Body Composition: Do You Know Yours?

You can’t change what you can’t measure. Have you wanted to know how much fat you are carrying, or how much muscle you have, or what your water weight is? Did you know that you may have up to 50% water weight? Knowledge is power. Once you know your numbers, you can see exactly what your body is made of. If you know your body composition, you’ll be on your way to make the changes you need to be at healthy levels of fat, muscle and water.

Body composition testing with Ochsner Fitness Center’s In-Body Scan is an effective way to know your numbers, so you can see where you’re at right now. With this information, we can help you move forward to make the changes you want to, and the changes you need for a healthier you. Our In-Body Scan provides a snapshot of information that we will interpret for you. After you take off your socks and shoes, you will step on the scale and place your thumbs on small paddles at your sides, while the scan reads your body for 45 seconds.

Included in this analysis is information about your bone mass, fat mass, water and muscle. Learning your body fat percentage is very useful and is a better indicator of your health than the old BMI standard.

In addition, we will know your visceral fat level. This is the amount of fat that surrounds your vital organs This is a vitally important number that determines whether you are at greater or lesser risk for certain cancers, diabetes, heart attack, stroke or other metabolic syndromes. In addition, you’ll know how many calories you need to sustain daily functioning (without exercise). This is your basal metabolic rate. When you exercise, your caloric need is greater, of course. Lastly, knowing your skeletal muscle mass (the muscles attached to your bones) will help determine what gains you may need in muscle, and analyzed against your fat mass, we can determine your ideal ratio of fat vs. muscle.

These measurements are compared against your cohort group, to see where you stand with those of your age, gender, height and weight. At this point, there is a clearer picture of how your numbers should be interpreted. Typically, we want to lose fat and gain muscle. Of course, this is not always the case. You may find out you need to drink more water or gain fat. At this point, a personal trainer can develop an individualized fitness program for your specific goals.

Your complimentary assessment at Ochsner Fitness Center will begin with a medical history review, followed by the In-Body Scan, interpretation of the scan, and a brief physical fitness assessment. We will make recommendations of classes you could take advantage of and suggest a personal training program for you.