Most often, a person who is overweight is assumed to have high amount of fat. However, this might not be true as the extra weight may be due to the extra muscle. How do you assess if the extra weight is due to fat or muscle? Underwater weighing is one of the effective methods to assess the person’s body fat.
What is Underwater Weighing?
Underwater weighing is used to measure body fat. It is a method which is accepted as a gold standard for measuring body fat. In underwater weighing, the subject in sits on a special scale and is totally submerged in the water. Using a special formula, the person’s body mass can be calculated.
Underwater Weighing Procedure:
The person is weighed in the air and his/her weight is noted down. Now, the person sits on a special scale and the scale is submerged in water. The person is totally submerged in the water for 3 seconds and is then taken out. The underwater weighing procedure is repeated 2 or 3 times to get an accurate result. During immersion, the person’s weight in water, volume in water and body density is calculated.
Using the measurements such as weight in air, volume and body density- a special formula is used to measure the body fat. Fat weighs less than muscle in water. Hence, a person with more fat will weigh less in water and a person with more muscle will weigh more in water.
Underwater weighing is an effective method to calculate body fat. It can cost around $10 to $70 for this procedure. So, if you would like to know how much body fat you have, get yourself assessed through underwater weighing.
