Is body fat different for everyone?

david2133 · April 2014

My waist size is 31.5inches at the belly button. I measured my BF % on different websites and it's generally 15-16%. However, I've looked at pictures of 15-16% bf but I look a bit different. My belly is a little bit more out and hangs a bit more but it only forms almost a roll when I sit down if you know what I mean. However, my top two ab packs are a bit more prominent than in the pictures I've seen. I've heard that abdominal muscles push fat out. Could this be why?

navyrigger46 · April 2014

When you say measured your body fat what do you mean?

Rigger

Dedshot · April 2014

Genetics dictates where your body stores fat. Is that what you're talking about? Someone who carries more weight in their stomach will look different than someone who carries in in their hips/thighs even if they have the same bf%.

norcalskater · April 2014

Yeah take a look at everyone you see. Everyone stores fat differently. Some people store a majority in their butt, belly, arms, legs, and some people the fat evenly fills the body. It's all genetics.

DrJenO · April 2014

If you are interested in knowing/tracking your body fat, you might consider getting a BF scale instead. They are supposed to be within a few percentage points of your actual BF%, esp if you weigh first thing in the morning, before eating or drinking anything.

I recently had my BF measured at my local university, through their dept of sports medicine. It correlated quite closely with what I was getting at home, and wasn't too expensive. Some gyms will do it as well, if they have people trained to do so.

As to your other question, the above posters are correct in that people carry fat differently, depending on genetics. I tend to carry mine in my hips and thighs, where other women might carry it more in the midsection or chest. Men are the same way.

david2133 · April 2014

I calculated it using online calculators. I heard that BF scales are inaccurate, well the electrical ones are anyway. I don't know which ones you're talking about. Also, I'm a guy and most of my fat is around my waist and chest. My waist was 32/33" about 2 weeks ago but now it's 31" about. The reason for the inaccuracy is because when I measure around my waist, I don't know how I should position my belly. Do I suck in and sometimes my belly just pushes out. Which is the closest to my real waist circumference? I've been meaning to get a pair of calipers but I'm just using tape measure for now.

DrJenO · April 2014

They are more inaccurate if you use them at the wrong time of day - they assess your hydration status and extrapolate based on your height and weight. They are most accurate first thing in the morning.

As far as where to measure, I can't help you there. Good luck with everything.

navyrigger46 · April 2014

BF scales are inaccurate, and so are online calculators. If you want to be accurate you have to go get it tested. Hydrostatic is the most reliable, but pinch testing is better than some internet based guessing site.

Rigger

Aaron_K123 · April 2014

Bodyfat is the same for everyone, but appearance at a certain bodyfat isn't....the difference is how muscular you are. A muscular person with 15% bodyfat (which is undoubtably the internet image you found) will look a lot more tight and firm than someone with low lean mass at 15% bodyfat (who will look a bit skinny up top with a paunch belly).

If your goal is simply about bodyfat then 16% is 16%, if your goal is asthetics then muscle mass is important as well.

david2133 · April 2014

Also, to get to 10% or at most 12% BF, how much fat would I have to lose? I'm currently 152lbs and 5ft 8in, male. Assuming I'm 15%?

Aaron_K123 · April 2014

152 pounds multiplied by 15% means that your body currently has 23 pounds of fat and a lean mass of 129 pounds. 10% bodyfat on a lean mass of 129 pounds would be 143 pounds. Therefore you have 9 pounds of fat to lose to hit 10% assuming no change to lean mass and that your estimates on your bodyfat content are correct.

9 pounds of fat would be a deficit of 31,500 calories.

david2133 · April 2014

Could

david2133 · April 2014

Could I expect the rest of my abs to show?

Aaron_K123 · April 2014

Could I expect the rest of my abs to show?

I have no idea. That completely depends on your body. Why do you want your abs to show?

norcalskater · April 2014

Also, to get to 10% or at most 12% BF, how much fat would I have to lose? I'm currently 152lbs and 5ft 8in, male. Assuming I'm 15%?

With that height and weight I wouldn't lose too much more. Don't go under 145. Your abs might show then but if they don't just chuck it up with genetics. Some peoples abs show better than others.

david2133 · April 2014

Cosmetic reasons mainly

erickirb · April 2014

152 pounds multiplied by 15% means that your body currently has 23 pounds of fat and a lean mass of 129 pounds. 10% bodyfat on a lean mass of 129 pounds would be 143 pounds. Therefore you have 9 pounds of fat to lose to hit 10% assuming no change to lean mass and that your estimates on your bodyfat content are correct.

9 pounds of fat would be a deficit of 31,500 calories.

This, but chances are you will lose 1-3 lbs of LBM while losing the 9 lbs, so you may have to lose 10-12 lbs to get to 10% BF%. To reduce the amount of LBM you lose ensure you are lifting heavy, your deficit is small (0.5lb/week weight loss goal), and get adequate protein (in your case about 130 grams, 1 gram/lb of LBM)

So say you lose 2 lb of lbm during your loss, your lbm would be 127 so at 10% bf% you would have to weigh 141, 11 lb total weight loss to hit your goal

bcattoes · April 2014

BF scales are inaccurate, and so are online calculators. If you want to be accurate you have to go get it tested. Hydrostatic is the most reliable, but pinch testing is better than some internet based guessing site.

Rigger

A good BF scale can be quite accurate. DEXA is just a accurate as hydrostatic weighing and my scale was very close to my DEXA. Like most technology, BF scales have improved greatly.

Calipers, on the other hand, are only as accurate as the hand holding them.

MapleFlavouredMaiden · April 2014

Those sites aren't accurate for one, but also, it all depends on genetics as people are saying. I'm a woman so my body fat % will be much higher than a man's at this level of fitness but I don't store a lot of fat on my stomach. I'm around 22-24% fat and I can see some abs even at that high of a bf%. Meanwhile, my male friend is 14% and his abs are more hidden than mine.

Also depends a great deal on how much water you're holding onto.

No_Finish_Line · April 2014

Even with hydrostatic weighting, the results of body fat testing are notoriously inaccurate

Although different people will carry body fat in different places, and obviously different levels of musclar development are going to play into what a body looks like at X bf%,

I really feel that most of the difference you seeing is coming from people claiming to have a certain body fat when in reality they don't know thier actual %

david2133 · April 2014

Can you guys confirm my BF % by looking at these two pics?
http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture019.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1

http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture035.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

3dogsrunning · April 2014

Can you guys confirm my BF % by looking at these two pics?
http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture019.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1

http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture035.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

Not the best pictures for estimating BF% but definitely not 14-15%.

david2133 · April 2014

Can you guys confirm my BF % by looking at these two pics?
http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture019.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1

http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture035.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

Not the best pictures for estimating BF% but definitely not 14-15%.

Sorry, what pictures would be better and what body fat % would it be?

erickirb · April 2014

Can you guys confirm my BF % by looking at these two pics?
http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture019.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1

http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture035.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

Not the best pictures for estimating BF% but definitely not 14-15%.

Sorry, what pictures would be better and what body fat % would it be?

full body shots from facing and side facing pref with someone else taking them

I agree not 15%, look at my pic, that is about 10-11%, though I do have more muscle mass as well.

3dogsrunning · April 2014

Can you guys confirm my BF % by looking at these two pics?
http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture019.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1

http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture035.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

Not the best pictures for estimating BF% but definitely not 14-15%.

Sorry, what pictures would be better and what body fat % would it be?

Sara and Sidesteel do estimations from pictures in their group. Here is her suggestions on posting suitable pics for estimation. You could also post there if you like or post back here.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1105598-bodyfat-estimation-thread

SezxyStef · April 2014

152 pounds multiplied by 15% means that your body currently has 23 pounds of fat and a lean mass of 129 pounds. 10% bodyfat on a lean mass of 129 pounds would be 143 pounds. Therefore you have 9 pounds of fat to lose to hit 10% assuming no change to lean mass and that your estimates on your bodyfat content are correct.

9 pounds of fat would be a deficit of 31,500 calories.

This, but chances are you will lose 1-3 lbs of LBM while losing the 9 lbs, so you may have to lose 10-12 lbs to get to 10% BF%. To reduce the amount of LBM you lose ensure you are lifting heavy, your deficit is small (0.5lb/week weight loss goal), and get adequate protein (in your case about 130 grams, 1 gram/lb of LBM)

So say you lose 2 lb of lbm during your loss, your lbm would be 127 so at 10% bf% you would have to weigh 141, 11 lb total weight loss to hit your goal

If this is the case for him in particular wouldn't it be best to eat at maintenance and lift heavy for recomp (even tho it's slower) than to get to such a low weight...???

Just wondering... not critizing.

david2133 · April 2014

152 pounds multiplied by 15% means that your body currently has 23 pounds of fat and a lean mass of 129 pounds. 10% bodyfat on a lean mass of 129 pounds would be 143 pounds. Therefore you have 9 pounds of fat to lose to hit 10% assuming no change to lean mass and that your estimates on your bodyfat content are correct.

9 pounds of fat would be a deficit of 31,500 calories.

This, but chances are you will lose 1-3 lbs of LBM while losing the 9 lbs, so you may have to lose 10-12 lbs to get to 10% BF%. To reduce the amount of LBM you lose ensure you are lifting heavy, your deficit is small (0.5lb/week weight loss goal), and get adequate protein (in your case about 130 grams, 1 gram/lb of LBM)

So say you lose 2 lb of lbm during your loss, your lbm would be 127 so at 10% bf% you would have to weigh 141, 11 lb total weight loss to hit your goal

If this is the case for him in particular wouldn't it be best to eat at maintenance and lift heavy for recomp (even tho it's slower) than to get to such a low weight...???

Just wondering... not critizing.

Would that be a low weight for me considering my bf % was underestimated? This is one of the calculators I used:

http://www.calculator.net/body-fat-calculator.html?ctype=standard&csex=m&cheightfeet=5&cheightinch=8&cneckfeet=1&cneckinch=2&cwaistfeet=2&cwaistinch=8&chipfeet=3&chipinch=1&cheightmeter=180&cneckmeter=50&cwaistmeter=90&chipmeter=90&x=93&y=7

SezxyStef · April 2014

For me I would say yes but I currently weigh more than you and my current goal is 155...BF 20-22%...and if my BF% are correct to get to my goal it is 150-153..

you could be a smaller framed guy tho...

I was just asking if it might be a better option as oppossed to losing more weight thereby losing more muscle mass...

david2133 · April 2014

Are these photos any better?

http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture037.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture045.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1

http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture035-1.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=2

Aaron_K123 · April 2014

Can you guys confirm my BF % by looking at these two pics?
http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture019.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1

http://s1191.photobucket.com/user/turtle3131/media/Picture035.jpg.html?filters[user]=123686609&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0

That looks higher than 15% to me. That looks more like 20-22%. Hard to tell though. It is possible that your lean mass is just very low and you would actually benefit more from putting on some muscle before attempting to cut the fat.

My profile picture is my back when I hit 15% bodyfat (by calipers). If you click my profile there is another picture that is my back at about 26% bodyfat. Yours to me looks like what I think my back looked like around 22% BF.

david2133 · April 2014

Ok, what size was your waist at that %?

Is body fat different for everyone?

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