How to Calculate Fat Free Body Mass refers to the process of determining the proportion of an individual’s body weight that does not include fat. For instance, if a person weighs 150 pounds and has a fat-free body mass of 120 pounds, it indicates that 30 pounds of their body weight consists of fat.
Calculating fat-free body mass is crucial for understanding body composition and assessing nutritional status. It helps determine muscle mass, monitor weight loss or gain, and identify the effectiveness of exercise programs. Historically, various methods have been developed for measuring fat-free body mass, including the underwater weighing method, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).