Body Fat Percentage

[walker]

I've always sat around the 14% mark, and never strayed far from there regardless of training amount

 

[buddha]

I've just used one of those bathroom scales that 'calculates' body fat%.
It came up with 33%!!!!
Are they a load of carp, or am I about to die? (I can pinch about half an inch BTW)

 

[Banjo]

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/a/bodyfat.htm

http://www.edb.utexas.edu/fit/bfstandards.php

http://www.weightlossforall.com/fat-percentage-ideal.htm

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0424.htm


You will be tested tomorrow.

Thanks for the links.

According to the "weight loss for all"link my age group should be between

11 and 22 % so at 20 I am ok but as I am still aiming to lose a bit more should end up closer to the middle of the healthy range.

 

[Banjo]

I've just used one of those bathroom scales that 'calculates' body fat%.
It came up with 33%!!!!
Are they a load of carp, or am I about to die? (I can pinch about half an inch BTW)

I dont imagine a cheap pair of scales will be very accurate but should tell you over time if your fat percentage is stable rising or falling.I think you have to use it as one indicator as well as your overall weight/height and the obvious fat you can pinch.PS I can pinch about an inch in places but its definitely getting less :-)

 

[zacklaws]

I bought a set of weight watcher scales which calculates, BMI, body fat etc, but after reading how inacurate they can be I bought a set of calipers as well. I found though that there was only a slight difference, around 1% of body fat and at my level, its nothing dramatic to worry about.

 

[jimboalee]

I bought a set of weight watcher scales which calculates, BMI, body fat etc, but after reading how inacurate they can be I bought a set of calipers as well. I found though that there was only a slight difference, around 1% of body fat and at my level, its nothing dramatic to worry about.

How many pinch sites do you use.
How do you get to read the Subscapular on your own????

 

[zacklaws]

Chest, Abdomen and Thigh.

 

[jimboalee]

Chest, Abdomen and Thigh.

Mine are Bicep, Tricep and Suprailiac.

The fourth traditional site is the Subscapular, but one can't get to it oneself.

There is some jiggery-pokery with the tables in the book to get an 'estimate' of Subscapular.

I tested my back-calculations by having my Nursey friend do the tests on four sites and then I do the tests on three sites. Worked fine.

I've been using Slimguide calipers for about eleven years.
If anyone doesn't want to buy a pair, the SupraIliac fold mm measurement is close to 3/4 of your fat%. Well it is on me...

I have been told I have a habit of pinching my 'tummy'.

 

[jimboalee]

I have checked the tables.

EXAMPLE.


Triceps + Subscapular.

T + S = 20mm = 20.3% fat.

Triceps only.

T = 7mm + 20.2% fat.


Subscapular can be taken as 13mm.

Tricep + Bicep + Suprailiac + Subscupular = 40mm = 20.2% fat.

FOR A MAN.

 

[zacklaws]

Once I've done my measurements, rather than do the calculations, I just input them into the following website:-

http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

I don't really know how accurate the site is as I have never compared it to manual calculations, so long as the trend is downwards preferably and roughly matches the scales then I am not too concerned. A very quick check last night showed only a 4lb difference between calipers and the scales.

The main thing to do is always use the same scales and calipers providing they are not wildly inaccurate as all trends up or down will show.

 

[Twenty Inch]

I have checked the tables.

EXAMPLE.


Triceps + Subscapular.

T + S = 20mm = 20.3% fat.

Triceps only.

T = 7mm + 20.2% fat.


Subscapular can be taken as 13mm.

Tricep + Bicep + Suprailiac + Subscupular = 40mm = 20.2% fat.

FOR A MAN.

With muscle flexed or not? I'm guessing not.

 

[jimboalee]

With muscle flexed or not? I'm guessing not.

Relaxed.

I've just done some measurements and worked them through the '3 site Chest, abs, Thigh , ' formula I dug off the web.

0.25% different from my Slimguide method,,, On the lower side,,,

So that's 1/4% between caliper methods, and the scales are 7% higher.

 

[kewb]

whats the difference between fat index and fat mass
my fat index is 21% and fat mass 2 stone 6 lb
measured using a machine in chemists btw .

am i hauling around 2stone in fat ?

 

[jimboalee]

I do all the measurements because I'm a technophile.

The simple measurement is :-

"How does your image in the mirror compare with the gold medalist in your sport?"

The closer it is, the happier you should be.

Except darts,,,,

 

[Rob3rt]

whats the difference between fat index and fat mass
my fat index is 21% and fat mass 2 stone 6 lb
measured using a machine in chemists btw .

am i hauling around 2stone in fat ?

Well id assume fat index is a percentage of your fat to body mass i.e. Body Fat Percentage = (fat mass/body mass)x100, and fat mass is an absolute number.

So if you weigh about 10 stone with a 20% body fat perentage (index) then I'd assume you are carrying about 2 stone of fat yes.

I am assuming definitions here based on general unit manipulation, I am an electronic engineer not a biologist or sports scientist, so I may be wrong. But it sounds quite logical to me.


Last time I tried to measure my own body fat percentage was over 4 years ago, It was using a device given away with tokens form special k cereal, it gave me a % of about 16% I seem to recal. I have no idea if this is accurate, Im 6'2" and weight about 13 stone 6 pounds, 1st thing in the morning. With a 34" waist. Wii fit flags me as overweight (based in BMI) if my weight goes up a couple of pounds through the day and eating etc. Which is absurd, based on my appearence, if I lost the amount of weight it says I shoud to be ideal I'd look ill! I am not ripped at all, but im pretty "skinny". I totally disregard BMI.