories a day! So, while you do want to lose fat, setting a goal of increasing your muscle mass will help you get there as well.
A person will lie down on a table and very low dose X-ray of two different energies are used to scan the body, one of which is absorbed more strongly by fat than the other. Within 10 minutes, sophisticated, high tech software then calculates the amount of fat relative to other tissues at each point. It is simple, non-invasive, and exposes the subject to a level of x-rays lower than that of a cross-country flight. It will then generate a comprehensive report that shows a graphic visual image of your weight loss and changes in percent body fat, not just a bunch of meaningless numbers.
These measurements are extremely reproducible, making them excellent for monitoring pharmaceutical therapy, nutritional or exercise intervention, sports training and/or other body composition altering programs. BFA exam provides direct measurements of your percent lean mass, bone density and percent fat for both total body and up to 14 regional (trunk, individual arms & legs, android, gynoid, etc) results. All other methods are indirect measurements estimated from body density.
It is so precise it can:
So What are Typical Body Fat Amounts?
Different cultures value different body compositions differently at different times, and some are related to health or athletic performance. Levels of body fat are epidemiology dependent on gender and age. The table below describes different percentages (from the American Council on Exercise):
Description |
Women |
Men |
Essential fat |
8-12% |
2-5% |
Athletes |
14-20% |
6-13% |
Fitness |
21-24% |
14-17% |
Average |
25-31% |
18-24% |
Obese |
32%+ |
25%+ |