Body Fat Scales

Medical research has proven that fitness and overall health cannot be gauged by weight alone. Weight is only one factor, but true overall fitness depends on where that weight comes from. Body fat scales determine the percentage of body weight due to muscle, tissue, fat and water. Maintaining the proper amount of body fat reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, high cholesterol, and even some forms of cancer.

Body fat scales provide critical feedback of an individual’s fitness regimen, determining and increasing its effectiveness because it helps people to focus on the loss or increase of body fat, not body weight. Portable and convenient, body fat scales can be purchased and used in the home, where it’s less embarrassing and more likely to be used frequently.

How do these monitors work? Body fat scales analyze the different body tissues, including the amount of muscle and lean tissue, and the content of water and fat in a body. Using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), these scales measure the amount of conductive tissue (muscle and lean fat) and non-conductive tissue (fat). BIA sends a harmless and painless electric current through the body and measures the resistance of that current through the water in the tissue. Muscular tissue can hold more water than fatty tissue; therefore, muscular tissue allows current to flow through it with less resistance.

Older Body fat scales were calipers which “pinched” the fat and measured it, and then the measurement was applied to a formula to determine body fat percentage. Today’s advanced scales are electronic grip-held or step-on scales which provide feedback in a matter of seconds through an LED or LCD digital display. Different features, such as storing values, are available in either model.

The benefits of knowing your body fat percentage are beneficial to your diet and fitness program. Muscle uses more calories than fat, so people with more muscle mass can consume more calories without gaining weight. Individuals with a higher percent of body fat use fewer calories; therefore, they will gain weight more readily than their muscular counterparts. Regardless of which category a person fits into, Body fat scales are an excellent way to monitor the progress of a fitness routine or determine any changes in the body.