Why and How to Measure Your Bodyfat Percentage

The body mass index (BMI) seems to be the preferred method for determining obesity for health professionals, but in my opinion, the BMI is probably the worst way possible to decide whether someone is overweight. For one thing, it makes no distinction between being muscular or overfat for one thing. Most collegiate and professional football players would be considered obese according to their BMI. Nor does it does it distinguish between someone who is lean and muscular and someone who is skinny because of little muscle mass but who still carries too much fat. There is a much better method than the BMI.

Your body fat percentage is one of the best indicators of your fitness and nutrition program. Many people weigh themselves and judge their results on the bathroom scale. However there is one major problem with using the scale to determine your progress.

The best way to illustrate this is by using an example. Let's say you have been working out for a month now. You initially weighed 160 pounds. You weigh yourself this morning and you are 157 pounds. Your cannot believe that you've only lost three pounds! You become frustrated and want to give up.

The scale shows that you lost three pounds, but it does not tell you if you lost fat or muscle. Testing your body fat percentage will tell you how much fat you lost and how much muscle you've gained. You see even though the scale says you lost three pounds, you could have lost 8 pounds of fat and gained 5 pounds of muscle. That would equal a net loss of 3 pounds.

As a trainer, I always test my clients body fat percentage. There are three main ways to measure body fat. They are calipers, bio-impedance devices and hydrostatic testing. Hydrostatic testing can be done at universities or hospitals, but tend to be more expensive than most people are willing to pay for a body fat test. Read more