The 'BodPod' Measures Body Fat and Fat-Free Mass

Step into this oblong, egg-shaped machine for just five minutes and you'll receive a detailed analysis of your body composition measuring your fat mass and your fat-free mass, including blood, organs, and muscle.

Known as the "BodPod", the device can quickly assess your body composition with a degree of accuracy that once required far more costly and cumbersome methods.

The BodPod is a next-generation body composition device that uses air displacement to measure the density of your whole body to determine body composition and resting metabolic rate.

The device offers a more sophisticated measurement of your body composition than the traditional metric of Body Mass Index, or BMI, which only measures weight with respect to height. BMI does not measure the amount of weight composed of fat versus fat-free lean muscle mass.

BMI is useful as a marker of health. However, body fat percentage is a better indicator of an individual's overall health.

The BodPod specifically measures body composition, and it uses different formulas based on ethnicity (which can account for differences in bone density and thoracic capacity, for example).

The BodPod system is in use at numerous Army and Air Force installations, including 35 Army Wellness Centers (AWCs)/Armed Forces Wellness Centers (AFWCs).

Individual data can be tracked in a centralized data collection system, allowing any client to track his or her progress as they move from installation to installation.

For those who are claustrophobic, the device has a large window that may help reduce your anxiety about being in a closed-in space.

The assessment requires clients to wear Lycra or spandex on their body and head, such as a swimsuit and swimmer's cap.