Body fat scan – your body fat percentage
Body fat should not always be considered a bad thing. Instead, it has some healthy and important purposes in our body, such as body energy and protection. Today we are going to discuss some of the best ways to measure body fat and the pros and cons of each technique so that in the end you can choose the best body fat scan according to your needs.
The weight you have covers the weight of your muscles and body fat. You may have noticed people with the same weight but completely different body structures. Some are bodybuilders, some are athletes, and others have only a high percentage of body fat. This will not change your body weight, but it has a big impact on your internal health and physical body structure.
There are several ways to determine body fat and you can always choose any of them to get an idea of whether you need to put it off or you are still healthy with it. In people with the same bodyweight but different body fat, fat can be the main reason one is healthy and the other is not. The same is true for some overweight people who are healthy due to a balanced amount of body fat. Body fat is the only way to understand your body weight. In other words, the lower the body fat, the greater the muscle mass, and the healthier a person is.
Body composition and BFP
In reality, no number can decide your physical or mental health. The only thing that matters is how you treat yourself. An active person with more weight is way more healthy than a dumb one with little weight. However, usually, we judge and examine ourselves and others on the basis of appearance, especially body fat. Some fat is healthy that we gain due to the consumption of different fruits and vegetables. However, an extra quantity of fat leads to obesity and is not healthy for any individual.
There are some pre-defined charts designed and assembled by many senior doctors to let people know how much fat their bodies should have to function normally. It is the best way to warn people when their body fat is increasing beyond the normal range. In addition to this, men and women have different body structures and hence have a different percentage of fat. Therefore, always focus on the chart for your gender to stay away from any confusion.
Top ways to measure body fat
Following are the top of the list ways to measure body fat:
Skinfold caliper
It is one of the ancient ways to measure body fat. People are using this method for more than fifty years, and are pretty sure about its results. Skinfold calipers method is a way to measure the thickness of your fat present under your skin, by clipping it at specific body areas. These body areas vary in men and women. For men, the body areas for skinfold tests are chest, abdomen, thighs, triceps, and area under the scapula. On the other hand, these areas in women are chest, the area beneath the shoulder blade, and near the armpit. The best part of this method is, it’s very economical and can be used at home. While the bad part of the technique includes practice and knowledge of body anatomy. Accuracy of the method involves measurement errors if the person has not the right skills.
Measurement of body’s circumference
You might be surprised to know that our body’s shape can provide sufficient information about body fat. Therefore, the simplest way to measure body fat is to measure the circumference of specific body parts. Just by adding information like age, height, and circumference of the specific body part, many fat calculators can calculate the fat in our bodies without trying the complex procedures. For men, these body areas include the neck and waist. While in women, these areas are the neck, waist, and hips. The good part of the procedure is that it is easy to perform and is affordable, while the dark side of the procedure is the wrong measurement of the body due to little or no knowledge.
Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry technique
As the name of the procedure says, it involves two different energies X rays to get an idea about the percentage of fat in our bodies. The procedure takes about ten minutes and the person must lie on their back during the procedure while being x-rayed. This X-ray procedure results in complete details of the bone density, fat, and lean mass in different areas of our body. The positive thing about this procedure is, it provides detailed information about different body parts with accurate results. However, the dark side is, this X-ray body fat scan procedure is expensive.
Hydrostatic weighing technique
The hydrostatic weighing technique or underwater weighing technique is used to perform in water and on the dry land. The air in your lungs after exhaling on land and the air exhaled in the water is estimated to determine or calculate the density of your body. Body density is one of the finest ways to determine body fat without complex procedures. The good thing about this procedure is, it takes less time to calculate, and the results are accurate. On the other hand, the negative side includes the difficulty that a person goes through during the exhaling process.
Air displacement plethysmography technique
Just as the underwater method, the air displacement method also calculates the fat of your body with the help of the body’s density. However, this technique doesn’t demand the person to go into the water and exhale. Instead, in this process, the person has to focus on the air by sitting inside an egg-shaped area where the air pressure is altered. It is better to wear skin-tight clothes, like swimming suits to get accurate measurements. The positive part of the process is that it is quick and accurate. However, the drawback is that it is an expensive procedure, which is not affordable for every person.
Bioimpedance spectroscopy technique
Small electric currents are used to measure the body’s response. By using the high and low frequencies of electric current, this procedure will get all the information about the body fluid, which in return, will get an idea about the body fat. However, there are some specific equations for this procedure, and the accuracy of results always depend on the body type that is closest to the one on which the equations are made. The positive part of this procedure is that it is quick and easy to perform. The negative side is, the device used to perform this body fat scan procedure is not easily accessible.
Bioelectric impedance analysis technique
The bioelectric method is very similar to the above bioimpedance method. The device in the procedure is used to detect the way your body responds to small electric currents. The entire procedure is done using electrodes. As electric current can easily move through the muscles; therefore, the returning waves will give an idea about the body fat and muscles. The positive side of the procedure is, it is quick and easy to perform. On the other hand, the negative side is, it doesn’t give accurate results.
Electrical impedance myography technique
Other than the above two electric current methods, electrical impedance myography is the third procedure that focuses on the body’s response to the electric currents. However, the only difference is that the above two methods send the small electric currents through the whole body, while this method will only send through smaller areas. It is a great way to get an idea about the body fat specified in some areas of the body. The good part about the process is, it is quick and easy to perform. On the other hand, the negative part of the process is that there is no detailed information available on the accuracy of the procedure.
Multi-compartment models technique
As the name says, the multi-compartment procedure will divide the body into multiple parts and then perform multiple methods to get the percentage of fat in that region of your body. The most common ones are three compartments and four compartments procedures. This process involves multiple methods like hydrostatic weighing, bioelectric, etc. The good part of the process is, it has highly accurate results. On the other hand, the dark side of the process is that it is more complex than other body fat scan procedures due to the involvement of multiple procedures and is often not available to the general public.
3-D scanners technique
3D scanners are another widely used technique to get an idea about body fat. This procedure involves infrared sensors to generate a 3D model of our entire body to get an idea about the body fat percentage. The good thing about this process is, it is quick and easy to perform. On the other hand, the dark side of the process is, it is not very commonly available.
Body fat has a specific percentage in our bodies, and it is only harmful when the percentage crosses the limit. Be critical and evaluate where you are, then choose where you would like to be. Try one or more procedures of body fat scan we have mentioned in this article to get an idea of your body fat percentage.
Remember that most methods only estimate the percentage of fat and do not measure it directly. This means that there is a lot of room for error. To reduce these errors, be consistent in your measurements and always perform them under the same conditions, for example, every Saturday morning on an empty stomach at 7 p.m. This way you will avoid any potential changes in your body that could affect the measurements and you will be able to monitor your progress with relatively high accuracy.