How do you measure your fitness? How do you know if your gym visits have “moved the needle” in getting where you want to be?
Today’s health-conscious gym attendee has lots of optional metrics to gauge progress towards their fitness goals. Smart devices can analyze your body composition by:
- Body fat
- Muscle mass
- Water weight
- Bone density
… but how do these devices determine what you’re made of? Many scanners use bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), to take these measurements. Fat, muscle, water and bones have different resistance to the flow of electricity, thus measurements of the varied flows are tracked and able to generate a breakdown to tell us what percentage of each makes up the body being measured.
So let’s say you are…
- An elite athlete trying to increase muscle mass to improve performance for your next event – you may want to head to the mat for some goblet squats (take a dumbbell, hold it to your chest, & squat).
- Someone looking to increase their bone density to avoid debilitating injury – more high-impact exercises may help you reach that goal.
- Trying to decrease your fat percentage – burn some of it off by heading to the elliptical for thirty minutes, setting it to a pace that maximizes calorie burn without causing you to quit early.
Knowing your body’s composition and tracking your changes can help guide your next workout. But don’t just rely on the “smart” scale – also ask a trainer for help to get the most benefit from your newfound body awareness.
At Kinderhook Fitness, we utilize an InBody 580: a body composition analyzer that supplies our members with a detailed health assessment providing guidance for fitness, wellness, nutrition, and tailored interventions. Let us help create a roadmap to your summer goals today!
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