Tanita Scale Plus Body Fat Monitor Athletic Mode Vs. Regular

Many Tanita brand scales are equipped with body fat monitors. There are two settings, or modes, for measuring body fat: regular (or standard) and athletic. Users must set the appropriate mode for an accurate body fat measurement.

Significance

• Tanita scales use an algorithm based on height, weight, impedance, gender and age to determine body fat percentage. The formula changes if the user's body type is athletic.

Athletic Mode

• Using this mode will provide a more accurate body fat measurement in a person with an athletic body types. According to Tanita, "Athletes tend to have greater muscle mass and tend to be more dehydrated. These differences would skew the body fat reading high, when taken with the standard Adult mode."

Standard Adult Mode

• The regular mode, or standard adult mode, uses the same criteria to determine body fat as it does in athlete mode, but it adjusts the formula to account for a lower concentration of muscle mass and increased amount of fat common in non-athletes.

Criteria for Athletic Mode

• Tanita defines an athlete as "a person involved in intense physical activity of approximately 10 hours per week and who has a resting heart rate of approximately 60 beats per minute or less." Tanita also advises people who are lifetime exercisers--those who exercise regularly for many years--to use athlete mode.

Criteria for Standard Adult Mode

• Users who exercise less than 10 hours a week should use regular mode. Tanita's guideline includes "enthusiastic beginners" who exercise 10 hours per week but have not been doing so long term.

Other Considerations

• Although Tanita body fat scales include an athletic mode, it may not provide accurate results for professional athletes or bodybuilders. Elite athletes have significantly higher muscle mass and lower body fat percentage than much of the population, which could result in inaccurate measurements when using the scale.