SECA

Seca have one model that is used in medical settings and another, the Seca TRU, for the fitness industry. This is used by fitness professionals to help clients understand their bodies so that they can exercise and diet in a more effective way.

The SecaTRU will determine a person’s baseline, guide on the best attainable diet and fitness goals and then provide progress to motivate and inspire. In summary, this system is based on real science allowing for fully customised fitness programmes to be designed that take into account a person’s individual body composition.

What Is Body Composition?

The Seca TRU can report how much fat mass, muscle mass, and water makes up an individual’s body. This is far more helpful data than just knowing your BMI as it is more accurate and personal. Changes can then be made to diet and fitness and when individuals are measured again, they are able to see what improvements those changes have made.

Measurements are also made per arm, per leg and then torso to account for any muscle imbalances between the left- and right-hand side of the body. Seca are also keen to point out that when follow up measurements are made conditions must be the same to allow for accurate data readings.

Usefulness of the Data

There are many varied reasons why someone would want to know their body composition. If an individual’s fat mass is higher than it should be they could for example be at risk of developing type 2 diabetes or suffering from a heart related disease. Knowing this and being able to make changes to their exercise and diet is crucial for their future health and wellbeing.

The same can be said for knowing about muscle mass which we now know is crucial to maintain as we age and for our general health. A further feature of the Seca TRU is that it can calculate what your calorie intake should be based on your body composition and physical activity level. We all know that reducing calories is crucial if we want to lose weight but knowing what our calorie intake is, customised to our body, is far more beneficial than just blindly dieting.

The key to success using the body composition tool is to have follow up measurements so you can track how successful the changes you are making really are. For many this is extremely motivational with results and feedback available on smartphones and laptops.

How Does it Work?

The process is simple and non-invasive. By simply standing on what looks like a set of scales and holding on to side rails a low voltage electric current is run through the body. It then measures the resistance of that current against fat and muscle tissue. The process is painless and quick. Your height and weight are also put into the calculations. The results are presented in an easy-to-follow format.

The design of the Seca TRU is also worth mentioning as it will also look amazing in any gym setting. The Bearclaw glass platform is hygienic and unbreakable, and the fixed handle positioning means that measurement conditions are reproducible.

What makes Seca TRU unique

What makes Seca TRU unique is that they were the first manufacturer to validate all measurements against a gold standard. Results have been validated against whole body MRI and 4C. Validations have also been conducted against an average population of different ages and genders and there is additional validation for those suffering from obesity. Seca are also unusual in making public all their validation reports.

How Can Fitness Facilities use Seca TRU?

As a fitness centre or fitness professional, you can install a Seca body composition unit and charge it on to clients as an added service. You will be fully trained on how to use the machine and interpret results to use with your client.

As well as this having a Seca unit in your fitness studio or available to you as a fitness professional may also help you attract new clients.