The average adult male body fat percentage should be between 18 and 25. If youre a woman measure fat at your triceps suprailiac about an inch above the hip bone and the thigh. Here are the 10 best ways to measure your body fat percentage. But others feel that body fat percentage is really the way to go. The procedure helps measure your body fat by measuring the flow of an electric current through your muscles. For your body to function properly it needs a minimum amount of essential fat.
3 however that is just the minimum amount. The lower your body fat percentage the higher percentage of lean muscle mass you have on your frame. Tracking your body fat percentage is one way to measure progress when youre trying to lose weight or gain lean muscle mass. Body fat includes essential body fat and storage body fat. Your muscle holds water and is quite conductive but fat has lower water content and not that conductive. If youre a man measure fat at your chest abdominals and thigh.
The bmi numbers are way too general to be really useful says tammy callahan marketing manager of life measurement inc which. Body weight 1882 pounds body fat percentage 1772 lean muscle mass 1882 x 100 1772 100 15485 pounds body fat mass 1882 x 1772 100 3335 pounds. Its pretty simple to do the calculations above. Essential body fat is a base level of fat that is found in most parts of the body. Muscle bone and water. According to various sources the minimum limit of body fat is around 2 5 for men 2 and 10 13 for women.
Known as body fat scales some also. So if you weigh 1882 pounds and have 1772 body fat you have 15485 pounds of lean muscle mass and 3335 pounds of body fat. Some of todays bathroom scales measure not only your overall weight but also the percentage of your weight that comes from fat vs. The amount of essential fat differs between men and women and is typically around 2 5 in men and 10 13 in women. But it isnt the entire story of your overall health. It is necessary fat that maintains life and reproductive functions.
The strength of the impedance is then checked in relation to weight and height metrics to get your body fat percentage. Instead you can use these scales as complements to. The next time you measure your body weight and body fat percentage you should strive to increase your muscle mass and decrease your body fat. Body fat scales can be helpful when youre trying to measure your body fat but they dont tell the whole story about your fat to muscle ratio.