Do You Know What Bioimpedance Is?
One of the things that every athlete worries about is his or her body fat percentage. Although there are several ways to measure this percentage, the safest and most accurate is through a bioimpedance scale. Do you know what this is? Well, keep reading and we will tell you!
What is bioimpedance?
You can determine body fat percentage based upon the reaction of biological tissues to an electric current that the device generates.
How does this work? It is well-known that non-fat tissue has a greater ease in allowing electrical currents to pass through them, whilst tissue with more fat creates a greater resistance. So, because of this, you can estimate the amount of water in your body, and therefore, also the amount of fat.
For the device to work, you need to enter data such as, your age, sex, and weight, so that it is easier to determine how long it has taken for the current to pass through your body. The margin of error is 3-5 percent.
“I learned that the fight is not against another, but against oneself. That life continues even if one loses, that nothing falls from the sky, that things require effort. I learned the discipline and the ability to wait and learn through sport. ”
-Unknown author-
This method, in addition to being used to know your body fat, can also help you if you want to lose weight, because it determines at any given moment how much fat you have lost. It is undoubtedly one of the most reliable methods when it comes to weight loss.
What to keep in mind before using a bioimpedance scale
Just as we have to take into account several factors before we weigh ourselves on a normal scale, we must do the same with a bioimpedance scale. Here are some factors to take into account:
- Do not exercise for at least 24 hours before you use this. You may wonder why? Very simple: when you exercise, you exercise your muscles, which can swell and give you a deceptive result. The current would pass through more easily because there is more muscle, but in reality, this will deflate a few days after exercise.
- Empty your bladder. This is another point to consider, because a full bladder is just more water in your body. This could also help to create a false result.
- Do not drink caffeine, tea, or diuretics before weighing yourself.
- Do not weigh yourself during menstruation. The period causes many hormonal changes in a woman’s body. It can swell, fill with liquids, or go through a thousand and one other things, that can also make the bioimpedance result inaccurate or imprecise.
- Remove metallic accessories. Just as when you have an MRI, you must remove any metallic accessory that you are carrying, such as, earrings, bracelets, piercings, and so on. Leaving them on could cause the current to spread more than it should.
Is bioimpedance the most reliable method?
Although calculating body fat percentage through bioimpedance is quite reliable, there is a method that is even more reliable. It is known as the, skin fold measurement.
While this method should always be done by a professional, you can easily have a bioimpedance scale at home. This new method determines the thickness of the skin folds and from this, determines how much body fat there is in the body.
However, bioimpedance is still one of the most reliable methods that is easily accessible, because the equipment required for it is not expensive. With this article, you can see that analyzing your body fat percentage is not difficult at all, thanks to the bioimpedance method. Are you going to try it?