A client steps on the scale after weeks of consistent training and is disappointed. The number hasn't changed, even though they're stronger, moving better, and their clothes fit differently. As a fitness professional, you've probably had this conversation many times.
Aesha Tahir is an exercise scientist and has many years of experience in the fitness industry as a personal trainer, professional educator and entrepreneur. She is the founder and operator of ToneAndStrengthen.com. She has helped many clients reach their fitness goals and attain better posture. Aesha is also guest columnist for Personal Fitness Professional (PFP). Follow her on IG @tone_and_strengthen.
In today's world of social media transformations and unrealistic body ideals, it's easy for clients to become fixated on body weight and appearance. Your role is to help them look beyond the number on the scale and understand that body composition—not simply body weight—is a far better indicator of health, performance, and long-term success. By focusing on the science behind body composition, along with practical coaching strategies and mindset shifts, you can help clients achieve results that improve both performance and overall well-being.
Body Composition: The True Assessment of Health
While using the bathroom scale can be useful for tracking weight, it's important to remember that it might not give you the full picture of your client’s overall health, especially their peak performance ability. Body composition takes the understanding of your client’s weight a step further by breaking down the total weight into the percentage from fat, muscle, bone and water. Among these biomarkers, the body fat percentage is of most importance because it is a true indicator of your client’s health.
Two clients at the same height and same total body weight can have very different performance level and health because they have a different body composition. Since muscular tissue is denser than fat tissue, relying solely on total body weight and body mass index (BMI) readings doesn’t provide an accurate reflection of your clients' overall health. Including body composition analysis into your assessment tools becomes very important if you want to make accurate health recommendations for your clients.
What Is Body Composition Analysis?
There are many ways to conduct body composition analysis such as using skinfold calipers, hydrostatic weighing, bioelectrical impedance, air-displacement plethysmography and 3D body scans. The data collected from body composition analysis can accurately show changes in fat mass, muscle mass and body fat percentage which can help your client see the value of your services as a fitness professional.
The most common readings of a body composition analysis are:
Percent Body Fat: This is a critical reading of body composition analysis. It is the ratio of total fat mass to total body weight. Too high of a body fat percentage can damage your clients’ long-term health. Reducing this percentage leads to lower risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and many types of cancer. Body fat percentage is influenced by various factors, such as sex, age, fitness level and lifestyle.
Standard medically accepted fat percentage ranges, proposed by American Council on Exercise (ACE), are:
Lower body fat percentage doesn’t only lead to lower health risks but is also critical for improving your client’s athletic performance. The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) has found that reducing non-essential body fat can enhance performance related to muscular and cardiorespiratory endurance, speed and agility.
Total Body Water: This includes the intracellular water and extracellular water. This reading is key indicator of hydration level of your clients. Water is needed for transportation of nutrients, to regulate body temperature and eliminate waste. The amount of fluid consumption depends on the climate and the amount of physical activity undertaken by an individual. Experts suggest consuming a minimum of two liters of fluids daily. Men on average have a Total Body Water reading of 55-60%, while women have a reading of 50-55%.
Muscle Mass: This is the total of skeletal muscles, smooth muscles like body organs and the water contained within them. High muscle mass increases the calorie expenditure at rest leading to a better basal metabolic rate. Increasing the muscle mass and decreasing fat mass is the healthiest way to lose weight and increase performance for your clients. It enhances movement ability like jumping, skipping and changing directions as well as cardiovascular ability and reduced injury rate. It is also the best anti-aging mechanism.
Keep in mind, if your client is exercising at a high intensity their muscle mass will increase which can lead to a higher total body weight, but this increase will not raise their health risk of chronic diseases. So, it’s important to monitor different aspects of total body weight.
These results can be one of the most powerful tools to help you gain insights about your client’s body fat, muscle, water, metabolism, health, aging and performance levels.
Understanding the Impact on Performance
To some degree, body composition determines all fitness components. A high muscle mass and low body fat percentage leads to strength and power development.
From a performance perspective, excess body fat lowers the work to weight ratio. A person with a high fat percentage would use more energy per minute of work, leading to lower energy efficiency during physical activity.
Excessive body fat is a major barrier to good form and optimal joint range of motion. As a result, it limits endurance, balance, coordination and movement capacity.
Surplus body fat also loads our joints during weight-bearing activities such as running. Healthy body fat percentages enhance economy, improve range of motion and minimizes the risk of injuries which optimizes performance.
Although, body fat percentage should be kept in check, too low body fat can be harmful.
Dangers of Prioritizing Aesthetic Goals
Often, people come to fitness professionals with goals centered on physical appearance. Holding onto an idealistic body image leads to frustration and low self-esteem. Obsessing over physical appearance can quickly lead to eating disorders of a wide variety. Aesthetic goals can be motivating, but it can also tip the scale in other direction with too much fat loss.
A negative reputation precedes body fat which plays an important role in the overall functioning of the body, such as indigestion and energy metabolism. Fat is used as fuel for energy and regulates body hormones. They also have a structural role of maintaining nerve impulse transmission, memory storage and tissue structures as well.
It is important to consider the health goals of your client to gauge the fat loss required for your clients. Prioritizing aesthetic goals can lead to dangerously low levels of fat.
There are several risks associated with too little body fat:
• Extremely low body fat impacts our immunity which leads to increased risk of injury and illness. More sick days means more interruptions in training and delay in achieving performance goals.• Low estrogen levels in female clients leading to low bone density and high risk of fractures.• Fertility issues for men and women since fat is essential for regulating reproduction, and development of the human sex organs.
Aesthetic goals are often subjective and focus solely on looks. They aren’t the best indicator for measuring progress because they don’t account for change in body composition.
On the other hand, performance goals are objective and measurable. Some of the performance goals can include improved strength, aerobic and muscular endurance, speed, mobility, agility or power. These goals can be based on skill level like performing a body weight pull-up or a handstand.
Striking a Balance: Tips for Fitness Professionals
As a fitness professional you can help your clients navigate the path to effective goal setting and enhanced wellbeing. Here are some steps you can take to ensure a safe health journey for your clients:
1. Setting Performance Goals: It important to set goals which are sustainable, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. Performance goals are SMART goals. By focusing on improving specific metrics, like increasing muscle mass, running faster or doing five pull-ups, clients can maximize the benefits of their training programs. Each time they achieve a goal, it not only boosts their confidence but also serves as a motivating factor to continue their fitness journey.2. Explaining Weight Dynamics: Improved body composition is never linear. Weight management is dependent on many factors including genetics, age and hormonal fluctuations influence in response to diet and exercise. Educating your clients on the complexity of weight dynamics will empower them to approach their goals with patience and realism.3. Mindset Shift: Healthy weight starts with a healthy mindset. Shift your client’s mindset from the weight on the scale to improved body composition. Help them focus on improved nutrition and lifestyle to enhance performance and lower health risks.4. Encourage Protein Consumption: Many of our clients don’t eat enough protein which leads to low muscle mass. Encourage healthy amount of protein consumption. Protein improves metabolic rate and is a vital building block of muscle.5. Optimize Their Training Plan: Create a training plan that optimizes total body fat loss. Prioritize the complex resistance exercises like squats, bench presses and deadlifts. These exercises engage multiple muscle groups and burn significant calories in a shorter duration. These also prompt the release of growth hormone, a potent natural fat-burning compound, resulting in enhanced fat loss.
Striving to meet unrealistic body ideals can have negative effects on both mental health and overall well-being. To promote sustainable weight management and improved performance, it is crucial to set trackable, performance-based goals with clients. By focusing on changing body composition, you can effectively navigate potential pitfalls along their well-being journey.
