What bio-metrics are important for health tracking?

Question

I have been tracking many of my bio-metrics using a Weight watchers scale that uses electrical impedance measurements to calculate fat%, water %, muscle %, bone mass, and BMI, as well as using a FitBit Versa to track heart-rate and calories (and I have investigated general benchmarks for my age, body type, and height).

However as a geeky academic and long time martial arts practitioner, I've learned that "you don't know what you don't know", and as such, I'm wondering what other metrics would be important to track either for overall health, and/or for athletic considerations.

I have scoured Google over the past few months, but it seems that depending on the source, the list of important considerations seems to vary fairly dramatically.

In summary: What would be considered important metrics to track and adjust one's lifestyle around?

Answer 1

It's situational, the average person need not worry about anything more than weight within a healthy BMI range. A gym-goer, athlete, or otherwise active person won't typically need anything more than weight and bodyfat percentage. An elderly person might need to track bone density, a sick person might need to track their water, etc.

Tracking biometrics just isn't something that's strictly necessary and the benefits of doing so are limited. That's why it's situational and not particularly important to track everything.