February 12, 2019

How to accurately measure your body fat percentage Part 2

Wie Du Deinen Körperfettanteil akkurat messen kannst Teil 2

Having covered the basics of body composition and body fat percentage in the first part of this article series, and then looked at some common methods of measuring body fat percentage, in this second part of this article we will take a look at other methods of determining body fat percentage and introduce a very accurate strategy to help you monitor whether your weight loss efforts are going in the right direction.

Pictures and the mirror

Low-tech may not be as sexy, but ironically, this simple method of estimating body fat percentage can be just as accurate as any other method.

You won't be able to determine your exact body fat percentage with a simple visual estimate, of course, but you will be able to narrow it down to a narrow range.

Here is one of the many pictures with examples of how to estimate your body fat percentage that you can find on the internet:

You can see that the much sought-after six-pack becomes visible from a body fat percentage of around 10% and that a clear vascularity of the abdominal muscles begins at around 8%. The skin starts to become thin from 7% and anything below this level is a step towards extreme thinness.

Women naturally carry more fat in their breasts, thighs and buttocks, so even if they are extremely lean and defined, their body fat percentage will be higher than men with comparable definition and leanness.

For example, a man will look quite lean at a body fat percentage of 10%, whereas a woman will be ready for the competition stage at a body fat percentage of 10%.

You should also be aware of the fact that two people with the same body fat percentage can look very different depending on how much muscle mass they have.

For example, a 70 kilo man with 10% body fat will be carrying around 7 kilos of fat, whereas an 85 kilo man with 10% body fat will only have 1.5 kilos more fat but a lot more muscle mass - and the latter will look a lot fitter.

For this reason, visual estimates and comparisons won't give you the absolute details of your exact body fat percentage, but they are all you need to get a good idea of where you are.

How can you actually determine your body fat percentage?

If you've been reading along carefully up to this point, you may be wondering how scientific studies have been able to determine the error rates of different methods.

What was their gold standard against which they compared the readings of other methods? Well, the answer is that a so-called 4-range analysis was used. This is quite a complex and complicated process that uses multiple tests to determine different things:

Bone density
fat mass
muscle tissue
Water volume

Each of these values is determined using specific test methods that have been shown to provide a very accurate estimate.

For example, body water is measured using deuterium dilution (22), bone density is measured using hydrostatic weighing (which is very good for measuring bone mass, although not the best for determining body fat percentage), and so on.

The data from each of these separate tests is then mathematically manipulated to determine body fat percentage - and it works really well (23).

So if you have access to a team of scientists who can perform these high-tech tests whenever you want, then you're in luck and can accurately determine your body fat percentage at any time.

Oh, you're not one of those lucky people? Well, that's too bad.

Fortunately, you can do something else instead that's consistent and accurate enough to be worth your while...

The simple and practical way to measure and control your body fat percentage

There is a fairly simple, cheap and useful system that can help you monitor changes in your body composition quite accurately. It's better than relying on a single method of estimating body fat percentage as it gives you a full 360 degree view of what's happening in your body over time.

And that's what really matters: are you making progress towards your goals or not?

You need four things for this system:

A caliper
A tape measure
A scale
A mirror

The whole thing works as follows...

1. weigh yourself every day and calculate the average every 7 to 10 days.

Our weight fluctuates regularly depending on stomach and intestinal filling, glycogen storage and water retention. For this reason, it is important not to rely too much on or be influenced by daily measurements.

Looking at your average weight over a week or 10 days will give you a better sense of where your weight actually is.

(To calculate the average weight, add up the daily values and divide the result by the number of days).

If your average weight increases over 7 or 10 days, then you can be pretty sure that you are gaining weight. If, on the other hand, this value falls, then you are losing weight.

It is also important that you weigh yourself in a consistent manner to get the most accurate readings. Ideally, you should weigh yourself first thing in the morning (after going to the toilet and before consuming any food or drink).

2. take Caliper measurements every week.

Remember that caliper measurements are not reliable for determining body fat percentage, but they are very useful in determining whether you are losing or gaining fat.

As a general rule, you will get fatter as your skinfold thickness increases and lose fat as your skinfold thickness decreases.

Measure your skinfold thickness every week and you'll know what's going on. You can either follow the caliper's instructions or simply measure the skinfold thickness on the side of your body at belly button level.

3. measure your waist circumference every week.

Measuring your waist circumference at the navel is an easy way to see if you are losing or gaining fat. All you need is a tape measure - and if your waist circumference is increasing, you are gaining fat. If your waist circumference shrinks, then you are losing fat. It's as simple as that.

4. take photos every week.

Concrete numbers are all well and good, but at the end of the day it's how we look in the mirror that counts. However, when we look at ourselves in the mirror every day, it's easy to see the incremental improvements that take place from day to day.

For this reason, it can be helpful to take pictures every week from the front, side and back, preferably in your underwear and in good - preferably always the same - lighting. These pictures will help you to see progress that you would otherwise probably have missed and keep you motivated.

What is a healthy body fat percentage for men and women?

We live in a society that demonizes body fat - but at the same time, body fat is essential for the body to function properly. Among other things, it helps to protect internal organs, regulate body temperature and produce vital hormones and chemicals, to name just a few of the important functions.

This is the reason why we can only stay healthy up to a certain minimum body fat percentage before our health starts to collapse.

The perception of "too lean" varies from person to person, but here is an overview of how different body fat levels are scientifically classified:

Classification	Men	Women
Essential body fat	2 - 4%	9 - 11%
Athletes	6 - 13%	14 - 20%
Fit	14 - 17%	21 - 24%
Normal	18 - 25%	25 - 31%
Overweight/obese	26%+	32%+

As much as people want to get hard and defined these days, you simply can't naturally maintain an ideal body fat percentage for the competition stage without thoroughly messing up your body (24).

If you get too lean, you're begging for all kinds of problems. You can mess up your hormone balance and organ function, you can ruin your metabolism and immune system, and you'll likely struggle with chronic fatigue and depression.

And to make matters worse, once you get to this point, it can take a very long time to get back to normal (25).

The bottom line on measuring body fat percentage

There is no way to calculate your body fat percentage with 100% accuracy. The fact is that any method of calculating body fat percentage is only an estimate. As we've seen, some methods are better than others, but none of them are as accurate as we might have thought.

Unfortunately, the best option, four-range analysis, is not available to us, so we have to settle for an estimated range of body fat percentage.

But who cares about that?

The fact is that body fat measurements themselves are not as important as the changes in our bodies over time, which ultimately determine how we look.

This is the reason why I recommend using the strategy described above. It's simple and will help you stay in control of whether your diet and exercise program are moving things in the right direction - and ultimately, that's all that matters.

References:

https://www.muscleforlife.com/how-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/

By Michael Matthews

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