Body Fat %

neverstray

Description Women Men
Essential fat 10–13% 2–5%
Athletes 14–20% 6–13%
Fitness 21–24% 14–17%
Average 25–31% 18–24%
Obese 32%+ 25%+

I found this on Wikipedia. Lat time I measured, I was in the average range. Maybe I'll shoot for the fitness range.

Where are you?

Determinednoob

Bout 13-14 atm

HealthyBodySickMind

BIA, military calculator (tape measure), and 7 point caliper measurements all put me between 12.7% and 14.3%. Looking at pictures, I think I look more like 16%. I've worried this is actually too low, but after looking into health risks, etc, I think I'm really pretty healthy. Essential body fat for a woman, as you listed up there, and I've seen it elsewhere, is 10-13% and as long as I'm above that and continue to get a period, that's a pretty good indication that I'm healthy and have proper hormone function. I've looked into health risks associated with low bf, and don't think that any of them are that concerning for me. I still have very regular monthly cycles, so hormone function should be good. I eat on average about 1850 cal a day and net about 1750 and get plenty of vitamins, so I don't think malnutrition is a risk. I do plenty of high impact activity (hiking, climbing, construction, mosh pits, horseback riding, lifting), and don't bruise easily, so I don't think bone density will be a problem for me. Those were the main risk factors I've found associated with low bf, and I had to dig to find those. If anyone knows of any others that I should look out for, let me know. Otherwise, I will stay happily at my 13-14%.

Elen_Sia

Holding steady at 18%.

elprincipito

probably hovering around 10-11%. 5% is a little bit extreme and hard to maintain for long periods though I think 7 or 8% is a better suitable ranger for males.

qtiekiki

My guess would be 22%, fitness range.

grendella

i just got measured by a professional on tuesday. i am at 30%. my goal is to lose 10% body fat in 20 weeks. he said this is possible (he coaches body builders).

Cr01502

I checked two weeks ago and was at 11%

neverstray

Wow. Some of you are in stellar condition.

I'm going to buy some calipers today so I can start those measurements. How do you do the military one?

IveLanded

woo! last time I measured I was at 24, so that puts me in fitness range!!??? AWESOME! My goal is 20%.

strikerjb007

6-8%

strikerjb007

Wow. Some of you are in stellar condition.

I'm going to buy some calipers today so I can start those measurements. How do you do the military one?

It's an approximation the military uses. Get some calipers. Easy to measure and it will give you a good estimate. But the important thing is to track the change in BF%. I mean in all honesty who cares if your bf% is 10 or 6 or 5%... For the most part, it's a useless number. The important thing is the change. You'll know if you're getting fatter or leaner. The actual number is irrelevant.

ontothesummit

21% goal is 18%

adamlb

The BIA scale this morning said 9%, but I would estimate more like 11-ish%. That's down from almost 25% a year ago!

sarah692

No idea, never had mine professionally measured. I think I'm close to 30% though, so teetering between average/obese. I look about 20 lbs heavier than I am if that's any indication lol

drgndancer

Wow. Some of you are in stellar condition.

I'm going to buy some calipers today so I can start those measurements. How do you do the military one?

Use the calipers if you're curious. The military method is nowhere near as accurate. They estimate from waist and neck measurements for men, and IIRC waist, neck, and hip measurements for women. I was in a combat arms unit so I rarely had to tape women; I know they used at least one more measurement for women, but the specifics elude me.

HealthyBodySickMind

Wow. Some of you are in stellar condition.

I'm going to buy some calipers today so I can start those measurements. How do you do the military one?

Use the calipers if you're curious. The military method is nowhere near as accurate. They estimate from waist and neck measurements for men, and IIRC waist, neck, and hip measurements for women. I was in a combat arms unit so I rarely had to tape women; I know they used at least one more measurement for women, but the specifics elude me.

The military one uses height, weight, neck, waist and hip measurements. I've been told that it's one of the most accurate of the tape measure calculators, but that seems counter-intuitive for me since it uses less data points than some of the other tape measurement calculators. Fat2fit' site has several calculators: http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/ This is also a good one: http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html .

I agree that calipers are better. Honestly, I didn't start trusting my numbers until I had the BIA, tape measurement calculators, and calipers line up consistently.

jacksonpt

Haven't been tested in a while, but probably 13-13.5.

sdeconda

for my birthday i got a scale that you enter your stats to memory- everyday when you weigh it gives you your body % fat, BMI, Weight, and % water in your body. i don't think i would get accurate results from a caliper as i have had gastric bypass and lost almost 160 lbs and have a good deal of loose skin.
i wonder if my scale is affected by my loose skin? The trainer at my gym did a reading through handheld device and it was 21.4% and my scale averages about 29%- big difference.
would feel much better about myself to know that 21% was the accurate reading!

mfpcopine

Based on my Tanita scale, I'm at the high end of athletic at 19 to 20% body fat. I am not athletic.

DavPul

Aw ****!!! 19% for me, and now after reading this, I feel terrible about myself. Thanks for nothin, NeverStray.