Sport Body fat calculation insanity

Sport Fitness
J

JackShephard

0
Hi all,

A few months ago I calculated my bodyfat % using this:


With 174cm height (that's 5'7''), neck at 38cm and navel waist size at 97 that gave me a cool 26% body fat index (for a male). I was 80kilos at the time.

Yesterday I tried it again and I'm now 72kg. That's 8kilos less folks :)
So the measurements were 174cm height, neck at 37.5 and waist at 91... which gave me 22% bf.

So of course my question was, what sort of waist size do i need to reach say 8% bf? So I played with the application until I reached 8% - and that would require a 75cm waist line.

I'm not being funny, but 75cm waist line sounds borderline starvation to me. My wife isn't even there and she dresses size 1. So I'm really confused now - do guys who weight say 63kg have 75cm waist lines at navel level? Or are these online calculator nonsense?

Cheers,

Cigaro.
 
Online calculators are nonsense

But it's also worth pointing out that how thin you are has nothing to do with your BF%, you can quite easily have a skinny waist and no muscle with high BF
 
I have not had good luck with BIA machines. Regular mode says I'm 18% which is way too high and athlete mode says I'm 7.8% which is way too low. I think I'm 11-12%
 
really?

I suppose there are a number of factors that need to be controlled like hydration, which can effect the results from the machine.
 
matt182 said:
If your really serious about getting your body fat, it may be worth considering BIA machines or skin calipers.
Click to expand...

On this note, how accurate are scales that measure this at home? You input height, age, and gender, then the machine takes your weight, and using foot-pads and holding the hand piece with your arms out straight in front of you it sends the pulse on through and measures body fat, muscle, and visceral fat.

I'm sure its not as accurate as getting it done professionally with the electrodes all over, but with my scale I get totally different results than with the one at my gym that takes the same information but just has hand sensors. Mine says I have thirty-something percent fat, the one at the gym says its more like twenty-something. So a pretty big difference.
 
matt182 said:
really?

I suppose there are a number of factors that need to be controlled like hydration, which can effect the results from the machine.
Click to expand...

"Regular" vs. "athlete" mode in the electrical body fat scales change the assumptions about bone density (bone has high resistance, like fat), but it is quite possible that neither "regular" nor "athlete" mode assumptions about bone density are correct for a given person.

The absolute numbers on those scales may be off, but trends over time can still be noticed.
 
Feel the thunder of DEXA! It can calculate your bone density while determining your fat percentages. My bone density has improved the last two years since I began lifting. (Something I am slightly concerned with being 47 soon, and approaching 50).

ALL HAIL.......frigggen diet and fitness training!.....Let me here ya!!!!!!!!! Yea......!!!!.....oh.....:) Got lost for a second......:)

BMI calculators on the net are useless. If you want an accurate measurement, go get it professionally performed and get it right.

And to answer question concerning waist size: for me at less then 8% BF, my waist size is 29/30. For others can be larger because of the variables of weight, body composition, hgt, etc. So it can depend on the person. There are persons with less than 6% BF with waist sizes 32/33.


Best wishes


Chillen
 
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Chillen said:
BMI calculators on the net are useless. If you want an accurate measurement, go get it professionally performed and get it right.
Click to expand...

Actually, those BMI calculators on the net are generally accurate, if you give them accurate height and weight measurements (which are relatively easy to measure).

It is BMI itself that can be of questionable value as an individual assessment for a person with greater than typical amounts of muscle (rare in the general population, which is why BMI is useful for population studies of obesity and such, but more common among the fitness crowd).

Or did you mean to say that BF% (as opposed to BMI) calculators on the net are unlikely to be accurate?
 
tjl said:
Actually, those BMI calculators on the net are generally accurate, if you give them accurate height and weight measurements (which are relatively easy to measure).

It is BMI itself that can be of questionable value as an individual assessment for a person with greater than typical amounts of muscle (rare in the general population, which is why BMI is useful for population studies of obesity and such, but more common among the fitness crowd).

Or did you mean to say that BF% (as opposed to BMI) calculators on the net are unlikely to be accurate?
Click to expand...


BMI (Body Mass Index) calculators on the net are generally inaccurate, and should not be used. I have had BMI calculators on the internet specify I was obese......>:yelrotflmao:. I have others tell me I as underweight. I dont trust them.

I still reccommend to persons to get it done right, and not from the internet.

They tend to confuse new persons, and this is something they can do without.

DEXA is well regarded and accurate.




Best wishes,

Chillen
 
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On the internet the calculators tell me I have 17% body fat and then on my scales I'm being told 25%, I don't think I trust either!
 
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