Calculating Body Fat %

Here's a link that compares methods of determing body composition. www.new-fitness.com/body_fat_analyzing.html

I agree you should be consistent when you test yourself because I have had the same experiences using my tanita scale. Time of day, hydration level, proximity to your workout, time since last meal affect the body fat percent displayed. One thing I don't understand is the "athlete vs adult" option. When you program the scale you enter height, gender, and whether you're an athlete or adult (I believe the manual says you chose adult if you don't exercise). The first two options are clearly defined but the activity level choice seems a bit arbitrary. I'm 6'4" ~185 lbs and if I use the athlete setting I range between 6.0 and 8.0 percent body fat whereas if I use the adult setting I'm 13.0 to 15.0 percent. Whether I'm 6.0 or 15.0 who knows but I think the scaleis useful if you stick to the same setting and are consistent with when you test yourself, then you can determine if you're becoming more fit or less fit.

Great movie. You can measure body fat using bioimpedance instead of calipers. Each method has its own limitations. I found this link to one source: www.hometestmed.com/omron_body_fat_analyzer.asp

A physician I am not but I would argue that measuring body fat % ranks in the lower echelons of importance. If you feel that you have too much fat hanging around I would be more worried about things like cholesterol, blood PSI, etc.. I am not pointing fingers at anybody in this thread but many people have this idea that eating foods that are high in fat will lead to adding more body fat to your physique. That is simply not true. A person could eat the fattiest animal based foods but if the caloric intake is below the amount this individual burns in any given day, he will actually begin to reduce his body fat % (This person does stand a good chance of dying though from the high fat content of his diet). Body fat is nature's way of storing energy for a rainy day when food is in short supply.

I really think that measruing body fat is really unnecessary. Evry method I've ever been exposed to coems up with very different results.

Current "in vogue" thinking is to measure waist size as a determinate for healthy body composition. Men should not exceed a waist size of 35 inches. Women not to exceed a waist size of 33 inches. Sorry, cannot quote the source.

I just started swimming again back in June and I purchased one of those Tanita body fat scales shortly after I started. These scales measure body fat by measuring Bio impedance. It probably the easiest and cheapest way to get an idea of what your body fat is and to see if you are losing fat versus muscle. The scale itself works pretty well, but you need to use it the same time of day to get the best idea of your progress. Hydration levels, food in your stomach and recent excersize can give you different results. There can be a variation through out the day as much as 2%. But so far, i'm very happy with it and I can clearly see my progress. Here are my results so far Second or third week in June of this year when I purchased the scale. Weight - 220 Body fat percent - about 26% Today Weight - 208 Body fat percent - about 21% The 5% drop in body fat tells me that most of the weight I lost was body fat. And that helps confirm that what I have been doing is working. For reference I do about 2500 - 3000 meters a day 4 or 5 days a week and 1 day per week of weight training (except during taper for nationals). I also watched my caloric intake and avoided fast food. Obviously no magic pill here, but I am enjoying it and feel way better than I did just a few months ago. Kevin

If you are very ripped, you have 6% bf. If you're normal, you have 15% body fat.

Hey MSwimming...thank you for the very informative reply. Can you tell me where you bought your machine and about how much it cost? I would like to be able to measure somewhat regularly. It also sounds like we do similar swim distances, but I lift weights 2-3x week, and try to get in a powerwalk 2-3x week over lunch (depending on weather). I did talk to my coach this morning about this, since he sometimes videotapes, and has other clinics. They do this once in a while at the school where we swim (using the in-water method), and he'll look into seeing if some of us can do it too. While I know that there are other things to watch, I do monitor my blood pressure regularly (taking medication for it), but my chlorestol is about 160. So I'm trying to change what I have control over...eating and exercising, and monitoring the results.

I had a 20% off coupon for bed bath and beyond and purchased this one. Tanita dual scale It would be interesting to compare the results to the in-water method. If you get a chance to do that please share your results. Good luck.