body fat percentage?

misschaplin

Hi could someone please tell me how to work out what my body fat percentage is?
thanks in advance

Thenewscott

Get it tested proffesionaly at a reputable gym or fitness centre...dont go by BMI charts.

spaboleo

The easiest method to do at home is to get yourself a scale that can measure you body fat. The scale has got two metal contact-plates to step on and measures your bioelectrical impedance. A potential is applied and your body is the resistance to it.
I think the less the resistance is the fatter your body is.

There are data tables that show the correlation between age, height, weight (which will be measured at the same time) and the impedance (your resistance).
All that will be calculated by the scale and displayed as a procentage

It's dead simple and the scales aren't that expensive any more.



Another option would be the "caliper-method": http://www.linear-software.com/online.html
With this you are measuring the thickness of your rolls of flab on different points of your body and calculate the body fat percentage using a formula.
It seems to be more accurate (if done properly), but it takes a lot more time than stepping on the scale



There are even more ways to measure the body fat, like scaling your under water weight, which are told to be even more accurate than the both above. But actually all of us will only need a roughly value

misschaplin

Ok thanks guys, Im am going to have a look at the caliper method in a bit and use this, as its the method that will cost me nothing
Then at ome point in the next few weeks I will invest in the scales.

Not sure I am looking fwd to the answer it gives me

Lyadeia

I recommend AGAINST the scale that measures it if you want something that won't make you cry.

I have one that tells me that I am 31% body fat...

A trainer where I work measured me with calipers using 3 different skin folds and put my weight and height into the calculation as well, and it came out to be 24% which is much more believable since I am 139 pounds, 5'5" tall, and I do P90X to gain muscle and drop fat. I refuse to believe that stupid scale that told me I was nearly obese.

On the other hand, most measures (unless you go to a doctor for hydrostatic weighing) are not entirely accurate any way. We probably should be using them to guage progress instead of relying on the numbers to be the 100% truth.

spaboleo

I just gave the calliper method a try and used the calculating method from the link above.
I used the Parrillo method and as a result I am having 8.39% body fat, which is simply untrue. Because my scale shows me believable 18% of bodyfat.

At around 8% you will look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club...and from that look I am really miles away...or wait...10%
Even though I am quite trained...

It is pretty difficult to measure it the right way.
The most exact way would be to measure every spot a few times and then calculating the average value...

misschaplin

At around 8% you will look like Brad Pitt in Fight Club...and from that look I am really miles away...or wait...10%
Even though I am quite trained...

mmmmmm thank you for the yummy image lol :happy:

4theking

I have a scale and it is not accurate. Try this: http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

spaboleo

I have a scale and it is not accurate. Try this: http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

Nope doesn't work at all...

tried it again:
Waist-to-Height ratio: 0.53
Percent Body Fat: 24.4%
Lean Body Mass: 63.5 kg

That would mean that of my 84kg I would carry around 21kg pure fat. Nope I'll stick to the 18% of my scale ^^
Even thou I think that my scale is overestimating a little bit.

misschaplin

I have a scale and it is not accurate. Try this: http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

I also used this one, As I have nothing to compare it too, dioes it seem right?
Im not sure.....how good or bad is it?

Body Mass Index: 24.9 kg/m2
Waist-to-Height ratio: 0.51
Percent Body Fat: 30.5%
Lean Body Mass: 85.5 lb

Your weight is in the normal range.
You may need to lose some abdominal fat.
Start an exercise program and become more active.
Minimum caloric requirements: 1620 Calories per day
Your diet should contain at least 44 grams of protein per day.

Lyadeia

I have a scale and it is not accurate. Try this: http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

I also used this one, As I have nothing to compare it too, dioes it seem right?
Im not sure.....how good or bad is it?

Body Mass Index: 24.9 kg/m2
Waist-to-Height ratio: 0.51
Percent Body Fat: 30.5%
Lean Body Mass: 85.5 lb

Your weight is in the normal range.
You may need to lose some abdominal fat.
Start an exercise program and become more active.
Minimum caloric requirements: 1620 Calories per day
Your diet should contain at least 44 grams of protein per day.

I don't think I would trust it. I had myself professionally tested back in 2008 when I was at my smallest size ever. I had 18% body fat at that point. I loved how I looked because I had a very toned athletic look. I am trying to get back to that right now, but I digress. So I did an experiment and put in what my stats were at that point in my life (I have them all recorded on the Beachbody website from 2007 until today...easy for me to find and use to compare). This calculator...bless it's little boneheaded heart...told me that when I was wearing a size 4 I had 32% body fat. Um...WRONG!

misschaplin

How weird, I reckon I prob do have about 30% body fat as I am very over weight, very very flabby and have No muscle tone at all atm. I will test it again in a while, after I have started to tone up. Off to check what a healthy percentage is

on the site I checked 30% body fat is healthy?

fuzzymel

I got tested by a professional last year and I was 21% body fat. That online test said 25% body fat.

I weigh less than I did last year but am not as thin so may have a little less muscle.

spaboleo

It is simple math...the formula on the last website only depends on three values (for women):
%Fat=495/(1.29579-0.35004(log(waist+hip-neck))+0.22100(log(height)))-450
waist, hip and neck measurements...the height should be somewhat constant, I assume


For guys even on only two...waist and neck.
If I train a lot and do more shoulder and back-training my neck will get more buffed, but not fatter.

A fun-test take a piece of paper...mark down your height and the other three measurements with any value. These are the fixpoints of your body-outline. Everybody silhouette touching these fixpoints will in the end result in the same bodyfat value.
If you have got really big and stompy legs they will completely be forgotten e.g.
Of if you carry around some naturally grown double-Ds (which would nearly entirely be body-fat...sorry) won't be accounted, too.


From a scientifical point of view there is more assumption in this calculation than in the weather forecast for next two weeks.



I trust my scale. It wasn't that cheap and got good recommendations on amazon. The brand is "Soehnle" a traditional, german brand.
In times where I looked really toned and lean (at my dream weight) I had about 11% bodyfat.
And yes it fitted perfectly...got it tested during my yearly check-up at the doctor's. He has got an similar scale (but of coure a medial approved and professional one), which was more accurate.

The most important thing about the scales:
Always use them under the same conditions...that means:
barefoot, with uncreamed/un-bodymilked skin!, dry and not right outof the shower, in the morning before breakfast and after the toilet...so not an ounce of water in your body will add an failure to the measurement.

There are, of course, days when the scale totally failes...but if you measure yourself regularly you'll get to know these days.
A good example would be after a night partying hard and drinking a lot the body is hydrated and misses most of it's usual water.

pyro13g

Do not get a scale to measure BF%.. Use calipers, here's a caliper tutorial and different calculations.

http://www.linear-software.com/online.html