Body Fat % Muscle Mass % what do these figures mean?

kks1987
kks1987 Posts: 123 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All,

I have a Question about My Health: My Body Fat % , My Muscle Mass % and My physical rating - what do these figures mean?

My friend has a new scales with functions to tell me my body fat, body water and muscle mass percentages. Somethings i do understand but some things don't understand about the scale...

The scale showed..I am overweight and i get that.. :-\ I am going to make the changes i need to make to have a better life lifestyle.

I am 160 lbs, 5`5 1/2 inches.. I am a 26 year old female. I didn't understand about the Scale my percentages/rating Are below..

My Physical rating 2
Body Fat -35.0
Muscle Mass -99.6

Can anyone please tell me what that means...I should I be concerned?

My health care insurance is with blue shield. I am new with blue shield b/c i had Kaiser since from birth to 26 yrs old. Since I started my new job I have blue shield now. .. Next week I have a doctors appointment with my doctor to make sure I'm on the right diet plan.

Well Thanks in advance for your answers. I'm so determined to know anything that can help improve my health. Please be so be honest we me. The truth shall set me free...

Sincerely,

Kamla

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    I am 160 lbs, 5`5 1/2 inches.. I am a 26 year old female. I didn't understand about the Scale my percentages/rating Are below..

    Body Fat -35.0
    Muscle Mass -99.6

    Body fat - 35% of 160 = 56 lbs

    Fat free mass / lean mass = 160 - 56 = 104 lbs. Not sure how it does "muscle mass" - perhaps estimates 5 lbs of bones which seems low. Or maybe the 160 lbs isn't off the same scale.

    With a BMI of 26.2 you're overweight and the doctor will probably focus on that. The fat % is high because you're overweight. 20-22% might be a goal to aim for which would put you at 133 lbs.
  • nelinelineli
    nelinelineli Posts: 330 Member
    Hi All,

    I am 160 lbs, 5`5 1/2 inches.. I am a 26 year old female. I didn't understand about the Scale my percentages/rating Are below..

    My Physical rating 2
    Body Fat -35.0
    Muscle Mass -99.6

    The body fat % indicates that you're overweight. The muscle mass however makes no sense, so I would question the reading itself. You cannot be made out of 99.6% muscle:)
  • LadyPakal
    LadyPakal Posts: 256 Member
    On my scale I get body fat %, water % & lean mass % (which includes the water - basically just about everything that isn't fat in the body). Total lean & fat and work it out as compared to body weight usually gives me around 5lbs left over - I assume this is gut content etc.

    Having the water % gives me something to aim to match for a reasonable body fat % calc - as you should be similarly hydrated each time you test.

    I suspect your 'muscle mass' may be the equivalent of my lean mass (which includes water weight).
  • kks1987
    kks1987 Posts: 123 Member
    Thank You so much letting me know. :) Have a great Tuesday All.
  • kks1987
    kks1987 Posts: 123 Member
    I am not sure on the Muscle mass either. Thanks I think when I talk to my doctor it will help out more.
  • NataBost
    NataBost Posts: 418 Member
    Hi All,

    I am 160 lbs, 5`5 1/2 inches.. I am a 26 year old female. I didn't understand about the Scale my percentages/rating Are below..

    My Physical rating 2
    Body Fat -35.0
    Muscle Mass -99.6

    The body fat % indicates that you're overweight. The muscle mass however makes no sense, so I would question the reading itself. You cannot be made out of 99.6% muscle:)

    I don't think it's a percentage for muscle mass :) I'm 5'1" and I think my lean muscle mass is somewhere in the mid to upper 90's.
  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    Another good way to think about it.. If you want that toned, some definition body look you want low body fat % and higher muscle mass%.. if you are losing weight and your BF% isn't going down, your losing muscle mass(most likely) and that might result in it taking longer for you to reach what you think you may look like at a certain weight.. which is why the term skinny fat is tossed around... they are at a lower weight, but their bf% is high so they are flabby but skinny.
  • kks1987
    kks1987 Posts: 123 Member
    Thank You all for your replies...I am going to see my friend on Wednesday and I am going to ask her my question about her scale too. I think it could be off too.
    Last week percent of Body fat was 26% now it is 35% but maybe it is not off because I am on my period. I do not know what is going on. I want to get healthy again. I am taking my weight journey day by day. This weight journey can get frustrating at times but I can’t stop because know I am so close.:flowerforyou:
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    May be just giving you pounds per category. 35 pounds fat. 99 pounds muscle.

    May not be particularly accurate in any case. Probably want to get some additional looks at body fat (pictures, calipers, hydro, bodpod, etc are options).
  • kks1987
    kks1987 Posts: 123 Member
    Thanks for your replyjwdieter . I will google some pictures too.. Last night I took my before pictures because it was 1st day of doing Bootcamp with Herblife. I am so excited to see my progress in a week to come..
  • ScientificExplorerGirl
    ScientificExplorerGirl Posts: 535 Member
    Hi, I just purchased one of these scales too. It is the For Living from Canadian Tire and gives % body fat, % water, and % muscle. The % Body Fat seems about right for me (I'm 158 pounds, 5'7" and it reads at 29.1%). The weird thing is though that the total combined percentages for all three metrics is 131.7%. How is a combined % over 100 possible?
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Maybe it's in effect double counting the water in muscle and fat? I don't know. I have one of those scales and never use it. I think you'd do just as well throwing darts at a chart.
  • ScientificExplorerGirl
    ScientificExplorerGirl Posts: 535 Member
    I've asked the company for an explanation and will hopefully hear back from them. If they respond I'll post the response. I know these things don't have a great reputation overall but this one had a good rating. Even if I can just monitor the changes in body fat as I continue my workouts over time this would be a great motivator for me!
  • ScientificExplorerGirl
    ScientificExplorerGirl Posts: 535 Member
    I just checked back on the Canadian Tire website and this was their response:

    When taking the measurement of Muscle, bone and water from the scale via bioelectrical impedance testing method (in our case, the scale), very often in both the muscle and the bone will contain particles/traces of water which also gets calculated (overlapped) into the equation during the bioelectrical impedance testing. This is what contributes to the additional percentage as identified and it will be impossible to completely isolate the readings due to the limitation that the bioelectrical impedance testing method. In additional, we must also take into consideration that the human organs and other elements have not been measured during the bioelectrical impedance testing (e.g. Oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine and magnesium). The readings are used for reference only during the diet/exercise routine, it helps the user to monitor their results as a reference point from the start to the end.

    So looks like you were right WalkingAlong :drinker:

    I will be starting up a weight training program soon (using dumbbells) so I think I am going to purchase some calipers and perhaps look for a place that will perform a more accurate % body fat evaluation to help me track my progress a bit better. Does anyone know of a place near Ottawa that does this type of testing?

    Thanks :)

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