Women's Health - Body Composition

Everyone wants to have a lean, well-toned figure and the ideal of a youthful body and shape motivates many of us to go to the gym, sign up for fitness classes and keep an eye on our diets. But body composition and body shape are about more than just looking good; hence it also means how we are concerned to our health. With an ideal body composition, including a high ratio of lean body mass to fat, you minimize your risk of developing diseases that are related to obesity and how your body fat is distributed in your body.

Body weight is composed of two separate elements and that is fat and lean body mass (muscle, bone, organs and fluids). The quality of your weight or what proportion of your weight is fat is more significant to overall status of your health than the quantity of your weight (total pounds). Body Mass Index (BMI) or the ratio of your weight to your height is widely used to assess the increased risk of weight - related conditions. However, appearance may deceive you when it comes to estimating the body fat percentage. Bulky athletes like football players for example can be overweight according to the BMI table without being over fat. On the other hand, those who are considered under the normal weight or lean according to the BMI table can be qualitatively measured as over fat. Read http://edition.cnn.com/HEALTH/diet.fitness/vitamins.supplements/ for news about vitamins and supplements.

A scale can't form a boundary between fat pounds and muscle pounds. What tells us that these tales then are not total weight but they are body composition. Skin fold measurement is a good way to determine body compositions. Since excess fat are at specific locations just below the skin, we can use calipers to measure the thickness of skin underlying the fat at these sites. There are no widely and common accepted norms for body composition. An ideal amount of body fat will vary for each individual depending on age, gender, fitness level and genetic profile. For more tips about a healthy lifestyle, check it out!

Research shows that exercise can reduce fat cells in the belly compare to dieting alone. It also prevents fat from being stored in the organs and muscles. The weight loss from exercise is primarily a fat loss. With regular exercise, the fat stores will reduce from the whole body and you will develop leaner, toned muscles instead according to experts from http://www.pamelasimon.com/wellness/. Trimmer contours and smaller circumferences regardless of the number of pounds lost are results of gaining lean muscle tissue and loss of excess fat.