How to Measure Percentage of Fatty (Adipose)
Tissue
Body Fat Measurement Test
Other Ways to Measure Body Fat
Losing Fat, Yet Gaining Weight
If you're burning lots of calories and
lifting weights, you may be losing inches of fat and adding muscle mass
- even if your weight has remained the same or increased. In other words,
although your weight is getting healthier because you're reducing fat,
this improvement isn't being measured by your weighing scales!
Body Fat Measurement
Thus, some people have turned to body fat
measurement (also known as body composition testing) instead of the weighing
scale to measure their weight and fitness progress.
But determining the most accurate method
of body fat measurement can be difficult, so a recent study published
in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise compared
two popular methods of measuring body composition in people who were losing
weight.
Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA)
vs. Air Displacement Plethysmography
Twelve overweight women and ten men participated
in a weight-loss study. During an 8-week weight-loss program that restricted
calories and encouraged exercise, the participants had their body fat
percentages measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and
air displacement plethysmography (also known as ADP).
DXA uses X-rays to measure body fat, muscle,
and bone mineral. During the scan, a person must lie still on his or her
back for about 10 minutes while a computer produces an image of body tissues
and a body fat percentage. If you have your body fat percentage measured
by ADP, you sit in a chamber for about 5 minutes, and the air that your
body displaces is then measured.
Body Fat Percentages Similar for both
DXA and ADP
There were few differences in body fat
percentage measurements between the DXA and ADP methods. But researchers
concluded that people who were on a weight-loss program would receive
similar body fat percentage results from either a DXA or ADP test.
There are many methods for measuring body
fat, and some are more effective than others. Talk to your health care
professional about having your body fat percentage measured; qualified
testers are often available at fitness centers, community centers or gyms.
Source: Weyers AM, Mazzetti SA, Love DM,
Gómez AL, Kraemer WJ, Volek JS. Comparison of methods for assessing
body composition changes during weight loss. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc.,
March 2002, Vol. 34, No. 3, p. 497-502.
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