What's your body fat %?

ojell

What should it be?

I just found out for the first time ever what mine is...33%. How bad is that?

SmartAlec03211988

Mine is somewhere in the realm of 17-20%.

futiledevices

I've tried to calculate mine on several different websites, and they all give me a different number. 27%, 33%, & 41% (which can't be possible, because I'm not obese.)

SmartAlec03211988

I've tried to calculate mine on several different websites, and they all give me a different number. 27%, 33%, & 41% (which can't be possible, because I'm not obese.)

Yeah, I get some crazy numbers. One said I had 13% body fat. Yeah... no.

laddyboy

Try a bodyfat analyzer...they are no bod pod but IMO they are better than the skin fold test or the web calculators.

Squeeks70

I went to a website and it asked my the measurements of my hips, waist, wrist and forearm and gave me a fat % of 25.......strange.

ablykins

Women should be 25% or below to be considered in normal range. Men should be 15% or below to be considered normal range. My body fat is currently 14.9% and I get it tested monthly by a trainer at my gym. Most personal trainers can measure your skin folds and calculate it for you. There are some home devices as well.

MaximalLife

I started out at 33% and worked my way down to 17%.
My goal is 14%.

I don't want to get leaner than 14%; that looks freaky to me - unhealthy.
I see other guys who carry it fine, but not me.

You can check your body fat here for free:
http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

Cindy311

My hubby and I went to a local University and did the BodPod, lol! I was at 19.5%. I look at myself and I don't believe that but it's suppose to be pretty accurate.

lollyish

mine is 23%
average is about 22-25% but it all depends on age, ethnicity etc etc.

ladykate7

23-24 % I'd like to get it somewhere in 18-20%

Its fun to do the math too.
148 lbs with 24% fat = 35.5 lbs of fat, 112.5 lean muscle/ bones and what ever. Nice to keep perspective, Granted I shouldn't aim to lose 35 pounds, gotta have fat to protect all the organs and such.

jfluchere

21% ... I look healthy.

sylvuz323

I asked one of the doctors (I work at a hospital) about this, cause at the gym the machine they have said 37%. That machine only takes into consideration, height, weight, age, and sex. The one I found on the web also asked for my waist and wrist measurements result was 29%. The doc told me that the website was definitely asking for more information and therefore a more realistic number. Plus I also recall having someone in the diabetic clinic (during a biggest loser challenge) use their machine and that also told me 29%.

Rmd081808

I checked mine not long ago and am down to 34 which is good compared to the 39 it was before i lost 40 lbs

HeikkiLaukkanen

According to an article from Medscape.com, the American Dietetic Association recommends that men have 15-18% body fat and women have 20-25% body fat. Healthy male athletes might be as low as 5-12% body fat, and healthy female athletes could be as low as 10-20%.

Dr. C. Everett Koop's site, ShapeUp.com, breaks down healthy body fat ranges by both gender and age. Men under 39 years of age should have 8-19% body fat, and women under 39 years of age should have 21-32%. Older men may range from 11% to 24%, and older women may range from 23% to 35%.

Health Check Systems quotes the American Council on Exercise and says men's body fat should be 6-25%, and women's should be 14-31%.

From a quick google search....

RMuske

I use one of those crazy IronMan scales that calculate all kinds of things via my feet. And it says I am 23-25% depending on the day...

Scorpioangel

Mine is 10%

beckylawrence70

I think mine is less than 20%

diver71_au

30.4 on Jan 1 and now at 27.1 - hope that trend continues

melrose09

Some people don't believe me, but I just got a 7 point skin fold test done 3 times by 2 different trainers this week and the average of the 3 tests was 10.5%, but I usually say 12%. With the way my body works, I'd have to get to around 8% to look like most women do at 12%. Time for this lady to fatten up a bit so I can carry a baby again

Kym1610

I have used three different websites.
On healthy forums I got 27%, on free dieting I got 19.7% and on scientific psychic I got 22.5%. So I am thinking I am between 20-25%

ginamaria724

I think mine is 21% lol

AZDizzy

the wet foot thingee on my scale says 34.5% but it started much higher, so onward and downward right?

melrose09

I have used three different websites.
On healthy forums I got 27%, on free dieting I got 19.7% and on scientific psychic I got 22.5%. So I am thinking I am between 20-25%

Those websites are wonky sometimes. If you have access to a gym with a decent set of calipers, the skin fold tests are more widely accepted as accurate. And if it's not a litte uncomfortable, they aren't doing it properly. I thought my friend was going to rip my skin off!

Le_Joy

The results on websites tend to be inaccurate and even the skin fold test and scales aren't super accurate. The most accurate way is hydrostatic testing.

sms1986

25% at the moment, according to the scientificpsychic website.

melrose09

The results on websites tend to be inaccurate and even the skin fold test and scales aren't super accurate. The most accurate way is hydrostatic testing.

Totally correct. But they aren't so easy to come by. I've never used one at all. There might be one on base here. I'll have to look into it. I'd love to compare the results from the skin fold and the hydrostatic testing.

And to add a note about the websites, they usually calculate BMI which is not nearly the same thing as % body fat. My BMI is 19.5. Bodybuilders usually fall under the "overweight" category when just BMI is calculated, but they have very little body fat.

vamiles

Right now I'm at about 12.3-12.7 range most of it is carried around my legs though but it's falling off fast via hardcore cardio, tabata drills, burpess, plyo, etc. I mean It really doesn't matter how you test it just get as low as possible while maintaining what you think looks/feels healthy. I play college rugby (winger) so I'm shooting pretty low.

MissMaggie3

I was getting wild variations on my scales / body fat analysers - I could be 28% at 2 pm then 36% at 4 pm, and it always seemed rather high (I am 5' 4" and 112 ilbs). I then stumbled on the instruction book recently, which said your feet need to be slightly wet when you stand on the scales. Since doing that I have consistently been around 23%.

vamiles

Yeah those things are tricky I don't have one but i have heard the woes of others. I just stick to measurements and other test of the sort (caliper test, etc.)

phlower

I have one of those electronic measures that you hold. On Jan. 1 i was 44.8%, Jan. 21 i was 43.8%. I will measure again at the 2 month mark, I think. Hoping to get into the 30's soon!