I have noticed that a lot of people on this board have a very friendly way of estimating body fat levels. On more than one occasion i have seen people asking for their body fat levels and forum members always respond on this by giving relatively low numbers. Even worse sometimes people give their own number, usually 7 or 8%, while it’s pretty obvious to me they are not. How do I know? Because they are fatter than I was in the picture I most recently posted. I was 11% in that picture, btw. I used to think I was 7 or 8 % but I was not. How do you guys measure body fat? Or do you guesstimate?
You really cant estimate bf%. It is not a grand guessing game that people think they have mastered. I have worked with athletes and bodybuilders who are 4-5% and can only handle that % for a short period of time before his or her system shuts down on them. As for those who estimate 6-7%, well they are wishers and dreamers. THAT’S RIPPPPPPPED!! I agree with you Franc…people underestimate…i am proud to be around 14.4539%. Go the hydrostatic way, or if not available then get someone who is efficient with the calipers, but also consistent. Worst case scenario, tanita has a few products that are strong. (use athletic build models…others over estimate, due to body mass)
Just be consistent.
Stay Strong,
SP
Has anyone here ever heard of the bodyfat measuring system where you use bodyweight, neck circumference, and waist measurement to calculate bodyfat? We use this in the Army, and I’d like to know just how bad the margine of error is in this system. I know it’s shitty already, but a good idea for the margine of error is needed badly. Thanks to anyone who can help.
Waist, neck and bodyweight measurements are a good indicator for real lean individuals. As far as room for error, there is a tremendous amount. Try using neck/arm/calf ratio…should all be around the same…chest/waist/hips should have a 100/65-70/80 ratio. That is pretty close to symetrical. As far as estimating, the more muscle the harder to get a measurement, and vice versa, fat is held in different areas for all.
Try using a circumference measurment for all bodyparts.
Ya - I posted a pic on here once after a 9 point BF estimate that said I was 7.1% BF and got blasted because everyone thought that there was no way. I now tend to agree. I think the main thing is consistancy. If the persone or machine doing the testing is consistantly wrong the the same way, then you can at least monitor your progress.
All methods have their pluses and minuses and sources of inaccuracy. The best method, of course, is post-mortem cut-and-weigh. Barring that, hydrostatic is great provided you can really empty your lungs of all air which is sometimes very hard to do if you don’t practice beforehand. Bioelectric impedance is highly dependent on how hydrated you are and what how much food you have in your gut. Calipers and tape measurements are highly dependent on how close you use the tools WRT how the researchers used the tools and also where you as an individual tend to gain body fat (e.g., more in your lower half as opposed to your upper half).
What I do is use a Tanita scale for bioelectric, calipers (biceps, triceps, scapula, and hip) for subcutaneous fat thickness, and tape (neck and waist, ala easy-to-use military method) for circumferance, and take the average. I decided upon those three as they always tended to hover around 5% of each other (meaning the tape tended to show, say, 17% bodyfat while Tanita showed around 22% with caliper falling somewhere in between). I always do the measurements under the same conditions every time I measure.
One time I did the caliper method which included a thigh measurement. The result was 6% bodyfat while all the others said I hovered in the high teens! I wonder if all the low percentages people give out are derived from the thigh caliper method.
Now, however, all I do is measure my waist size since, for me, that is the most accurate and easy measurement of how fat I am.
I’m proud to be the fatty of the boards. At least from what my gym’s electro-thing-a-ma-bob said, I’m about 20% fat.
Then again while I was at school, and used calipers, I was measured at being about 12% fat. I don’t know how I went from being at school and coming home (and no weight gain) to getting 8% more fat.
Personally, I think the gym one is rigged. I actually thought out in my head “if I have about 30 lbs of fat, then if I enter in a higher-than-my-actual weight, my bf % should decrease.” Right? If I say I’m 100 lbs and have 10 lbs, 10% bf. But if I add a zero and have 1000 lbs, then 10 lbs to my 1000 lbs would be 1% bf.
It makes sense in my mathematical head. When I did this, my bf actually went higher! Hmmm. Any good explanation for this?