A good scale is a useful tool in the quest for fitness because scales no longer just measure your weight. Today's scales give you a much more accurate picture of the state of your body. The American Council on Exercise recommends Tanita scales in particular because of their accuracy and simple user interface.
Functions
Tanita makes a variety of scales, from analog weight-only scales to full-scale fitness monitors. The fitness monitors measure your weight, but they also measure your body fat percentage, your lean muscle mass percentage, your water weight percentage and your bone density to give you a more accurate idea of your fitness level. For example, if you are upset that an analog scale weighed you at 160 lbs., you may be less upset when a fitness monitor tells you that of that 160 lbs., only 21 percent is fat, your hydration is perfect at 50 percent and your bone density has climbed to 3.8.
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis
Tanita uses bioelectrical impedance analysis to measure your body composition. When you stand on the scale, a small electrical charge passes through your body, from leg to leg. That signal travels differently through fat, muscle, bone and water, so by timing the signal's arrival back at the scale, it can provide a close estimate of your body composition. Tanita claims that independent testing has shown its BIA method to be accurate to within 5 percentage points of dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, which is the gold standard for measuring body composition.
Athlete Mode
Tanita includes an "Athlete Mode" that slightly alters the way the BIA results are analyzed to compensate for athletic body types. If you perform intense exercise 10 hours per week, have a resting heart rate of 60 bpm, or have been exercising your entire life, you should use the athlete mode. Athletes generally have more muscle mass and lower water levels than non-athletes, and can get falsely high body fat readings when using traditional calculation methods.
Alternatives
Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry is the gold standard in body composition measurement because a single scan measures fat, muscle and bone content, but it requires extensive equipment and a trained staff. DEXA is generally only available at hospitals and research clinics. Hydrostatic weighing is also reliable, but it only measures fat and muscle and results are easily skewed. It also requires specialized equipment and staff. Skinfold calipers measure fat only, but results can be extrapolated mathematically to estimate muscle mass as well. Calipers are inexpensive and found at gyms and doctors' offices, but the validity of the results depends upon the skill of the person taking the measurements.
Member Comments