Recently I did a fun little experiment on myself. 

I did a BIA (Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis) scan BEFORE a 1-hour gym session and again immediately AFTER.

I was inundated with requests to share what happened and why I don’t recommend these scans. So here are the results:

 

BEFORE TRAINING

Weight: 61kg. The report suggested I needed to gain 1kg to get to 62kg

Height: 169.8cm

Skeletal Muscle Mass: 25.9kg

Body Fat %: 23.1%

Visceral Fat Level: 5

BMR: 1383kcal

Bone Mineral Content: 2.95kg

 

AFTER TRAINING

Weight: 61.1kg. The report suggested I needed to lose 0.3kg to get to 60.8kg by increasing 0.7kg of muscle and decreasing 1kg of fat

Height: 168.2cm - I shrunk

Skeletal Muscle Mass: 25.4kg - I lost 0.5kg of muscle

Body Fat %: 24.6%. Increased by 1.5%!! Gained 900g fat

Visceral Fat Level: 6 - increased

BMR: 1365kcal - decreased

Bone Mineral Content: 2.84kg - decreased

 

Hopefully, this highlights that these scans are not the best tool for monitoring changes in body composition. They are very easy to manipulate and results can vary significantly - up to 8% variance has been seen in the literature! 

If I can gain 900g of body fat, lose 500g of muscle and gain almost a centimetre in my arm circumference in an hour - what hope do you have of assessing accurate change over 4 weeks?!

There is absolutely no point in measuring something if it cannot accurately track progress. Save your $. You’re welcome :)

 

LINKS:

Go back and listen to episode 32 on how BIA scans work and why I think they’re a waste of money HERE

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