Body Fat Percentage Source

farrari17

I see a lot of people putting their body fat percentage on their posts, and I'm wondering where people are getting those values.?Are you actually going and getting a real body fat percentage measurement, or are you using online calculators? If you're using online calculators, let me show you some of my results:

From http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html, I get

Percent Body Fat: 14.8%

From http://www.healthyforms.com/helpful-tools/body-fat-percentage.php, I get

According to the information you entered, your total weight is approximately 15% body fat

From http://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/bodyfat.htm#, I get

Your body fat percentage: 31%

From http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi, my percentage body fat was calculated 4 different ways, I get

56.89 % using the U.S. Army body fat algorithm, or
-6.48 % using the U.S. Marine body fat algorithm, or
15.59 % using the U.S. Navy body fat algorithm, or
9.27 % using the formula developed by the YMCA.

If you're measuring percentage body fat before and after (which is a great way to see if you're getting healthier or not), please go to experts who can actually measure you're percentage body fat. Don't use online calculators. They are based on estimates and are not unique, and clearly, none are particularly accurate.

Plates559

You can't tell me what to do! my cat gives amazingly accurate body fat percentage scans!

wmagoo27

A basic set of calipers is the way to go. Take 3 measurements at each location and figure bodyfat off of the average of those measurements. You can get a set of calipers online for cheap and use them yourself at home.

Mokey41

I had mine done hydrostatically so I'm confident in my measurement. I came home and tried some of the online calculators and none gave me the same number.

jgsparks89

Totally agreed..online calculators are NOT accurate. Heck, even medically correct measurement methods have a SIGNIFICANT margin of error. A better measure of over all health is a compilation of resting heart rate, blood pressure, blood levels of lipids, body fat percentage, plus probably another dozen factors you could tie in such as hormone levels, liver enzymes, Renal function tests, CBCs, etc.

I say that to make the point: If you are an average young to middle aged adult without any chronic diseases, there is no need to attempt to "calculate" your health. Do you feel good? Is everything working the way it's supposed to? Are you able to perform strenuous physical activity? If yes to all of the above, and your yearly physical looks okay too...then the rest of it (BMI, % body fat) is all just a number.