How to Calculate your Body Fat Percentage

To put it very simply. Body Fat Percentage is the percentage of total fat tissue in a person's body compared to his/her total weight.

For example:

If a person weighing 200lbs has 10% body fat, it means that his body carries 20lbs of Fat tissue and the rest is lean muscle tissue, bone weight and other internal organs etc.

What we need to understand here is that this total Body Fat Percentage reflects both Essential Fat and Storage Fat

Essential Fat is just the amount of body fat necessary for the body to perform its normal bodily functions in a healthy manner. Anything less than this percentage could be harmful to the individual.

Storage Fat Anything in excess is stored in the body as fuel to be used for later. It is this portion that gets stored in some of our most unwanted places such as the abdomen, hips, legs, etc

Classification

Men (%Fat)

Essential Fat

2-4%

Athletes

6-13%

Fitness

14-17%

Acceptable

18-25%

Obese

25%+

Classification

Women (%Fat)

Essential Fat

10-14%

Athletes

14-20%

Fitness

21-24%

Acceptable

25-31%

Obese

32%+

Have you ever wondered why there is no change on the scale after working out so hard and for so long?

Have you ever gained weight instead of losing it?

Have you ever wondered that although you look better in the mirror or your clothes fitted well, there was still no noticeable change on the scale

What if i tell you that you have actually progressed rather than back tracked?

That's why it's important to use Body Fat Percentage in conjunction with your weight to understand real progress. Here's a small example to understand this.

Lets say you weigh 200 pounds with 20% body Fat. This means that you have 40lbs - Fat and 160lbs of lean muscle.


• Scenario 1: Now say after a month, you now weigh 180 pounds and 15% Body fat. This loss of 20 pounds translates to 27 lbs - fat and 153 lbs of muscle. Now in this example you have lost 13 pounds of fat and 7 lbs of muscle. So although you may have lost some fat, you've also lot a whole lot of metabolism boosting muscle.



• Scenarion 2: On the other hand, consider a scenario where you weigh 190 pounds with 10% body fat. Seemingly it doesn't seem like too much progress if you just look at the scale - just 10 pounds. But if you look closely, what this means is that you now have 19 lbs of fat and 171 lbs of muscle. This means that you have lost more fat and have in fact gained muscle.


So take your pick, which one sounds better??

There are several methods to calculate Body fat and they would differ from each other in terms of reliability or accuracy or cost-efficiency.

Some of them may be highly accurate but expensive or impractical. Whereas others may be so simple that a 5 year old may be able to calculate, but may not provide the most accurate picture.

Enumerated below are some of the methods used to calculate your body fat percentage.

Body Mass Index (BMI)
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis(BIA)
Hydrostatic Testing (Gold Standard)
Tape Measurements or The U.S. Navy Circumference Method
Skinfold Measurements

Strictly speaking the BMI does not give you the Body Fat Percentage but an estimate of the Body Mass. There are alternative formulas that can correlate and provide an estimate of the Body Fat Percentage using the BMI.
How to interpret your Body Mass Index or BMI


BMI

Interpretation




18.5 or less

Underweight




18.5-24.9

Normal




25.0-29.9

Overweight




30.0-39.9

Obese




40 or more

Extremely Obese






• Links to BMI Calculators
  

  Simple BMI Calculator from National Heart Lung & Blood Institute
  

  BMI Calculator from www.weightlossresources.co.uk

  BMI & Body Fat Percentage Calculator from www.dietandfitnesstoday.com

  
  

Shortcomings of the BMI method
This method does not strictly show the correct picture for a very athletic or a muscular person. If you have a high muscle to fat ratio, then this indicator may show a high BMI of say over 25. This might tend to suggest that the person is overweight, whereas in reality, it may only mean that the person has a high muscle mass. Hence though BMI is a very simple estimate, it may not be the most reliable.

BIA works by send a low intensity, safe electrical signal through the body.Although this method of testing may sound scary, it's absolutely safe, so there is no need to worry.

While the current can pass freely through the muscle tissues, it's movement is hampered by the fat tissues. This resistance is known as the Bioelectrical Impedance and in conjunction with other metrics of the individual, this is used to calculate the Body Fat Percentage.

Body Fat Scales are usually used for the BIA method. Check out some of the popular body fat scales below that you can use to calculate your body fat percentage.

Shortcomings of the BIA method

The resistance to fat tissue or the impedance can also be influenced by other factors such as the water content in your body, recent activities etc. Thus there can sometime be a large variation in the body fat percentage shown. Hence the accuracy level may not be very high. However on the plus side, it is one of the most convenient methods to calculate your body fat percentage.

Eureka Eureka!! I remember these words very clearly from my school days, when i first read about Archimedes. If you want a first hand experience and want to feel like Archimedes, you must consider Hydrostatic Testing as the method to calculate your body fat percentage.

To put it in lay man's language, this method uses the principle of buoyancy to calculate your body fat percentage. You will be dunked in a tub of water and the amount of water you displace will be measured. Using complex calculations, that only Archimedes could follow, your Body Fat Percentage will be calculated.

This method is called the gold standard, because it is one of most accurate methods used to calculate your body fat percentage.


• Want to use Hydrostatic Testing to Calculate your Body Fat Percentage: Check these out
  

  Fitness Wave-Hydrostatic Body Composition Testing Systems
  

  BodyFatTest - The mobile alternative

  
  
  


So if you're feeling like getting dunked, here's your chance. Just dont jump out of the tub and run though...like Archimedes did..lol!

Shortcomings of this method
The only disadvantage of this method is the cost and its accessibility. As regards the cost - the first test will cost you around $40-$50. A retest usually comes at a lesser cost. However comparing this to the other methods, this is pretty expensive. You can use your Body Fat Scale of the Skinfold Caliper every day and not have to pay anything extra.

The accessibility is also an issue. Unless you can find a convenient testing location, you may not be able to use this option. So although this seems to be the most accuarate method to calculate your body fat percentage,I am not really sure whether everyone will have an access to this method.

This is perhaps one of the most simplest methods to use and can be easily done online. However because of the limited number of input variables, the end result of this method may not be entirely accurate.

However from a convenience factor, this is one of more convenient ways to calculate your Body Fat Percentage.

The US Navy Circumference method uses just 3 factors for men: Abdomen, Height & Neck. For women an additional input factor is used - the Hips (cuz Hips don't lie!)

However there are other variations of this method which use additional factors

Very simple to measure and you can get the results online in a minute.

• Useful Links on How to Calculate your Body Fat Percentage: Check these out
  

  Online Calculator - US Navy circumference method
  

  Home Body Fat Test

  
  
  

Cons of this method
Due to the simplicity of this test, you will have to do with the reduced accuracy level of this method. But the best part of this method is the speed and simplicity and yes - its free of course!!

I have saved the best for last. While others may dispute this and they entitled to their opinion, I personally recommend using the skinfold caliper method for calculating your body fat percentage.

It is just the right blend that you need between accuracy and economy. Now i am referring to the manual/plastic calipers here. Dont frown on their cost factor and undermine their accuracy. Granted - they are not as accurate as the Digital ones. But in my honest view the additional level of accuracy may not be actually worth the additional moolah.

Here are some of the best plastic calipers on the market. For 20 bucks this is worth the investment many times over.I used this very caliper to calculate my body fat percentage. Its a great motivation. Every mm that you lose provides you with an additional boost. Sometimes you are not able to see your progress with the naked eye, but the body fat percentages keep a tab on your progess inch by inch.

Check out these little gems.

While the manual skinfold calipers generally rely on the one-site test, the Digital calipers are capable of generating results on multi-site tests- thus bringing in a more accurate body fat percentage.

Downsides of Skinfold Calipers
The only hitch with these calipers if you will need to practice a lot in the beginning. You need to pinch it at the same spot. You need to learn how to pinch the skin. In the beginning, you might get wildly fluctuating results. I was scared in the beginning. I thought i would never get consistent results. But i think it took me a couple of weeks to get the hang of it and thereafter I was pretty consistent.

The Digital calipers provide you higher level of accuracy, but it comes with a price tag too!