Have a question? This Body Fat Calculator will give you a close estimate of your actual body fat percentage.
Body fat is useful for the body, so it shouldn’t have an always negative connotation. This body fat comes in the form of adipose tissue.
Adipose tissue serves many vital functions for the body, like storing lipids for energy use, secreting important hormones, and cushioning for the organs.
Body fat comes in two forms, essential and storage. Essential body fat is the base level of fat we find throughout all parts of the body. For men, this essential level is 2 – 5%, and for women, this level is 10 – 13%.
The other form of body fat, stored body fat, will accumulate in the adipose tissue and visceral fat. Some of this is ideal, but excess levels of this fat will lead to very negative results.
Body composition is important, as it can tell you if you are carrying too much body fat and allow you to compare with the rest of the population.
With this body fat percentage, we can also calculate estimates for which category you should be placed in, the amount of lean body mass in the body, ideal body fat for your age, the amount of fat loss required to reach the previous ideal, and a BMI method for finding body fat.
To make use of this calculator, you will just need to enter your age, weight, height, neck size, and waist size. If you are female, you will also need a measurement of your hips. This allows the calculator to find all of those estimations.
How Is Body Fat Percentage Calculated?
This body fat calculator uses the US Navy Method, which comes from the Naval Health Research Center.
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For this method, there will need to be three circumference measures:
- You will measure the circumference of the waist at a horizontal level near the naval for males, and at the smallest width for women. The person should not pull their stomach in, as this messes with the results.
- You will measure the circumference of the neck by starting just below the larynx, and the tap emeasure should slope downward to the front. The neck needs to have flaring forward avoided.
- And then for women, there will need to be a horizontal measure of the hips at the largest part.
Now, with these circumference measures, we will make use of the formulas for body fat percentage. USC uses inches, and the metric formula uses centimeters.
Male Body Fat Percentage:
- USC Units: BFP = 86.010 × log10 (abdomen – neck) – 70.041 × log10 (height) + 36.76SI,
- Metric Units: BFP = (495 / (1.0324 – 0.19077 × log10 (waist – neck) ) + 0.15456 × log10 (height))) – 450
Female Body Fat Percentage:
- USC Units: BFP = 163.205 × log10 (waist + hip – neck) – 97.684 × (log10 (height)) – 78.387
- Metric Units: BFP = (495 / (1.29579 – 0.35004 × log10 (waist + hip-neck) + 0.22100 × log10 (height))) – 450
What Are The Health Categories For Body Fat?
We are going to be using the American Council on Exercise Body Fat Categorizations since they give more specifics, rather than just healthy or obese.
The Body Fat Categories:
- Essential Fat = 10 – 13 % for women, and 2 – 5% for men.
- Athletes Fat Level = 14 – 20% for women, and 6 – 13% for men.
- Fitness Fat Levels = 21 – 24% for women, and 14 – 17% for men.
- Average Body Fat Levels = 25 – 31% for women, and 18 – 25% for men.
- Obese Body Fat Levels = 32% or Higherm for women, and 25% or more for men.
What Problems Come With Excess Body Fat Levels?
The main conditions related to excess body fat are going to be cases of obesity and being overweight.
Obesity is one of the leading preventable causes of death throughout the world, and in the US it is somewhat of an epidemic.
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Almost 37% of adults in the united states are actually defined as obese.
Along with obesity, we see reductions in one’s quality of life, lower mental health, the presence of sleep apnea, and the rise in many leading causes of death like cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancers, and diabetes. All of these may play a part in reducing a person’s life expectancy, so it is a rather serious issue.
We previously mentioned the main roles of fat, like the production and use of essential hormones affecting the body. Well, an excess or lack of these critical hormones will lead to negative effects.
One area, in particular, the abdomen, has some major issues when there is excess body fat. There is a major disruption in hormone balances, and visceral fat problems may cause a specific increase in cytokines, which are a big category of proteins, resulting in a risk of CVD.
And the final part to note that can come from higher levels of body fat, would be an overall resistance to insulin, otherwise known as diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is the form of diabetes that has the body resisting insulin and causing issues when it comes to blood sugar and other bodily regulations.
What Causes A Gain In Body Fat?
Body fat is going to be gained in times of eating more calories than you what is needed to maintain.
We can find this by estimating our total daily expenditure and having it take into account the levels of physical activity we get.
Then, with this number, if we are taking in more calories than that, we would gain body weight, likely in the form of some body fat, but also possibly some muscle if your exercise routine matches well.
It is a good idea to get closer to your ideal body fat percentages so that you are able to avoid any health complications that we mentioned before.
The rates for which body fat will accumulate in the body are going to vary from person to person and this is due to genetic and behavioral factors.
Some of the behavior factors will be like when you are lacking exercise or simply taking in excess foods.
If you are attempting to lose weight and get into a healthier weight category, it is a good idea to track calories in some way.
We hope that this article and calculator will help you in your fitness and wellness journey!
Make sure you make use of the other fitness calculators that we have here on PTPioneer.
Tyler Read
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