Body Fat percentage

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Hearyoume08
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Body Fat percentage

Post by Hearyoume08 »

So I'm currently in a heath/PE course and we just did body composition. It has been very enlightening. We had to do calculations on lean body mass, body fat percentage and recommend body weight. Here's what I found out.

# 1 The scale lies.
#2 The BMI scale is mostly useless.

I am 5 ft 6 in, 22 years old and currently weigh 235 pounds. My fat percentage is 37%. My lean body mass is approximately 147 pounds. This means that without any fat on my body I would weight 147 pounds. The top number for my BMI in a healthy range is 150. Females have 12% essential fat and males have 3 %. Going below these numbers will harm your heath. 12% percent essential fat is about 20 pounds on me. So if I had 12% body fat I'm at 167 pounds. Now the healthy range for body fat is 30% and under. At 28% body fat I'm at 203, at 25% body fat I'm at 195, at 22% body fat I'm at 188, at 18% body fat I'm at 175. So my healthy range is between 167 and 203 and 12% and 28% body fat. See the scale lies. Even at 167 pounds I am considered over weight and at 203 obese.

Hopefully this is helpful to you. If you have any questions or want me to post the formulas that I used let me know.

Sonia
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Re: Body Fat percentage

Post by Sonia »

BMI works for some people and doesn't work for others. As with any other health-related measurement, it should be taken with a grain of salt.

For instance, I'm 5'2" and 125 pounds, my body fat is 23%. My lean body mass is about 96lbs. If I wanted 12% body fat, that puts my ideal weight at about 110 (100-12=88; 96/.88=~110). This is pretty accurate for me, and it also puts me in the "healthy" BMI range. 23% body fat might look fine on other people, but for me, it is very evident that I have excess fat. For those who are very athletic, though, BMI is a terrible tool because it doesn't take muscle mass into account. Like I said, just take it with a grain of salt.

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Kleineganz

Re: Body Fat percentage

Post by Kleineganz »

I look at a variety of measurements, including body fat %, BMI, weight, and general measurements (waist, hips, etc.). I think taking all of that together in context gives a better idea of overall body composition.

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loopyloo
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Re: Body Fat percentage

Post by loopyloo »

I thought BMI was always intended as a measure to track the weight of a population which it does do well. E.g. if 90% of your country has a high BMI then yes, your country has an obesity problem. It is not as good at measuring an individual's obesity because it doesn't take into account muscle, but as I understand that is not what it was invented for.

Hearyoume08
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Re: Body Fat percentage

Post by Hearyoume08 »

Sonia- Yes I know, for me this is more useful because it is more realistic for how my body is constructed and for someone else might find another method my be more useful. This is a motivator for me. I thought someone else might find it interesting.
Kleineganz- I'm taking my measurements as well.
loopyloo- I agree with you.

dave147
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Re: Body Fat percentage

Post by dave147 »

Hearyoume08 wrote:Hearyoume08
Hearyoume08 wrote:So I'm currently in a heath/PE course and we just did body composition. It has been very enlightening. We had to do calculations on lean body mass, body fat scale percentage and recommend body weight. Here's what I found out.

# 1 The scale lies.
#2 The BMI scale is mostly useless.

I am 5 ft 6 in, 22 years old and currently weigh 235 pounds. My fat percentage is 37%. My lean body mass is approximately 147 pounds. This means that without any fat on my body I would weight 147 pounds. The top number for my BMI in a healthy range is 150. Females have 12% essential fat and males have 3 %. Going below these numbers will harm your heath. 12% percent essential fat is about 20 pounds on me. So if I had 12% body fat I'm at 167 pounds. Now the healthy range for body fat is 30% and under. At 28% body fat I'm at 203, at 25% body fat I'm at 195, at 22% body fat I'm at 188, at 18% body fat I'm at 175. So my healthy range is between 167 and 203 and 12% and 28% body fat. See the scale lies. Even at 167 pounds I am considered over weight and at 203 obese.

Hopefully this is helpful to you. If you have any questions or want me to post the formulas that I used let me know.
Thanks Hearyoume08 for the information. I am 25 year old and my body weight is about 195 pound. So how could i calculate my body fat and lean body mass correctly?

dave147
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Re: Body Fat percentage

Post by dave147 »

Hearyoume08 wrote:Hearyoume08
Hearyoume08 wrote:So I'm currently in a heath/PE course and we just did body composition. It has been very enlightening. We had to do calculations on lean body mass, body fat scale percentage and recommend body weight. Here's what I found out.

# 1 The scale lies.
#2 The BMI scale is mostly useless.

I am 5 ft 6 in, 22 years old and currently weigh 235 pounds. My fat percentage is 37%. My lean body mass is approximately 147 pounds. This means that without any fat on my body I would weight 147 pounds. The top number for my BMI in a healthy range is 150. Females have 12% essential fat and males have 3 %. Going below these numbers will harm your heath. 12% percent essential fat is about 20 pounds on me. So if I had 12% body fat I'm at 167 pounds. Now the healthy range for body fat is 30% and under. At 28% body fat I'm at 203, at 25% body fat I'm at 195, at 22% body fat I'm at 188, at 18% body fat I'm at 175. So my healthy range is between 167 and 203 and 12% and 28% body fat. See the scale lies. Even at 167 pounds I am considered over weight and at 203 obese.

Hopefully this is helpful to you. If you have any questions or want me to post the formulas that I used let me know.
Thanks Hearyoume08 for the information. I am 25 year old and my body weight is about 195 pound. So how could i calculate my body fat and lean body mass correctly?

fingo9
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Re: Body Fat percentage

Post by fingo9 »

how to measure the body fat?

nightpolitik
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Re: Body Fat percentage

Post by nightpolitik »

If you want to find out your body fat percentage, please go get an accurate scan like the dexa. Water tank tests rely on user ability aka the ability to truly empty your lungs before going in, etc. You can't mess up a dexa scan.

To the OP, you should really map out what it is you are doing to maintain that much muscle.

At almost the same height as you;

5'7", 160 lbs at the time of measurement at my tap out after 9 months of bulking, 110 lbs lean mass after significant muscle gain with 50 lbs adipose. Leaving me at 30% body fat.

Your results would make it seem like you weight or power lift with super dense bones. Impressive!

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