BMI vs percent body fat????

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Replies

  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    Sorry, hun. That body fat % is wrong.

    If anything excluding special populations such as bodybuilders or athletes, body fat has a pretty damn strong correlation with bmi.

    If you have such a high bmi i'd say it's pretty likely you fall into that range for body fat (40%~) as well.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,053 Member
    @hrsj022 whose body most closely matches yours?

    built-lean-body-fat-percentage-women.jpg
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited March 2016
    WakkoW wrote: »
    shadow2soul wrote: »
    How did you come up with the BF% ?

    I'm a little skeptical on the BF% OP. If you were using a scale remember that method is considered highly inaccurate for determining BF%. Dexa scan, bod pod, and dunk tests are considered to be the most accurate methods.
    My husband gets a reading of 10% from the scale he uses, but a caliper measurement by a trainer at the gym puts him closer to 20%. Looking at him, I think the 20% measurement is closer to being accurate.

    My Aria scale puts me at 28% body fat. I have no idea how close that is, but I assume its off considering the scales are widely known to be inaccurate.

    I've never done a scan, but I'm thinking about it.

    OP, no way you have a 42 BMI with 28% body fat.

    Ya. I use an Aria and it estimates about 22% for me. I think I'm probably closer to 26%. It's been awhile since I had caliper measurements done and it would take a drive into the city for any other tests.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    shadow2soul wrote: »
    WakkoW wrote: »
    shadow2soul wrote: »
    How did you come up with the BF% ?

    I'm a little skeptical on the BF% OP. If you were using a scale remember that method is considered highly inaccurate for determining BF%. Dexa scan, bod pod, and dunk tests are considered to be the most accurate methods.
    My husband gets a reading of 10% from the scale he uses, but a caliper measurement by a trainer at the gym puts him closer to 20%. Looking at him, I think the 20% measurement is closer to being accurate.

    My Aria scale puts me at 28% body fat. I have no idea how close that is, but I assume its off considering the scales are widely known to be inaccurate.

    I've never done a scan, but I'm thinking about it.

    OP, no way you have a 42 BMI with 28% body fat.

    Ya. My husband uses a different scale than me. I use an Aria and it estimates about 22% for me. I think I'm probably closer to 26%. It's been awhile since I had caliper measurements done and it would take a drive into the city for any other tests.

    Anecdotally, having done calipers and having had a couple hydrostatic weigh ins....

    My real bf% is around 18-19%.

    My handheld body fat reader and scale both put me around 24-25, all the way down to 14-15 depending on my hydration levels. if that's any indication as to how wildly off they can be.
  • senecarr
    senecarr Posts: 5,377 Member
    If you are BMI of 42, it is all but impossible that you are below 40% body fat.
    A body fat of 28% would mean you have a fat free mass index of over 30. Maximum observed fat free mass index in natural male body builders (Mr. Olympia level) is around 25.4.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
    Ultimately, the only important question is are you of a healthy weight/body composition?

    I mean, do you have weight to lose and if so, how much? Do that and then reevaluate.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    senecarr wrote: »
    If you are BMI of 42, it is all but impossible that you are below 40% body fat.
    A body fat of 28% would mean you have a fat free mass index of over 30. Maximum observed fat free mass index in natural male body builders (Mr. Olympia level) is around 25.4.

    This. 330 lb 6'2" NFL defensive linemen are generally in the 20-25% BF range.
  • missyfitz1
    missyfitz1 Posts: 93 Member
    robininfl wrote: »
    shadow2soul wrote: »
    How did you come up with the BF% ?

    I am wondering the same thing. A BMI of 42 at an average height of 5'6" is 260lb. I don't think you could have 200lb of lean body mass, unless you have bones made of lead or something that doesn't make sense.

    This is what I was thinking. The math doesn't add up.

    The only thing I find valuable about the body % report on my Aria is watching trends. Even then it goes up and down a bit (I'm guessing depending on my water content at the time), but as long as I weigh myself in the morning before I eat or drink anything, I can usually follow a trend, and see it go down as my weight goes down. But I'm also following the trend of my weight going down, it's pretty much irrelevant. I know any muscle I'm putting on is at a very slow rate as I'm not doing significant bodybuilding training, so without the help of a trained professional using callipers to measure my % body fat, BMI is the best way for me to track my progress toward a healthy weight.
  • missyfitz1
    missyfitz1 Posts: 93 Member
    @kshama2001 That chart is very helpful! Thank you for sharing!
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    plot2.png
  • hekla90
    hekla90 Posts: 595 Member
    Bmi is somewhat inaccurate but not for why you think: it actually tends to underestimate obesity. So yeah there's no way you have a bmi of 42 and are no obese.
  • minniemoo1972
    minniemoo1972 Posts: 295 Member
    Fat scale is off.....im overweight with a fat % of between 20 and 38 depending on scales....so I ignore now.

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