Understanding Body Composition & Its Importance

What is Body Composition?

Body composition refers to the ratio of fat mass to non-fat mass content in your body. The muscles, bones, and fluid content in your body make up for the non-fat content. Both fat mass and non-fat mass should be in perfect balance for you to be called healthy.

BMI also refers to the composition of your body and assesses your health. However, the problem with BMI is that it considers mass as a whole. This number doesn’t consider the difference between fat mass and muscle mass.

Body composition analysis, on the other hand, considers fatty mass and fat-free mass separately, thereby giving you a clearer and more clear picture of your health. For example, this analysis gives important information like the amount of fat stored in your body, the hydration level of your body, and more.

You can use a body composition scale to measure your body’s fat percentage and other important factors. However, this is not commonly found in houses, as these scales are expensive and consume a lot of space. You might find these at hospitals or wellness clinics.

Why Body Composition Matters?

Body composition is more than what the numbers say on the scale. It gives information about some of the most vital markers of your body, such as —

• Muscle Mass

Muscle mass is directly proportional to your metabolism rate. If your metabolism rate is high, you can lose weight quickly. When the body composition analysis shows a high muscle mass in your body, it means you have a higher basal metabolism rate than others.

This becomes even more important for sportspersons and athletes. They are always looking at growing their lean muscle mass, which improves their metabolism and keeps them healthy.

• Body’s Fat Percentage

While calculating the composition of your body, the fat percentage comes as an important marker. The higher the fat percentage in your body, the higher your risk of cardiac disease, diabetes, cancer, and more.

• Hydration Levels

A body composition analysis uses skinfold thickness and other parameters to check the hydration levels and water weight of your body. This way, you can be exactly sure what caused the weight gain and take appropriate action.

• Physical Appearance

While not the most important point on this list, physical appearance is definitely worth mentioning. Body composition matters a lot because it helps you take care of the factors to look toned, fit, and athletic. This can improve your appearance and take it several notches higher than what it was before.

• High Energy for Prolonged Periods

Keeping track of your body composition analysis is essential, as it helps you take care of your body. This way, when your fat and non-fat mass is at the right levels, you feel energised throughout the day.

• Mental Fitness

When you start following a healthy lifestyle, maintain a proper diet, and sleep well to achieve the recommended body composition numbers, it keeps you stress-free. Moreover, when you start feeling well from the inside, it brings about holistic wellness. You also start to feel mentally fit. As your appearance improves, it automatically makes you more self-confident, thereby improving the overall quality of your life.

How to Achieve It?

Now that you understand the importance of body composition, you might be interested to know how you can maintain this marker at the ideal level. Here are simple tips you can try to achieve this —

• Include strength training and cardiovascular exercises in your regular workouts.

• Eat well. Include plenty of fresh fruits & vegetables, whole nuts, lean proteins, etc., in your daily meals.

• Keep yourself hydrated throughout the day to avoid bouts of dizziness and fatigue.

• Ensure you have a sound sleep every night. Remember to rest well after your workout sessions to give enough recovery time to your body.

• Continue with your healthy lifestyle and regular workouts without fail. Results may take some time, but never give up on your efforts.