Body composition or your body fat percentage is a much more reliable indicator of health and fitness but it can be difficult to measure. Measurements are taken by grasping with the thumb and index finger a fold of skin and any accompanying subcutaneous soft fat and pulling. Convert your lean body mass to your body fat percentage. Here are the 10 best ways to measure your body fat percentage. Female athletes typically have a body fat of 1420 varying by sport. The skinfold method using calipers according to the american council on exercise ace is the most commonly used method of estimating a persons body composition.
A more useful number is body fat. Using the previous example for a man you weigh 155 pounds and have a lean body mass of 116 pounds your body fat percentage is 155 116 155 x 100 252 percent. A body fat percentage above 33 if under 40 years old may be considered overweight while 39 or higher puts you in the highest risk category. Your body fat percentage is equal to body weight lean body mass body weight x 100. This provides the longest electrical path possible in the human body to allow for the most accurate measurement. Sure a bathroom scale tells you how much you weigh but that number doesnt always tell the whole story.
The three most common methods of calculating body fat are. Hydrostatic underwater weighing skinfold caliper measurements bioelectrical impedance all of these methods have their inherent strengths and weaknesses but underwater weighing is the gold. Body mass index or bmi is a guideline used to judge whether you are at risk for health problems associated with your weight. Your body stores the fat from the foods you eat in deposits that can be used for energy insulation and protection. Diy electrical body fat analyzer. Weight related health risks include heart disease diabetes and cancer.
A caliper is a tool that measures skinfold thickness at various parts on the body. Body fat often gets a bad rap but it serves an important purpose. A typical healthy woman has a body fat percentage between 21 and 33 2334 if over age 40 or 2436 if over 60. Focusing on body fat percentage instead of weight is much more useful to track fat loss progress. A thin person can still have an unhealthy amount of body fat lurking beneath their skin. For my age 18 it says a healthy bmi 60 179 body fat would be from 162 to 247 which is not that far off from the 185 249 range although it allows for people who are anorexic below 175 or near severely underweight almost below 16 to be considered to have an athletic body fat percentage in other words healthy.
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