How To Read Your Body Fat Test Results
You've taken a BodySpex body fat test. Now, what do the numbers mean?
Weight
This is your total body weight. The BodySpex scale accurately measures your total body weight to within one-tenth of a pound. Keep in mind that prior to each test the BodySpex scale asks what you are wearing, then subtracts an appropriate amount from the reading.
Body Fat Percentage
This is the percentage of your total body weight that is fat. Some fat is essential; however, as your body fat increases beyond a certain point, so does your risk of health problems. To find out if you have a healthy body fat percentage based on guidelines by the National Institute of Health, see our body fat chart.
Lean Mass and Fat Mass
The BodySpex scale calculates your body composition by differentiating lean mass from fat mass. Your lean mass includes muscle, organs, skin and bones. Fat Mass is how much fat your body is carrying. Lean Mass + Fat Mass = Total Body Weight. By increasing your lean mass or by reducing your fat mass you will lower your body fat percentage.
Metabolism - Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
The metabolism value is an estimate of your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)—the number of calories your body would burn on a day that you don’t exercise. Your metabolism is a key to losing fat and losing weight. If your BMR were 1600, and you were to eat 1600 calories a day, without exercising, you would neither gain nor lose weight. If your calorie intake is constant, but you burn more calories through exercise, you begin to lose weight. Increasing your muscle mass (through weight lifting, for example), increases your BMR so that you burn more calories even without exercising.
BMI - Body Mass Index
Body Mass Index (BMI) uses a simple formula to screen people for being overweight (weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared.) BMI provides a rough estimate of your health but fails to account for variables like body-type and lean mass to fat mass ratios. For more information about BMI, you can visit CDC.org.