Know your own body composition it is the springboard to start a path of physical well-being and find the winning strategies.
Body mass assessment is used for:
- identify a subject's health risk based on his or her fat percentage
- monitor changes that are a symptom of certain diseases
- analyze the changes in proportions during growth and aging
- evaluate the effect of nutrition and sports practice
Evaluating your body composition means measuring different components that make up the body.
Index
BICOMPARTIMENTAL MODEL
According to the two-compartment model our body is divided into fat mass e lean mass and getting the right ratio between them is the basis for an ideal body composition.
The fat mass represents the totality of lipids present in the human body.
FATS AND CLASSIFICATION 
Fats, or lipids, can accumulate in the body in several ways:
- subcutaneous fat: it is not dangerous for health, but aesthetically not pleasant
- muscle fat: it is associated with the onset of diseases such as diabetes and metabolic syndrome;
- visceral fat: it is metabolically more active, so with the right diet and training, it is burned; its excess causes the release of free fatty acids in the liver and leads to insulin resistance.
Let's see some reference value; the risks related to overweight disappear when the fat drops around these percentages:
- Men: 15% fat mass
- Women: 22% fat mass
The first obstacle to overcome is to get as close as possible to these values.
BMI: BODY MASS INDEX
At this point it is considered necessary to calculate your own BMI (Body Mass Index); it is a useful parameter for obtaining a general assessment of your body weight.
BMI = body weight / height in meters squared
Male BMI:> 22 and <26
Female BMI:> 19 and <25
The range of "normality" of the BMI is quite wide according to the subjective differences related to the physical structure; here, however, does not take into account the muscle mass, nor the differences in bone mass and the proportion between limb length and height.
Let's see other methodologies to know our body composition:
anthropometry
This method allows to evaluate the nutritional status and the cardio - metabolic risk linked to overweight and obesity.
After calculating the BMI, other subjective variables are added such as the circumference of the waist, hips and the sagittal diameter of the abdomen.
plicometry
It is based on the use of a skinfolder, through which the percentage of fat mass is extrapolated.
The major limitation of this method is that it starts from the assumption that the subject is well hydrated, that is, that he has a percentage of water total body at least 60%; otherwise the results are not reliable.
bioimpedentiometry
It is a reliable instrumental method that is based on a three-compartment model divided into fat mass, lean mass and extracellular mass.
Biological tissues behave like conductors, semiconductors or insulators: the electrolytic solutions of lean tissues are excellent conductors, while bone and fat are insulators.
When a current is infused into the body, it flows through it more easily if it encounters greater body flows rather than cell mass.
Measuring these resistances allows us to establish body composition and assess nutritional status.