~*~ Confused about BF% ~*~

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Beleren
Beleren Posts: 142
in Fitness and Exercise
I know calculators are not very accurate, but I wanted to know if anybody knew of one that way close. I did the 2 calculators on fat2fitradio and got 29% and the military was 46%.

I thought the jump was kinda funny. Now, I'm not sure if this has to do with BF% but, I hid my weight well. I've had many friends who weighed the same as me, same height & basic frame, but looked a lot bigger. Does this mean I have a lower BF% maybe? I have a long torso, so maybe that's it. :P

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  • Beleren
    Beleren Posts: 142
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    ?Bump?
  • kneeki
    kneeki Posts: 347 Member
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    The best you'll be able to do using purely an online calculator is calculating your BMI (which imo is useless anyway). You can however go to your local GNC or Health Supp. store and pick up some calipers - grab your friend (or significant other) and have them do a pinch test on you. That will return a lot more useful information than an online calc. If you need to be more accurate - you have the Bod Pod and a dunk tank - though those cost a bit of cash.
  • Beleren
    Beleren Posts: 142
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    okay thanks
  • Alexwinterclap
    Alexwinterclap Posts: 20 Member
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    Yah. Body fat is a toughie. I have a gym embers hip and what I do is simply ask them to let me test my body fat about once a month. That way I can at least see trending. The interesting part is that even trainers don't believe 1. My weight, and 2. Body fat %...funy how little an exact science things are. :-)
  • wackyfunster
    wackyfunster Posts: 944 Member
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    http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages
  • elizabethmae1214
    elizabethmae1214 Posts: 38
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    http://www.leighpeele.com/body-fat-pictures-and-percentages

    Cool visual for body fat percentage. I was tested last week (By Kneeki up there!) and was 28%. I definitely look the most similar to the picture of the girl that is supposedly at 25%. I think one thing that is a problem I see among my girlfriends is the "skinny fat" phenomenon. Being smaller girls (most of us are 5'3-5'6 and 130-140) that wear a size 4-6 we are still not satisfied with our bikini bodies. I think this is due to a higher body fat percentage. I don't intend to drop to a size smaller than the 4 I'm wearing now, but I'd like there to be less squish and/or spillage...as there can be now. That's my motivation for monitoring my BF% anyway. There are plenty of other women with the same stats as me that either look much less or much more healthy. I'm actually more interested in reducing fat/building lean muscle than my weight.

    I got on a friend's scale that supposedly measured body fat and it gave me a lower number! Bad bad bad.
    Definitely get someone to caliper you! It's a great motivator if nothing else!

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