Body fat

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missdelainie
missdelainie Posts: 75 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Does it matter which body fat you are height wise as well? For example 5”2 and 20% as suppose to 5”9 and 20% body fat... is it the same thing height and weight... at 5’2 what’s a good body fat percentage?

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  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
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    Nope, 20% is lean at either height.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,979 Member
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    Nony_Mouse wrote: »
    Nope, 20% is lean at either height.

    20% would be "lean" for a woman but not a man. A man would need to get to at least 10-12% to look truly "lean."

    BF% is calculated in relationship to total body weight, so height (while generally w/weight) is irrelevant to the calculation.

    However, BF% (while not specifically measured) is implied in the BMI scale, which is based on certain assumptions about the relationship between weight and height, and your BMI calculation and classification will vary w/variations in BF% in so far as it affects your weight.
  • JamesValentine2024
    JamesValentine2024 Posts: 1 Member
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    What’s the most accessible way to get an accurate body fat reading?
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,621 Member
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    JamesValentine2024 wrote: »
    What’s the most accessible way to get an accurate body fat reading?

    There are skin calipers. You can do a dexa scan, but it's expensive and probably not worth it, honestly.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,523 Member
    edited February 24
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    JamesValentine2024 wrote: »
    What’s the most accessible way to get an accurate body fat reading?
    The simplest way to get a reasonable estimate is the Navy method. Look it up.

    Calipers would be the most accesible way to get a good estimate.

    I wouldn't trust 2-point scales at all.

    https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ways-to-measure-body-fat
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,494 Member
    edited February 24
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    DEXA scan. I am so fumblehanded I can’t even measure my own waist for jeans, much less for something that requires the accuracy self-measuring body fat would. Plus with loose skin left over from large weight loss, I’m not sure it would be accurate anyway.

    You can often find good deals on DEXA scans via Groupon.

    I wouldn’t rely on fancy electronic scales or handheld jobbies at the gym. They are very inaccurate and unreliable. My home scale had me at 18.6% body fat this morning. Yeah, right.
  • GaryRuns
    GaryRuns Posts: 508 Member
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    DEXA scan. I am so fumblehanded I can’t even measure my own waist for jeans, much less for something that requires the accuracy self-measuring body fat would. Plus with loose skin left over from large weight loss, I’m not sure it would be accurate anyway.

    Loose skin wouldn't cause a problem and would probably even make it easier to perform the measurements, as you're measuring the subcutaneous fat attached to that skin where you're folding it. But it is problematic to do measurements yourself like this for some of the locations required and does require some practice/experience to get consistent, accurate, measurements.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,494 Member
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    GaryRuns wrote: »
    springlering62 wrote: »
    DEXA scan. I am so fumblehanded I can’t even measure my own waist for jeans, much less for something that requires the accuracy self-measuring body fat would. Plus with loose skin left over from large weight loss, I’m not sure it would be accurate anyway.

    Loose skin wouldn't cause a problem and would probably even make it easier to perform the measurements, as you're measuring the subcutaneous fat attached to that skin where you're folding it. But it is problematic to do measurements yourself like this for some of the locations required and does require some practice/experience to get consistent, accurate, measurements.

    Interesting. have never tried or even read up on caliper measurements. Looking at it from the point of view that if seen unfettered and measured loosely, my waist might appear to be many sizes larger. But give me some Lycra and it’s amazing how small it becomes. It also fits comfortably into size 4’s.

    When I first lost my weight, if you’d pinched me with a caliper- or your fingers, for that matter-you could have literally pulled it out about eight inches. Three years into maintenance, maybe half that.

    I’ll have to see if I can find a description of how it works. I’m puzzled how what (or how I visualize it) is presumably just a tool to pinch could determine the quality and type of fat.
  • GaryRuns
    GaryRuns Posts: 508 Member
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    GaryRuns wrote: »
    springlering62 wrote: »
    DEXA scan. I am so fumblehanded I can’t even measure my own waist for jeans, much less for something that requires the accuracy self-measuring body fat would. Plus with loose skin left over from large weight loss, I’m not sure it would be accurate anyway.

    Loose skin wouldn't cause a problem and would probably even make it easier to perform the measurements, as you're measuring the subcutaneous fat attached to that skin where you're folding it. But it is problematic to do measurements yourself like this for some of the locations required and does require some practice/experience to get consistent, accurate, measurements.

    Interesting. have never tried or even read up on caliper measurements. Looking at it from the point of view that if seen unfettered and measured loosely, my waist might appear to be many sizes larger. But give me some Lycra and it’s amazing how small it becomes. It also fits comfortably into size 4’s.

    When I first lost my weight, if you’d pinched me with a caliper- or your fingers, for that matter-you could have literally pulled it out about eight inches. Three years into maintenance, maybe half that.

    I’ll have to see if I can find a description of how it works. I’m puzzled how what (or how I visualize it) is presumably just a tool to pinch could determine the quality and type of fat.

    There are a lot of videos on YouTube showing you how to do caliper measurements. And you can pick up a set of calipers for probably less than $10US on Amazon. The accuracy can vary pretty significantly based on how many locations you measure at and how consistently/accurately you perform the measurements. And some of the measurement locations are pretty tricky to get to by yourself, but I think there's a 3-point measurement that's doable yourself. You just get the measurements, plug the results into a formula and it'll give you the BF%. Just remember to take the results with a grain of salt, especially if you're new to using calipers.

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