Do boobs affect body fat %
Kittyy1994
Posts: 108 Member
Had my body fat % done last night at my gym. I personally feel like I am in pretty good shape at 5’6” and 65kg with a bit of muscle. My body fat % came out at 28% to which my trainer said “ you will want to get that down a bit”... just wondering if anyone knows how much breasts affect bf% as I am quite lean but with an F cup. What should I be aiming for?
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Replies
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Breasts are pretty much all fat so yes they factor quite a bit into body fat calculations. They are the primary reason women have higher body fat percentage then men. If you lose more body fat, you can expect to lose some there too most likely.
FWIW, 28% is considered within the average range for a woman.17 -
How was your BF measured? If it was with one of the little electronic devices, they are not reliable, so forget everything you heard. The trainer should not be making comments like that without more context, such as why he thinks it should be lower and exactly what number he has in mind. If you feel you are already lean, it sounds like you don't have much to worry about.7
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Your BF sounds fine. Also, I personally do not believe that a trainer should be talking to you about weight or BF. They should talk to you about fitness goals. That’s it.
ETA: unless you directly tell them you want to lose weight or decrease your BF. They shouldn’t just assume that’s something you want to do, which is why I feel the convos should stick to fitness goals, like being able to do an unassisted pull-up.6 -
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Kittyy1994 wrote: »Had my body fat % done last night at my gym. I personally feel like I am in pretty good shape at 5’6” and 65kg with a bit of muscle. My body fat % came out at 28% to which my trainer said “ you will want to get that down a bit”... just wondering if anyone knows how much breasts affect bf% as I am quite lean but with an F cup. What should I be aiming for?
How was BF% measured?
Plus the trainer isn't going to say 'that's spot on' if you're new and he's trying to get business.9 -
I gotta beg to differ on the "breasts are all fat" comment. Breast tissue is comprised of two types, fat and mammary tissue. Every woman has both, just in varying proportions. You often hear women say, "damn, I lost my boobs when I lost weight." Those women's breast are more fat tissue than mammary. Then, there are people like me and sounds like you too that no matter how we lose weight, we still have boobs. I was a 34H and no matter what I did, I couldn't lose my boobs. They would fluctuate with weight gain but nothing significant.
That said, I don't know how the BF method treats the fat vs mammary tissue in the readings.13 -
Yes, but that's generally accounted for (as well as some extra thigh and tummy fat) in the higher body fat percentage ranges for women vs. men. However, I agree with the others who have said don't place much if any value on that assessment.5
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As you probably know, body fat over 23% is considered overweight. If you body fat measurements were done using calipers, then your boobs weren't factored in. If your trainer told you to bring it down, I'd trust that he or she knows what they're talking about. If you were lean except for your boobs, he or she would see that.21
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stephanieturner0122 wrote: »As you probably know, body fat over 23% is considered overweight. If you body fat measurements were done using calipers, then your boobs weren't factored in. If your trainer told you to bring it down, I'd trust that he or she knows what they're talking about. If you were lean except for your boobs, he or she would see that.
Actually 23% for a woman is considered in the fitness range, with average being 25-31% which is what OP is. Are you maybe thinking of BMI?8 -
stephanieturner0122 wrote: »As you probably know, body fat over 23% is considered overweight. If you body fat measurements were done using calipers, then your boobs weren't factored in. If your trainer told you to bring it down, I'd trust that he or she knows what they're talking about. If you were lean except for your boobs, he or she would see that.
Can you link to any source suggesting that? For women, everything I've seen says 25% - 31% or 32% is "average/healthy". With 21-24% being "fit" and over 32% being overweight.
And trainers may or may not know what they are talking about, and may or may not tell you a fib in order to keep you on their client list
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stephanieturner0122 wrote: »As you probably know, body fat over 23% is considered overweight. If you body fat measurements were done using calipers, then your boobs weren't factored in. If your trainer told you to bring it down, I'd trust that he or she knows what they're talking about. If you were lean except for your boobs, he or she would see that.
Nope. I come in at 23-25% at 5'5 and 135. I am thin, fit, and not "skinny fat" before we even go there.6 -
stephanieturner0122 wrote: »As you probably know, body fat over 23% is considered overweight. If you body fat measurements were done using calipers, then your boobs weren't factored in. If your trainer told you to bring it down, I'd trust that he or she knows what they're talking about. If you were lean except for your boobs, he or she would see that.
Not sure where you are getting this from but standard body fat level is that obese is considered 32% in women and 25‰ in men. Average for women is considered 25-31%. 23‰ for women falls in the fitness range.0 -
Hm. Agree that if it was done with that machine thingy you hold onto or stand on, it could be way wrong. If it was done on that fancy scale too - it could also be very wrong.
There is one trick that PTs do (a PT told me about it!!! Said lots of PTs do it) is where you get the potential new client to stand on that fancy scale and you set it no "normal person" and it gives you a particular BF%. Then, there is a little button at the back where you select "fit person" and the BF% drops. Same stats, same person, same time. I tried it myself. I "lost" about 5% BF within 2 minutes.
Basically they tell you "you are fat you need to lose weight" and then you train with them and then at your monthly check-in (or whatever) they flip the switch and look at you - you lost a bunch of BF.
My scale at home doesn't have the switch, it only calculates "normal person" BF% (incorrectly). It tells me my BF is ~28%.
It most definitely is NOT 28% , because when I had 28% BF I was way fatter than I am now. It just counts my overall weight (which has a lot more muscle mass than when I was 28%BF). At the moment i'm hovering on around 22% (eyeball method).
My PT used to use calipers on me (not including boobs, but would measure chest) and that was more accurate than the scales.
I have also done DEXA a few times and that varied depending on whether I did it in the morning or the afternoon too - depended on how much glycogen I had in my muscles. One time I nearly had a heart attack because I was the leanest I'd ever been and the stupid machine told me I was over 20% BF - I had gone to the place in the morning, fasted. The previous time I'd gone - after work - after eating about 3 meals and working out and drinking lots of water it told me I was 19% BF - so yeah... not very accurate either.
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stephanieturner0122 wrote: »As you probably know, body fat over 23% is considered overweight. If you body fat measurements were done using calipers, then your boobs weren't factored in. If your trainer told you to bring it down, I'd trust that he or she knows what they're talking about. If you were lean except for your boobs, he or she would see that.
I believe you are thinking of BMI, and it is > 24.0 -
I am sympathetic to the person suggesting that over 23% body fat for women is overweight. (I wouldn't use the word overweight, since it is not a measure of weight, but whatever.)
This is the table I'm familiar with:
Description Women Men
Essential fat 10–13% 3–5%
Athletes 14–20% 6–13%
Fitness 21–24% 14–17%
Average 25–31% 18–24%
Obese 32%+ 25%+
I've always interpreted it like this:
Description Women
Essential fat 10–13% <--- Stay above this
Athletes 14–20% <--- Aim for this
Fitness 21–24% <--- This is good
Average 25–31% <--- This is too high
Obese 32%+ <--- This is way too high
The reason I have always thought of the "Average" category as "too high" is because so many Americans are overweight. In other words, the average American is not a healthy weight/body fat percentage.
I have always assumed "Fitness" was the healthy category, "Average" was the overweight category, and "Obese" was the obese category. It doesn't make since to me that 31% could be healthy and 32% be obese.
<shrug> No?
Edit: I apologize. I tried several times, but I cannot get the BBCode to work for the tables. Grrr.10 -
Alternately, I assume the 'average" category is what should be average, not what is.
The body fat ranges, like the BMI range, are intended to help a person gauge their health, not where they fall compared to other people.4 -
Description Women
Essential fat 10–13% <--- Stay above this
Athletes 14–20% <--- Aim for this
Fitness 21–24% <--- This is good
Average 25–31% <--- This is too high
Obese 32%+ <--- This is way too high
Aim for athlete level of body fat? An athlete's full time job is training for whatever they compete in, many will train 4-6 hours a day. I always thought the fitness category was for amateur athletes and models. Average was what most people should fall into. I've seen lots of commentary on the fact that BF% doesnt have and 'overweight' type category and goes straight to obese.5 -
I am sympathetic to the person suggesting that over 23% body fat for women is overweight. (I wouldn't use the word overweight, since it is not a measure of weight, but whatever.)
This is the table I'm familiar with:
Description Women Men
Essential fat 10–13% 3–5%
Athletes 14–20% 6–13%
Fitness 21–24% 14–17%
Average 25–31% 18–24%
Obese 32%+ 25%+
I've always interpreted it like this:
Description Women
Essential fat 10–13% <--- Stay above this
Athletes 14–20% <--- Aim for this
Fitness 21–24% <--- This is good
Average 25–31% <--- This is too high
Obese 32%+ <--- This is way too high
The reason I have always thought of the "Average" category as "too high" is because so many Americans are overweight. In other words, the average American is not a healthy weight/body fat percentage.
I have always assumed "Fitness" was the healthy category, "Average" was the overweight category, and "Obese" was the obese category. It doesn't make since to me that 31% could be healthy and 32% be obese.
<shrug> No?
Edit: I apologize. I tried several times, but I cannot get the BBCode to work for the tables. Grrr.
Yeah no, most of us aren't athletes.
23% bodyfat isn't a lot. Over 25% isn't too much.7 -
Kittyy1994 wrote: »Had my body fat % done last night at my gym. I personally feel like I am in pretty good shape at 5’6” and 65kg with a bit of muscle. My body fat % came out at 28% to which my trainer said “ you will want to get that down a bit”... just wondering if anyone knows how much breasts affect bf% as I am quite lean but with an F cup. What should I be aiming for?
im embarrassed because i have a 35.8% body fat and im not fat in the slightest i have a 22 inch waist and im 4 foot 9 but i weigh 110 pounds making me nearly overweight because of my huge boobs and huge *kitten*1 -
Samantha_Bolton wrote: »Kittyy1994 wrote: »Had my body fat % done last night at my gym. I personally feel like I am in pretty good shape at 5’6” and 65kg with a bit of muscle. My body fat % came out at 28% to which my trainer said “ you will want to get that down a bit”... just wondering if anyone knows how much breasts affect bf% as I am quite lean but with an F cup. What should I be aiming for?
im embarrassed because i have a 35.8% body fat and im not fat in the slightest i have a 22 inch waist and im 4 foot 9 but i weigh 110 pounds making me nearly overweight because of my huge boobs and huge *kitten*
This is a very old thread, probably not the best place to get feedback or advice.
First, those gym machines can be pretty inaccurate in determining body composition, no matter what your trainer says.
If you're happy with your body - as I'd assume from "I'm not fat in the slightest" in your post - don't let some arbitrary (and probably inaccurate) body fat number, or a trainer, convince you otherwise.
What you might want to do is talk with your doctor about your current fat level and body fat distribution, and get his/her input on what it implies for your long-term health, in context of your health history and genetic factors based on family health issues. I'm not implying that that feedback will necessarily be either supportive or critical, just saying that health factors and aesthetic (appearance) preferences each have a role in our thinking about what's best, and they don't necessarily always agree between the two perspectives.
Trainers are not medical experts, and appearance preferences are very personal.3 -
stephanieturner0122 wrote: »As you probably know, body fat over 23% is considered overweight. If you body fat measurements were done using calipers, then your boobs weren't factored in. If your trainer told you to bring it down, I'd trust that he or she knows what they're talking about. If you were lean except for your boobs, he or she would see that.
This is not true. As you know.
OP - you should always ask your trainer to explain anything like this they are telling you. 1. I hate the wording your trainer used "You'll want to get that down" -- how do they know what you want. You said that you think you look fine. That's pretty crappy IMO. 2. Your body fat% is fine.
On the subject of body fat% and breasts - you have both breast tissue and fat in your breasts and if you lose body fat, some of it will inevitably be from your breasts (this is all individual to eat woman though)....I lost 2 cup sizes by losing ~35lbs and my breasts are a significantly different shape now. Did your trainer talk with you about that? Or is it a man...and he has no clue. Or doesn't care..... etc.3 -
People need to get away from placing so much emphasis on BF%. Everyone holds fat differently. Look in the mirror, If you feel you need to lose fat then lose fat. If you're at a % that is considered excessive and visually you're happy with the way you look then you're fine.1
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Everyone holds fat differently.
I remember getting measured by my gym some years back. They said my legs were 12% BF, while my gut was 25+%.1 -
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Edited: wow old post revived...
Anecdotal... When I was very fit and lean, from racing and such. I was 105 pounds at 5'1 with 32DDD. My boobs didn't go go away relative to my body size (band changed, but cup size remained). Anyway, the fancy machines had me at 26-28% BF, but when I was measured with calipers I was at 16-18% BF. Results will vary, but yes for me my boobs threw off the electronic BF% measurements. If you are really concerned about BF% (I was curious, because the numbers didn't make sense) find a good physical therapist or athletic trainer to measure you with calipers.
Good luck!2 -
Whether it is boobs or something else, the healthy body fat range for women is higher than men. Depending on your age, that is in the healthy range. I wouldn't worry about it too much.0
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