Understanding Your InBody Scan

At the top, you have Intracellular Water (body water inside cells) and Extracellular Water (body water outside cells), which make up Total Body Water.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Both ICW and ECW are valuable in their own right, but monitoring Extracellular Water, in particular, can provide deep insights. If you notice an increase in ECW, but not ICW, this could be due to acute inflammation from overtraining. 

 Dry Lean Mass

This value is the weight of the protein and mineral content in your body.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Because protein makes up most of your muscle, and Dry Lean Mass excludes body water, if your Dry Lean Mass increases, then this is generally a sign that you have gained muscle mass! 

Below Dry Lean Mass is Body Fat Mass. This value reveals how much body fat, both surface level (subcutaneous) and internal (visceral), makes up your weight.

Displayed in the second column from the right, Lean Body Mass (LBM) is the sum of your ICW, ECW, and Dry Lean Mass. LBM is the weight of everything in your body except fat; for this reason, it is also called Fat-Free Mass. Lean Body Mass includes muscle, water, bones, and organs.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Usually, increases in LBM reflect an increase in muscle mass (which you can also see as an increase in Dry Lean Mass) and is considered an improvement in body composition. However, people who do not maintain normal body water ratios may have increased LBM due to swelling caused by strenuous exercise or activity. 

ECW/TBW is a measure of compartmental fluid distribution and shows, as a ratio, how much of your total body water is extracellular.

Taking multiple InBody Tests will establish your normal fluid status and help determine any imbalances. As a general guide, check to see that your ECW/TBW is below 0.390.

WHY THIS MATTERS

This graph lets you quickly understand if you have occasional inflammation or swelling in your body resulting from strenuous exercise or activity. You can also use this to give context to LBM. High LBM and a high ECW/TBW ratio usually indicate excess body water—not just muscle. 

 BMI is determined by dividing your weight by your height squared. BMI is just a single value that does not differentiate between fat or muscle mass. If you use BMI to track your fitness progress, you will never know if the changes were to fat or muscle. 

 Basal Metabolic Rate

Your Basal Metabolic Rate, or BMR, is the total number of calories you need for your basic essential functions. This value allows you to work with your dietician to create a nutritional plan, which is key to reaching your body composition goals.

You may think that your BMR is the number of calories you should eat in a day, but this is NOT the case. BMR does not take into account any calories needed to perform daily activities, and so your actual caloric need for the day is likely much higher than your BMR.

As you may know, there are two main types of body fat: subcutaneous and visceral. Visceral Fat is located in your abdominal region, between your organs.

This output is a numerical representation of how much harmful visceral you have. It is recommended that you stay below a Visceral Fat Level of 10 (equates to 100 cm² of Visceral Fat Area) to decrease your risk for chronic disease.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Research has found that visceral fat is affected by cardiovascular exercise. Engage in more cardiovascular exercise to lose visceral fat and improve your health.