For bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts, changing body composition often reflects hard work and discipline—but knowing body composition is useful for anyone, and for more than just bragging rights.
That said, how you measure body composition matters, and no one universal body composition is ideal for everyone. It’s best to check in with doctors and other healthcare experts—like the ones you’ll hear from below—to determine your current body composition and how to use it to reach your goals.
Meet the experts: Brittany Busse, MD, is the chief medical officer and co-founder of ViTel Health. Steven Shamah, MD, is the director of endoscopy at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. Mathew Forzaglia, NFPT-CPT, CFSC, is a personal trainer and the founder of Forzag Fitness.
What you can learn from your body composition numbers:
Your risk for disease
Your body composition not only tells you how much body fat you have, it tells you where it’s located, which can be valuable data. For example, visceral adipose tissue (or, the fat around your abdomen) is directly related to diseases like diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke, whereas subcutaneous adipose tissue (the fat that sits right below the skin) is mainly a fuel storage depot, says Brittany Busse, MD, a longevity medicine and health optimization physician.
Keep in mind that some body fat—both visceral and subcutaneous—is normal and healthy. Your body needs fat for essential functions like hormone production and temperature regulation, to name a few. Losing too much fat could send your body into a “protective starvation mode,” which would actually start to break down muscle, says Dr. Busse.
And, depending on the kind of body comp screening you do, you can also get more information about your bone density, which is a health marker for osteopenia and osteoporosis, both of which women in particular are at risk of as they age.
Your actual fat-loss progress
You’ve heard it before: The scale doesn’t tell the whole story. And, it’s entirely possible to lose fat and never see a change in your body weight.
“I make sure that people with weight loss goals understand that the number on the scale is just the number on the scale,” says Steven Shamah, MD, the director of endoscopy at Lenox Hill Hospital. This is where body composition comes in handy, he adds. Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you start losing fat but gaining muscle, the number on the scale might not be shifting—but your body composition percentages could be.
Your strength and muscle gains
Relatedly, then, body composition metrics are useful for people who want to put on muscle mass and track their success in the gym. If you’re an athlete (yes, recreational sports count!), body composition can be a critical and sometimes overlooked training metric. Tracking muscle growth lets you know if your current programming is working, so you can continue to make gains.
How To Measure Your Body Composition
If you’re curious about your own body composition, there are plenty of ways to measure it. Each method offers varying levels of accuracy, ease, and accessibility. The “right” method for you depends on your resources and what you plan to do with any data you collect.
DEXA scan
A DEXA scan (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) is the “gold standard” for calculating body composition because it’s low cost, low radiation, and very accurate, Dr. Busse says.
This technology uses low-level X-rays to collect detailed results, including visceral fat levels, water content, and bone density. The test is performed in hospitals and medical centers and is sometimes offered in more commercial settings, like spas and sports performance clinics for anywhere between $100 and $250. When used to detect certain medical conditions, like osteoporosis, a DEXA scan may be covered by some insurance providers, but you otherwise probably couldn’t get one paid for just because you’re curious.
According to Dr. Busse, getting a DEXA scan outside of a medical environment is safe, but it’s a good idea to run your results by a doctor to get a more accurate interpretation.
Bioelectrical impedance analysis
Scales and handheld devices that measure body composition typically use a technology known as bioelectrical impedance analysis. When you stand on a scale or hold a pair of electrodes, the device produces an electrical current and calculates your body composition based on how quickly it travels through your body.
Tools that use bioelectrical impedance analysis are popular with coaches, trainers, and everyday athletes, as they’re affordable (popular models are available online for around $300) and easy to use.
However, what they offer in convenience, they lack in accuracy, says Mathew Forzaglia, NFPT-CPT, CFSC, founder of Forzag Fitness. “It will give you, maybe, a plus-three or minus-three reading on your actual body fat,” he says. “But then we have a number we can work off of.”
Skinfold caliper
A skinfold caliper is a handheld instrument used to pinch and measure the width of a skinfold in millimeters. Calipers are used by fitness coaches and trainers as well as medical professionals in clinical settings. A practitioner collects measurements from between four and nine areas of the body, depending on the protocol, and inputs them into a formula to calculate body fat percentage.
The results of this method are limited to subcutaneous fat (the fat located just below your skin) so you won’t get a sense of your visceral fat or a detailed breakdown of your lean mass. Plus, accuracy can vary significantly based on how experienced and skilled the administrator is.
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Also, skin pinching can be physically uncomfortable and awkward for some people. “You’re put in a very vulnerable position, and then you’re getting real-time feedback on how much body fat you have,” Forzaglia says. “For someone who’s not confident in the gym or with their body, that could put a damper on them.”
MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide body composition information, but it’s typically used to measure fat accumulation in specific tissues and organs, like the liver and pancreas, rather than generate whole-body calculations. Additionally, the cost of using MRI and the time required to administer the screening can be prohibitive for clinicians and patients.
You’d likely only be prescribed a full-body MRI if your doctor thought it was medically necessary, so this isn’t the most accessible option for most people.
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