I tried search this and it just turned up results of peoples body fat instead of telling "how to". Sooo, how do you do it?
about the most realistic way and its not that expensive is to get a digital scale that can also read body fat.. you can get one at wal mart for like 30 bucks. it has little metal strips on it and you damp your feet and stand on it.. (bare foot) it sends a electric current through your body and back to the scale. it does some kind of formula based on how long it takes to send it through your body and back.
hydrostatic weighing is the most accurate way to test body fat on the planet.....www.bodyfattest.com...Usually you have to go to a University where they have a huge tank that they submerge you in. Very complex and very few people have it done. They do have portable units of which this company is the best and has reasonable rates. Hydrostatic weighing is the "gold standard" of body fat testing. after that, you can buy the new scales on the market that electronically test fat content through the electrical imedance principles, they take into consideration your height, and other factors as well and they are fairly accurate. After that you can try the simple old "caliper" method using calipers to pinch your fat and then analyze the data.
Couple of guerrilla tips on how your doing bodyfat wise; -deadhang chins;they get sooooooo much easier as your fat goes down. -waistsize in the morning before you eat/drink water or even just how your pants fit; if your weight is going up or staying the same but your pants size is going down your gaining muscle and losing fat. I don't trust any of the above methods except the hydrowhatever thing and i'm not that concerned about it to spend a day being dunked like boiled egg.
The scales suck! I'm 6'2" ~220lbs and about 10% bf. The digital scale at my MT gym said I was 49.5% BF. Buy some calipers.
Estimate #1 based on height and weight Your "Ponderal Index" is 12.47 which gives an estimated body fat of 24.2% (39.1 pounds of fat) Estimate #2 based on waist size and weight Estimated body fat of 10.5% (16.9 pounds of fat) Am I a fatty?
THIS is the correct answer. These are the 3 ways to accurrately test the fat.....In the exact order of accurracy. There are no other effective ways.
DEXA is as accurate as the hydrostatic thing, but you're unlikely to find that anywhere except at a university, too, or perhaps a hospital, doctor's office, or physical therapy center. The Tanita BF% scales are decently accurate, although they become less and less reliable the more extreme your composition (i.e. super-fat or super-lean).
Ponderal Index and BMI type measurements are inaccurate if you do any weight training as they dont take muscle mass into account, hell I was told I was overweight at my army physical despite being about 12% BF.
Estimate #1 based on height and weight Your "Ponderal Index" is 11.02 which gives an estimated body fat of 53.6% (120.6 pounds of fat) Estimate #2 based on waist size and weight Estimated body fat of 14.5% (32.5 pounds of fat) lol
