InBody 270S
Result Sheet Interpretation

What does your InBody Result Sheet mean?

The InBody Result Sheet displays your body composition measurements in a clear, easy-to-read way to make understanding your results simple.

Below, you will find a concise breakdown of each section of the Result Sheet. You’ll learn what each measurement means, why it matters, and how it can help you be successful in your health journey.

* The information provided is to be used for educational/informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Only certified medical & health professionals may diagnose patients and provide such advice.

Chapter 1

Body Composition Analysis & Body Water

Body Composition Analysis

This section gives you a solid breakdown of your overall body composition, displaying these vital measurements in pounds (lb):

Total Body Water
Dry Lean Mass
Body Fat Mass
Weight

Body Composition Analysis sits at the top of the InBody 270 Result Sheet because it provides an excellent overview of your body composition.

This section breaks down your Weight as a sum of Total Body Water, Dry Lean Mass, and Body Fat Mass. At the top, Total Body Water shows how much water comprises your weight. Right below is your Dry Lean Mass. This value is the weight of the protein and mineral content in your body.

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.

Lean Body Mass (LBM) is the sum of your Total Body Water 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

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!

Chapter 2

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Muscle-Fat Analysis

This section shows how your Weight, Skeletal Muscle Mass, and Body Fat Mass compare to the healthy average range of people of the same height and sex. With Muscle-Fat Analysis, you get a better understanding of where your current body composition is so you can make any changes to get it to where you would like it to be.

Muscle-Fat Analysis is a favorite output for many people because it provides an easy-to-understand overview of body composition and helps narrow the focus of health goals.

Muscle-Fat Analysis has three components:

WEIGHT
This is your Total Body Weight.
SKELETAL MUSCLE MASS (SMM)
This is the total weight of your Skeletal Muscle Mass (SMM). SMM is the muscle that can be grown and developed through exercise. Unlike Lean Body Mass, which includes everything except body fat, you can confidently interpret an increase in SMM as muscle gain.
BODY FAT MASS
This is how much body fat you have (both the surface level and internal fat).

The Muscle-Fat Analysis also tells you whether you have a healthy balance of SMM and Body Fat Mass in respect to your weight.

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

How to read the numbers at the top

You can compare your measurements to others of the same height and sex with the percentages above the bar graphs. While the healthy range varies by output, the 100% mark indicates the healthy average for people of your height and sex. So if your Weight bar is at 130%, this would mean that your weight is 30% above average.

Similarly, if your Weight bar is at 70%, this would mean that you have 30% less mass than is considered the healthy average for your height.

How to find your body type using the C-I-D Method

Refer to your Muscle-Fat Analysis and connect the endpoints of each bar (Weight to SMM to Body Fat Mass) to form a C, I, or D.

Scroll down below to find out more about your body type!

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

“C-Shape” Body Type

If the length of the bar for your SMM is shorter than your Weight and Body Fat Mass, you have a C-shaped body type. Depending on where the measures are on the graph, this body shape can be characteristic of a person who is overweight, obese, underweight, or within the healthy range.

WHY THIS MATTERS

If you have a Muscle-Fat Analysis that looks like this, reduce your Body Fat Mass (which would also lower your Weight) and increase your Skeletal Muscle Mass. Ultimately, try to get your Body Fat Mass as close to the recommended range as possible and SMM as close to or above the recommended range.

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

“I-Shape” Body Type

If the length of the bars for your Weight, Skeletal Muscle Mass, and Body Fat Mass roughly form a straight line, you have an I-shaped body type. Although people with this body type are often at a healthy weight or body fat percentage, there are still areas they can focus on to maintain or improve overall health.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Typically, if you have an I-shaped body type, you have a proportional muscle-fat balance. You are in a great position to focus on gaining muscle mass or reducing body fat to improve your overall physique.

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

“D-Shape” Body Type

If your SMM bar is longer than your Weight and Body Fat Mass, you have a D-shape body type. Usually, this is an “athletic” body type that many consider the ideal body composition shape. However, if the Weight and Body Fat Mass bars are above the recommended ranges, you should reduce your fat mass to get into the ideal range.

If you wish to lose body fat and become leaner, you should monitor your Body Fat Mass while making sure you do not lose too much SMM. If SMM losses become too significant, make the necessary adjustments to your strength-training routine.

WHY THIS MATTERS

If you want to improve your strength and physique, you should monitor your SMM and Body Fat Mass bars to ensure that SMM increases without a significant increase in Body Fat Mass.

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Obesity Analysis

This section displays your body fat percentage, or Percent Body Fat (PBF), and Body Mass Index (BMI), as well as the healthy ranges for these measurements.

Let’s explore how Obesity Analysis can give you a better idea of your current obesity level and your risk of related health conditions.

Body fat percentage is a division of your body fat mass by your total weight and a much better indicator of your risk of obesity than BMI.

Let’s take a closer look at why PBF is a superior metric for assessing your obesity and overall health risks.

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Why you should focus on Body Fat Percentage over BMI

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.

BMI may also oversimplify health risks. Two people with the same height and weight would have the same BMI and health risks—even if one of them has a healthy amount of fat and high muscle mass.

On the other hand, PBF puts your weight into context by showing how much of it is fat mass. Tracking changes in your body fat percentage lets you focus on actual fat loss, not just weight loss, which can also come from muscle mass.

WHY THIS MATTERS

When assessing your current obesity level and the associated health risks, use Percent Body Fat (aka Body Fat Percentage) because it reveals how much of your weight is fat. BMI is a poor indicator of obesity risk but is on the Result Sheet for reference purposes.

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Healthy ranges for BMI and PBF

For BMI, 18.5 –24.99 kg/m2 is the healthy average range according to the World Health Organization. This healthy average range is presented on the Result Sheet, although the InBody device can be programmed to use a different range.

For PBF, the ranges differ for men and women, as women tend to carry more body fat than men due to their reproductive system and genetics. InBody calculates the recommended Body Fat Percentage ranges for men and women based on ACSM and ACE guidelines.

For men, the healthy range is between 10-20%.

For women, the healthy range is between 18-28%.

DIVE DEEPER

Read “Body Fat Percentage Chart: A Guide to Your Health Metrics”

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Body Composition History

This graph displays some of the most vital measurements from your previous tests (up to 8). With Body Composition History, you can easily spot trends and track your progress over time.

At the bottom of the Result Sheet is the Body Composition History graph, which automatically tracks your Weight, Skeletal Muscle Mass, and Percent Body Fat measures from recent tests.

The purpose of this graph is to let you monitor positive and negative changes in body composition so you can adjust your diet and exercise plan to get the results you desire.

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Tracking positive change

The Body Composition History graph makes it easy to spot when positive body composition changes occur. For instance, a gradual increase in Skeletal Muscle Mass and decrease in Body Fat Mass over the past few tests indicates that you’ve made excellent progress towards improving your overall body composition.

WHY THIS MATTERS

By any measure, this indicates that you are on the right track to achieve your goals. You should continue to follow your diet and exercise routine and closely monitor your progress using Body Composition History.

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Tracking negative change

The Body Composition History graph also makes it easier to spot negative body composition changes. For example, a drop in body weight may initially appear like a positive change, but regular testing may show that this trend was due to muscle loss, not fat loss.

WHY THIS MATTERS

A graph like this can be a real eye-opener because it shows that negative body composition changes can occur if your weight remains the same or even decreases for the wrong reason.

If your graph looks like this, you need to retain your muscle mass with some combination of nutrition and strength training.

Chapter 3

Segmental Lean Analysis: Your Magnifying Glass

Segmental Lean Analysis

When used correctly, this is one of the most valuable sections of your InBody Result Sheet.

Segmental Lean Analysis displays your Lean Body Mass (Fat-Free Mass) in all body segments in pounds and its sufficiency to support your body weight as a percentage.

Interpreting your Segmental Lean Analysis can help you:

Spot areas for improvement
Assess if your Lean Body Mass is sufficiently developed in all body segments
Identify if you have any muscle imbalances

The InBody divides your body into five body segments: your arms, legs, and trunk (torso), or the area between your neck, arms, and legs. The data for each body segment is displayed as two bars.

Segmental Lean Analysis: Your Magnifying Glass

Top Section

The top value shows how much Lean Body Mass (Fat-Free Mass) you have in pounds for each body segment.

Bottom Section

The bottom value compares your Lean Body Mass against your measured body weight, which helps you determine if you have enough Lean Body Mass to support your body weight, where 100% is sufficient.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Segmental Lean Analysis can help you see areas where you need to increase your Lean Body Mass. Achieving a more balanced, healthy body composition may have other positive effects, such as body fat reduction.

Segmental Lean Analysis: Your Magnifying Glass

Which populations may have unbalanced lean body mass?

While any person can theoretically have an underdeveloped body segment, some groups may be at more risk than others. Here are a few populations who may have an elevated risk of having underdeveloped body segments:

Sedentary adults :
Sedentary adults who do not exercise commonly have below-average Segmental Lean Mass typically in their legs, which may be due to having jobs that require sitting for long periods.
“Skinny Fat” individuals (sarcopenic obese)
People who are “skinny fat” have too much body fat and not enough muscle mass for optimal health. This muscle and fat imbalance can result in healthy body weight, often leading the person to believe that they do not need to make any changes.
The elderly
It is common for the elderly to have low Lean Body Mass due to their tendency to lose muscle due to decreased activity. Their ability to stay mobile as they age is impacted, putting them at greater risk of falling and breaking bones.

Segmental Lean Analysis: Your Magnifying Glass

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle imbalances are relatively common in today’s increasingly sedentary population. People who have jobs where they sit down for most of the day tend to have a developed upper body but an underdeveloped lower body.

Another imbalance the Segmental Lean Analysis can reveal is the imbalance between your right and left arms and/or legs. This type of muscle imbalance can be due to many reasons, including a workout routine that focuses on one side of the body over the other.

DIVE DEEPER

Read “Lean Body Mass vs. Skeletal Muscle Mass: What’s the Difference?”

WHY THIS MATTERS

If you have an upper and lower muscle imbalance, increase your LBM in your lower legs to reduce your risk of injury. On the other hand, if one side of your body has more developed muscle mass than the other, optimize your strength training to achieve a better balanced LBM distribution.

Chapter 4

Customizable Outputs

On the right-hand side of your Result Sheet, you will find a series of additional outputs. The InBody Test administrator can customize these outputs based on your specific goals.

Whole Body Phase Angle

Phase angle represents the integrity, or strength, of cell membranes and can be a more sensitive indicator of health status when physiological changes are not apparent. Phase angle value fall between 4 and 6 degrees for women and 5 and 7 degrees for men, with a higher phase angle indicating higher cellular integrity. In athletic individuals or those with naturally high muscle mass, these values may be higher than the average range, indicating above-average cellular health. Phase angles that fall below the range are not necessarily indicative of poor health but should be monitored to ensure that they do not decrease progressively.

WHY THIS MATTERS

Tracking phase angle over time can help identify potential changes to cellular health that may be associated with disease.

Customizable Outputs

Body Fat — Fat Free Mass Control

This section makes it very easy for you to set health and fitness goals and help you achieve the recommended body fat percentage for your sex (15% for men, 23% for women).

Depending on your current Muscle-Fat balance, this Result Sheet output will recommend adjusting Body Fat Mass and/or LBM to reach the target PBF.

If you have too much Body Fat Mass, the InBody will advise losing a certain amount of fat mass and maintaining or increasing LBM. The InBody will never recommend losing LBM.

WHY THIS MATTERS

These recommendations are general guidelines for helping you achieve optimal health. However, you may have your own set of goals, so discuss them with your physician, personal trainer, or nutritionist before planning a routine for meeting those goals.

Customizable Outputs

Research Parameters

The InBody 270S provides a suite of insightful body composition metrics in the Research Parameters section of the Result Sheet. Professionals frequently use these outputs for research purposes and to further enhance assessments with additional health data.

Fat-Free Mass

Fat-Free Mass is the total weight of the skin, muscles, bones, organs, and blood found in the body. In short, it is the total body weight without Body Fat Mass.

Arm circumference is the estimated distance around the upper arm, proportional to the individual’s muscle mass. A lower arm circumference over time is a common indicator of protein deficiency or malnutrition*. Therefore, it is crucial to monitor changes in this value through periodic measurements.

^{Hu FJ, Liu H, Liu XL, Jia SL, Hou LS, Xia X, Dong BR. (2021). Mid-Upper Arm Circumference as an Alternative Screening Instrument to Appendicular Skeletal Muscle Mass Index for Diagnosing Sarcopenia. Clin Interv Aging, Volume 16, 1095-1104. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S311081}

WHY THIS MATTERS

Medical professionals can use arm circumference to help identify people with a high risk of frailty and injury, which has been linked to mortality and metabolic diseases*.

Customizable Outputs

Research Parameters

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.

Skeletal Muscle Mass Index (SMI)

SMI is the ratio of the amount of appendicular skeletal muscle mass an individual has for functional movement according to their height. This ratio is calculated by dividing the sum of arm and leg lean mass by the square of the height (kg/m2). SMI provides a comparable assessment of muscle mass between individuals. Health professionals use SMI to help determine obesity status and identify Sarcopenia.

Professional

Consumer

Medical and Clinical

Health and Wellness

Company

Support

How It Works

Read our Blog

InBody 270S Result Sheet Interpretation

What does your InBody Result Sheet mean?

Body Composition Analysis & Body Water

Body Composition Analysis

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Muscle-Fat Analysis

Muscle-Fat Analysis has three components:

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

How to read the numbers at the top

How to find your body type using the C-I-D Method

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

“C-Shape” Body Type

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

“I-Shape” Body Type

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

“D-Shape” Body Type

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Obesity Analysis

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Why you should focus on Body Fat Percentage over BMI

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Healthy ranges for BMI and PBF

DIVE DEEPER

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Body Composition History

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Tracking positive change

Muscle, Fat, & Obesity Risk

Tracking negative change

Chapter 3

Segmental Lean Analysis: Your Magnifying Glass

Segmental Lean Analysis

Segmental Lean Analysis: Your Magnifying Glass

Top Section

Bottom Section

Segmental Lean Analysis: Your Magnifying Glass

Which populations may have unbalanced lean body mass?

Segmental Lean Analysis: Your Magnifying Glass

Muscle Imbalance

DIVE DEEPER

Chapter 4

Customizable Outputs

Whole Body Phase Angle

Customizable Outputs

Body Fat — Fat Free Mass Control

Customizable Outputs

Research Parameters

Fat-Free Mass

Customizable Outputs

Research Parameters

Basal Metabolic Rate

Skeletal Muscle Mass Index (SMI)

DIVE DEEPER

Read “Metabolism 101 – A Look Inside Your Body’s Energy Engine”

The InBody Result Sheet Guide

Professional

consumer

MEDICAL AND CLINICAL

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

company

Support

How It Works

InBody and the Immune System E-Book

NEW! InBody DIAL H40 Has Arrived. Experience our latest smart body composition scale for home use.

InBody 270S
Result Sheet Interpretation

NEW! InBody DIAL H40 Has Arrived.
Experience our latest smart body composition scale for home use.