Body Composition

Fitbod's Body Composition feature helps you track the metrics that matter to your goals and uses that data to improve your exercise recommendations over time.

What is body composition?

Body composition is the makeup of your body: fat, muscle, bone, water, and other tissues — not just your total weight. Two people at the same weight can have very different compositions, which is why it's a more useful picture of health and progress than the scale alone. Tracking it helps you see whether you're losing fat, gaining muscle, or both. These are changes a bodyweight number can hide.

Table of Contents 

Getting your data into Fitbod 
Data types 
Syncing with Apple Health / Health Connect 
Adding or removing data manually 
Body Composition Dashboard 
FAQ

Getting your data into Fitbod

There are two ways to track body composition, and you can use either or both:

1. Sync automatically from Apple Health (iOS) or Health Connect (Android), including data your smart scale writes to those platforms.
2. Enter it manually in the app. No Apple Health or Health Connect connection required.

Syncing with Apple Health / Health Connect

To bring data in automatically, connect Fitbod to Apple Health (iOS) or Health Connect (Android):

1. Open Fitbod.
2. Select the Body tab.
3. Select the Composition tab.
4. Select Sync with Apple Health or Health Connect.

When you connect, you'll be asked which data Fitbod can access, split into Read and Write:

Read lets Fitbod import your data (including anything your smart scale writes to Apple Health / Health Connect). At minimum, enable Read for Weight, Body Fat Percentage, and Lean Mass.

• Body Fat Percentage
• Lean Mass
• Weight
• Height
• Heart Rate
• Workouts
• Body Mass Index (iOS only)
• Waist Circumference (iOS only)
• Date of Birth (iOS)
• Sex (iOS)

Write lets Fitbod send data back out, primarily logged workouts. It is not required to import or view your body composition.

• Workouts
• Active Energy
• Weight, Height
• Body Fat Percentage, Lean Mass (iOS)
• Body Mass Index, Waist Circumference (iOS only)

Note: The exact toggles you see depend on your platform. For example, BMI and Waist Circumference appear on iOS only, and BMR on Android only.

You can connect or disconnect anytime from the Settings menu.

Data Types

The metrics available depend on your platform. Weight, Body Fat Percentage, and Lean Mass are available on both iOS and Android. Others are platform-specific:

Body Fat Percentage (iOS & Android): The proportion of fat in your body compared to other sources of weight like lean mass or water. A vital indicator of overall health and fitness, affecting everything from athletic performance to long-term health risks. Fitbod's tailored workouts help you manage it by building muscle, burning calories, and reducing fat. Lower isn't always better — too little body fat can also cause health and performance problems.

Lean Mass (iOS & Android): The combined weight of tissues like muscles, tendons, and ligaments. A key stat for changing your body composition: increases in lean mass help with nearly any goal, from sport performance to general fitness to losing weight. Fitbod helps you build it through exercise variety plus weight and rep recommendations matched to your current capabilities.

Body Mass Index (BMI) (iOS only): An accessible metric for estimating body fat. Because it only looks at total weight and height, it doesn't distinguish between tissue types, so it can be inaccurate for individuals carrying a high proportion of muscle.

Waist Circumference (iOS only): Helps assess risk for obesity-related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) (Android only): The energy your body needs for essential functions like breathing, circulation, and cell production at rest. Influenced by age, sex, weight, and body composition.

Adding or removing data manually 

You can add and update your Body Composition metrics directly in the app, with or without a synced connection. Fitbod also supports recording metrics beyond what Apple Health and Health Connect offer.

To add data:

1. Select the Body tab.
2. Select the Composition tab. 
3. Select All Composition Stats.
4. Select the stat you want to add information to. 
5. Tap Add Data. 

To remove data:

1. Open Fitbod.
2. Select the Body tab → Composition tab.
3. Select All Composition Stats, then select a stat.
4. Scroll down to All Recorded Data.
5. Swipe left on the entry you want to remove.

Note: Data you enter manually is stored in Fitbod and shown in your history (labeled "Manually Added"). It is not written back to Apple Health or Health Connect, so it won't appear in your scale's app or other connected apps.

Body Composition Dashboard

The dashboard goes beyond your base-level stats for a more comprehensive view of your health and fitness.

Before you sync, the dashboard previews your data points at 0% and offers the option to connect. Once data is flowing, whether synced or entered manually, it reflects your real values and tracks increases or decreases over time. Tap any data point to view your progress over a week, month, six months, or year.

To view it:

1. Select the Body tab.
2. Select the Composition tab.
3. Select a metric to view its historical trend.

Note: Fitbod doesn't calculate your Body Fat Percentage, Weight, Lean Mass, BMI, or Waist Circumference. These values come from one of two ways: imported from Apple Health / Health Connect, or entered manually in the app.

FAQ

Why is understanding body composition important?

Weight alone doesn't tell you whether you're losing fat or muscle. Composition does. It's often a better predictor of health risk than BMI, lets you track real progress when the scale isn't moving (e.g. losing fat while gaining muscle), and helps you set more personalized, realistic goals for weight management, muscle gain, or overall fitness.

Can my body composition data be imported from other apps? 

Yes, but only data that reaches Apple Health or Health Connect will sync into Fitbod, and only for the types you've granted permission to read.

Does connecting Strava sync my weight or body fat?

No. Strava only carries workout activities, runs, rides, and similar, not body composition. To get scale data into Fitbod, use Apple Health (iOS) or Health Connect (Android), not Strava.

What is the difference between composition and measurement?

Composition is what your body is made of. Fat mass vs. fat-free mass (muscle, organs, bone, water). Measurements are the specific metrics used to track it over time, such as body fat percentage, lean mass, BMI, and waist circumference.

Can I connect my smart scale to Fitbod?

Yes, indirectly through Apple Health (iOS) or Health Connect (Android). Fitbod doesn't connect to scales directly, but if your scale syncs to one of those platforms via its own app, Fitbod automatically imports your weight and body composition data (including body fat % and lean mass).

To set this up: 

• iOS: Connect your scale's app to Apple Health, then in Apple Health > Profile > Privacy > Apps > Fitbod, enable Read access for Weight, Body Fat Percentage, and Lean Body Mass.
• Android: Connect your scale's app to Health Connect, then connect Fitbod to Health Connect (Settings, or the Sync button on the Composition tab).

If your device doesn't sync to Apple Health or Health Connect (some in-gym analyzers and body scanners only produce a report), you can still enter the data manually using the steps above.