Body Fat Analysis with InBody

To all of those also braving this blizzard, hope you’re staying dry and safe! It’s been a bit of a bummer day for me here, my flight to Los Angeles was already cancelled and the only other flight options would make my trip out there too short to really feel worthwhile so no California for me :(. Then I also got news that the concert Jeremy and I were supposed to go to got cancelled thanks to the storm, which was also the reason I didn’t change my flight. Grumpiness all around…

Any who…

A few weeks ago I had an InBody Test at Body Space Fitness. This machine is used to not only take your weight and body fat percentage but also give you some key insight to whats going on when it comes to muscles and fat in your body.

I’ve had my body fat measured a handful of times both with calipers (those pinch-y things) back when I worked as a personal trainer at a big gym and handheld devices. The truth is neither of those methods are 100% accurate– when it comes to calipers who is doing the pinching makes a HUGE difference in the calculations– uh some people have “softer” touch more so than others who really pinch. I’ve been told that the handheld device can be thrown off by how hydrated you are and if you are very fit or on the other hand really unfit.

I was excited to try out the InBody which boasts 98% accuracy– plus it only takes 45 seconds.

All you do is stand on the machine, awkwardly hold out your arms like so :), and after 45 seconds the machine prints out a comprehensive report which essentially covers everything you every wanted to know about body composition. After the test Kelvin (owner and amazing trainer at BSF) broke down the report with me and explained what it all meant.

Things I found super interesting about the InBody Test:

—Body Composition Analysis. The machine breaks down your overall weight into water weight, dry lean mass (basically your bones, organs, anything “dry” in your body) and then the mass of your body fat. It’s a nice little reminder that there are multiple things creating the number on a scale.

—Segmental Lean Analysis. Looking at how much each of my limbs (right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg and trunk) weighs and how this compares to other people my age.

–According to the chart my body is pretty “balanced”. If you were a runner though and saw that your upper body was disproportionally larger than your lower body it would be a big red flag to start focusing on your legs to avoid injury.

–I’m actually kind of shocked by the balance, but guess growing up as a dancer and then spending all of college building my upper body strength with trapeze evened me out!

—Basal Metabolic Rate. I’ve never calculated my basal metabolic rate which is the amount of calories you need to sustain life during a rest day. While I personally don’t count calories it’s a good number to have in mind since I roughly know how many calories things are throughout my day (I’ve been eating the same breakfast for 4 years now…)

–Once you know your basal metabolic rate you can further break that down into macronutrients (protein vs. carb vs. fat) depending on what your goal is (i.e. performance, in training, fat loss, muscle gain).

–Kelvin noted that New Yorkers are a slightly different story though– we tend to not be very “lethargic” people considering all the walking we do. Considering a rest day still involves walking 2 miles for many of us thanks to life in the city, keep that in mind when thinking about basal metabolic rate.

— It’s a great jumping off point. Whether you’re just beginning your fitness journey are are an athlete in training, having these numbers as a starting point can be super helpful when it comes to creating an effective fitness plan. I’m not currently training for anything (except life and stuff) nor do I have any hardcore fitness goals at the time (y’know besides the usual look good, feel good) but would definitely be curious to take another test in 6 months to see if anything has changed.

Question: Have you ever had your body fat measured? Which method did you use?