It's simple to take accurate body composition measurements on your smartwatch. Here's how to do it, and why it's important.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is a premium smartwatch packed with nifty features that make tracking your fitness routines a breeze. While it monitors common metrics such as heart rate, steps, sleep patterns, and other metrics, it's the first Samsung wearable that can also measure body composition.

Let's take a look at how the feature works, and how you can use it to keep track of your weight loss and fitness goals.

Body fat is one of the leading factors in developing conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. According to this article by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the ideal body composition for men and women varies with age. This makes ongoing body composition analysis a valuable tool for planning healthier lifestyles.

So, what exactly is body composition?

Your body composition is the ratio of fat to muscle (or skeletal) mass. The Galaxy Watch 4 offers real-time body composition measurements by using advanced Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA), a medical technique for measuring the electrical conductivity of living tissues.

Once you set it up, the smartwatch sends low-frequency electrical currents to your body through your wrist and measures the resistance across fat and hydrated muscle tissues. The signals encounter resistance when passing through fat tissues. It then determines fat and water levels in your body by comparing data points to over 2,400 values from an expansive health database.

To get the most accurate reading on your Galaxy Watch, you'll have to manually enter your age, height, weight, and gender. You can also keep a note of these guidelines from Samsung to get the most out of this feature.

Body composition measures, such as visceral fat, body mass index, and skeletal muscle mass, correlate with physiological function. This can help provide insight into potential risks associated with your lifestyle, genetic predisposition, or other conditions. For athletes, it is particularly useful to analyze and plan how much nutrition and exercise they should be getting.

According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, body composition is one of the most important metrics for overall physical fitness in athletes. For instance, people with significant muscle mass are likely to be better at basketball and swimming rather than soccer and cycling. However, you shouldn't be using the tool if you're pregnant or have any medical devices implanted in your body, such as a pacemaker.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 makes it easy to track your fitness goals. You can set up personal targets, and get tips and suggestions on what you can do to improve your health, as well as see how you’re progressing toward your goals.

To get started, download and install the Samsung Health app on your smartwatch. Next, you’ll need to set up your health profile to receive personalized health suggestions, keep track of your daily exercise habits, and set up nutrition and fitness targets.

Download: Samsung Health for Android | iOS (Free)

As we've noted earlier, the Body Composition Analysis tool is a useful tool to gain important insights into your health. Take a closer look at how to set up and use the feature.

The tool can help you understand how weight and fat levels affect your metabolism, energy levels, and more. Follow these steps to set your targets and keep yourself on track:

To set up notifications, scroll down to the bottom and toggle on the slider button for Get reminder notifications. Choose how often you'd like to receive a notification reminding you to measure your body composition—once a day, alternate days of the week, or more frequently—as well as what time of day you'd like to be notified.

While BMI tests have been traditionally used for measuring your weight status to indicate the presence of body fat, they aren't as accurate as the BIA technology used in smart scales and premium wearables such as the Galaxy Watch 4. To get accurate body composition readings on your smartwatch, here's what you'll need to do:

The metric can be useful for everyone—especially for people who are at risk for diabetes or heart disease because they have less muscle mass and therefore have a higher chance of developing these conditions. Knowing your body composition can help you determine if you’re having impaired physical performance or have gained too much weight.

Measuring body composition is easy with the Galaxy Watch 4. This feature provides detailed information to help you find the right balance of diet and exercise to meet your targets and health goals. Additionally, it is simple to use and seems pretty accurate so far.

Cheryl is a Content Creator at MakeUseOf. An ardent enthusiast of all things tech and lifestyle, she loves helping others make their lives easier and better. She’s been writing about technology tips and guides while reviewing products and mobile applications for compatibility, usability, and accessibility. With a strong background in investment, content strategy and social media, she's explored diverse genres over five years and counting - from digital media to fitness to personal finance, and more. Cheryl loves listening to music while going on walks or exploring new places.

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