Body Fat Percentage???

He did it on some fancy pants scale. lol. I am at about a 31BMI, which is obese as well, but like you said, I don't look fat. I am overweight but most people couldn't even tell if I was walking by on the street fully dressed! I am currently nursing an 8 month old, but only once a day, so I don't have a huge amount of milk, but there is no way half of my body is fat... I know for a fact my legs are super muscular, because I can do leg presses of over 300 pounds and not even break a sweat. I just thought it seemed high for my height. Maybe if I was 5'2'' and 198, I can see that making a huge difference. I am not worried about it really, was just curious, because i have never had the test done before. Thanks for the replies

The scales are accurate if used while you are properly hydrated. It is tough to measure body exactly. But some ways are better than others. However, like everyone else has said.. there is such a thing as 'skinny fat'. I used to weigh 159, but I probably had more body fat, than I do now at 193.

Body fat is what everyone should be more aware of, not the number on the scale!


P.S holymac, I love the tip of the day in you're signature. Gotta love tony.

Don't get your BF% done on a scale. They use Bio-electrical impedance, and depending on your hydration levels, they can be very very off. If you want to really know with accuracy, get a bod pod measurement or a hydrostatic measurement. Or maybe if you know the person is really experienced, a caliper test.

Don't get your BF% done on a scale. They use Bio-electrical impedance, and depending on your hydration levels, they can be very very off. If you want to really know with accuracy, get a bod pod measurement or a hydrostatic measurement. Or maybe if you know the person is really experienced, a caliper test.

Don't get your BF% done on a scale. They use Bio-electrical impedance, and depending on your hydration levels, they can be very very off. If you want to really know with accuracy, get a bod pod measurement or a hydrostatic measurement. Or maybe if you know the person is really experienced, a caliper test.

The problem I have is that the average person these days is so overweight, most will not fit the standard calipers. And a bod pod is out of the question.

We use a top-end commercial tanita scale which has its pros and cons. For people under 30% or so I have found it to match my skinfold results almost exactly. Most of the time, my initial readings pretty closely match the body I see in front of me (and after 27 years and thousands of assessments, I can eyeball someone and be almost as accurate as the scale).

I just measured a woman last night who lost 25lbs in 3 months doing some wacky diet (GM diet) and 1 hr of cardio a day. Of the 25lbs lost ( I had measured her previously on the tanita scale), it showed that 10lbs was LBM, which is what you'd expect on that type of crash program.

Where I (and some clients) get frustrated is with the retests. We can't really control for hydration status so they can be variable. What is really frustrating is that I have spoken with Tanita reps at a number of trade shows and they don't really have any suggestions other than to take daily readings and average them out.

Baaahhh! The whole point of professional equipment is so that you DON'T have to do stuff involving standard deviations and averages. Why are MRI machines so expensive?! A half percent MfE would be so nice to have.

Don't get your BF% done on a scale. They use Bio-electrical impedance, and depending on your hydration levels, they can be very very off. If you want to really know with accuracy, get a bod pod measurement or a hydrostatic measurement. Or maybe if you know the person is really experienced, a caliper test.

The problem I have is that the average person these days is so overweight, most will not fit the standard calipers. And a bod pod is out of the question.

We use a top-end commercial tanita scale which has its pros and cons. For people under 30% or so I have found it to match my skinfold results almost exactly. Most of the time, my initial readings pretty closely match the body I see in front of me (and after 27 years and thousands of assessments, I can eyeball someone and be almost as accurate as the scale).

I just measured a woman last night who lost 25lbs in 3 months doing some wacky diet (GM diet) and 1 hr of cardio a day. Of the 25lbs lost ( I had measured her previously on the tanita scale), it showed that 10lbs was LBM, which is what you'd expect on that type of crash program.

Where I (and some clients) get frustrated is with the retests. We can't really control for hydration status so they can be variable. What is really frustrating is that I have spoken with Tanita reps at a number of trade shows and they don't really have any suggestions other than to take daily readings and average them out.

Baaahhh! The whole point of professional equipment is so that you DON'T have to do stuff involving standard deviations and averages. Why are MRI machines so expensive?! A half percent MfE would be so nice to have.

I can't speak for the technology behind MRIs or DEXA, but every other method for estimating body fat is an estimate of an estimate. Techniques such as hydrostatic weighing, bod pod, calipers, etc. really determine body density. The equation that translates body density to body fat % has its own error factor.

The only accurate way to measure body fat is to render the person into their various components and weigh each part.

Unfortunately, it can only be done once.

You can also make the argument that test-retest consistency is more important than actual "raw" accuracy. I mean, from a practical standpoint, there really is little significance between 10% and 15% body fat, or 25%-30% etc.

I have done thousands of body fat measurements over the last 27 years, mostly with skinfolds. One thing I have noticed since I got back into the fitness business last year is that, for females, 40% body fat is not all that unusual anymore.

I find that there are as many people out their whose estimate of their "ideal" weight is too high as there are people whose "ideal" is too low.

You're right, seeing 40% bodyfat is not unusual at all these days. However, is that a good thing? Seeing a 500 pound man is not unusual these days either.

On your other point about people under or over estimating their ideal weight; i have been seeing that too. I keep seeing thin people that want to lose ten more pounds or twenty more pounds when really they should consider making themselves stronger. These same people are dieting down to nothingness. In their older years they may be plagued with frail bones and a weak heart. But they think nothing of that now.

I have done thousands of body fat measurements over the last 27 years, mostly with skinfolds. One thing I have noticed since I got back into the fitness business last year is that, for females, 40% body fat is not all that unusual anymore.

I find that there are as many people out their whose estimate of their "ideal" weight is too high as there are people whose "ideal" is too low.

You're right, seeing 40% bodyfat is not unusual at all these days. However, is that a good thing? Seeing a 500 pound man is not unusual these days either.

On your other point about people under or over estimating their ideal weight; i have been seeing that too. I keep seeing thin people that want to lose ten more pounds or twenty more pounds when really they should consider making themselves stronger. These same people are dieting down to nothingness. In their older years they may be plagued with frail bones and a weak heart. But they think nothing of that now.

The people I work with who are usually the most surprised are the women with a low FFM who actually look comparatively lean, but who show up as 28%-35% body fat.

It actually leads to good discussions because it allows me to really push the idea that they need to hit the weight room. Esp the women in their 40s. They are much more motivated by the risk of osteoporosis and sarcopenia than by fat thighs.