Body Fat Calculator - Completely different results!

tofindmyselfprettyagain
tofindmyselfprettyagain Posts: 46 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I see a lot of people recommending the tools at http://www.fat2fitradio.com/tools/, and I've been curious about my body fat percentage. I know the most accurate is with calipers, or a water displacement test, but I wanted a close estimate, just to see.

The problem is, I'm getting drastically different numbers!

Covert Bailey: 28.5%
Custom: 28.1%
Military: 49.6%

The military seemed awfully high to me, though it is possible, but it only asks you for 3 measurements. The other two ask you for much more measurements, but that seems awfully low.

I'm willing to put all of my measurements up here, I'm just very confused.

Replies

  • danielleburwell97060
    danielleburwell97060 Posts: 257 Member
    Hmm, odd. When I went there I did the military one as someone somewhere had said and I didn't do the others. What I can tell you though is that it measured only half a percent different than my body fat reading back in july that I did with a trainer at the gym on one of those electronic machines that measures it. I've lost a few pounds since then and it's half a percent lower so at least for me the military one seemed spot on.
  • NKolhar
    NKolhar Posts: 96 Member
    it has to be around 28 ..the military does do it a lil diff but once it gets too high thats when they measure and correct it so don't sweat it am sure its around the 28% mark.. but it usually isn't a 20% increase so might wanna give it a shot again !
  • dcgonz
    dcgonz Posts: 174 Member
    Try this site, it asks for more measurements that Fat2Fit. It will also give you an average of the three.

    http://www.gymgoal.com/dtool_fat.html
  • tofindmyselfprettyagain
    tofindmyselfprettyagain Posts: 46 Member
    I'm thinking it is closer to the 28% mark, most of my fat is stored in my upper body, much to my displeasure. My upper arms, breasts, and tummy are huge, but my legs are comparable to someone 50 pounds lighter than me.

    The problem is, the ones that measure my thin areas don't measure most of my larger areas, and vice versa. So maybe I'm somewhere in the middle?
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    I have a skinny neck, and a large butt, so I think that's why the military one is higher for me.

    I get 26-27 on the other two and 30 on the military.
  • tofindmyselfprettyagain
    tofindmyselfprettyagain Posts: 46 Member
    Try this site, it asks for more measurements that Fat2Fit. It will also give you an average of the three.

    http://www.gymgoal.com/dtool_fat.html

    47.96% (U.S. Navy Circumference Method #1 - men and women)

    37.57% (U.S. Navy Circumference Method #2 - women only)

    26.5% (book by Covert Bailey "Fit or Fat")

    37.3% Average

    Well the average seems a bit more reasonable to me, so thank you! I just couldn't believe that almost half of my weight would be fat. Health wise, I feel fine, I don't get out of breath when exercising, and I keep up with more athletic people just fine. And I'm not exactly a weakling either. :)
  • luvmybaby333
    luvmybaby333 Posts: 241
    I've been meaning to post the exact same question.

    With the ones that only take neck, waist, and hip measurements I always get a result of like 50-55%. I'm obese, but even still... that seems outrageously high. I have a very large body frame (though I'm only 5'2") and I know that I naturally carry more lean mass than other people that are the same height. I will never be able to drop down to 120 pounds and still remain healthy. I'm dubious that I would even be able to get down to a BMI out of the overweight range with out being too skinny to be healthy. However, when I use the body fat calculators that factor in your wrist and forearm/elbow measurements (presumably to account for body frame differences), then I get a reading that seems too low. The results show a body fat percentage of about 29%.... Which doesn't sound right either.
  • Mompanda4
    Mompanda4 Posts: 869 Member
    Bump
  • mybiketrip
    mybiketrip Posts: 239
    First off, I'm not a professional, but from my experience I say...

    I think these are kind of skewed. They are probably for the average person - in every way. Or maybe they are very inaccurate for me.

    I am an avid cyclist (skinny arms, bigger legs) on the verge of losing my last few pounds of fat (thanks mfp!). These have given me such varying results.

    Custom: 18.4%
    Military: 25.1%
    Covert: 11.1%

    When my school has their annual health and nutrition week they have a table set up where they measure your blood pressure and body fat % for free. When these results come in I'll let you know which one was most accurate for me... but then again, all bodies are different.

    I don't think it costs too much to go in and measure body fat percentage. However, if you have a lot of weight to lose it might be better to track weight loss rather than body fat percentage loss at first.

    I hope this helps.
  • elisadianec
    elisadianec Posts: 1
    I was 170 lbs and 34% body fat according to my personal trainer at the time. I lost 40 lbs and it went down to 24%. So If you are overweight I can see how 49% would be accurate for you. Have an assessment at your gym. It can be off by a few percentages but it will be pretty accurate.

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