What's you body fat percentage?

[newfunahead]

Sorry I know it's a very personal question but I went to see a personal trainer for the first time in years, he measured my body fat percentage with his scales and a handheld device and it turns out my body fat percentage is 33%

I work out 3-5 times per week every week and I have a healthy BMI but when I checked out women's body fat percentages online apparently I'm obese.

I am a size 10 and I don't feel obese and my BMI is not obese and I am wobbly on my tummy and thighs but my legs and arms etc are pretty toned so I don't think I should be considered obese with my body fat percentage!

Can anyone give me any info or insight to this?

[Millybingbong]

41% according to home scales. First time I ever looked this week and judging by that i may never venture there again.

Bmi 25 so I'm not massive

[newfunahead]

Hmmm it's odd isn't it! I'm going to try my home scales too I know they arnt that accurate so I'm guessing they are incorrect

The charts I saw online are depressing

[ReadingRiot]

26% and I'm towards the top end of a healthy BMI. I am very fit though, so I guess that's because of the muscle weighs more than fat thing.

According to experts, I need to lose more than a stone in fat to be at my peak weight for competition. If I was to manage that I'd weight less than I did pre-puberty

[MajesticWhine]

Mine is 33%. My BMI is 24.7. I am a size 12. I exercise a reasonable amount, but to be honest, I am clearly carrying extra fat. A lot of it is to do with your age. 33% is about average in mid 40s but not too great if you're in your early 20s.

[carrie74]

New fun ahead, I wrote an almost identical post at the beginning of the year. I upped my PT sessions, and it did come down a bit after 12 weeks. I was horrified, as when I first started seeing a PT, a few years ago, it wasn't a dissimilar percentage, and I feel my whole outlook to exercise had changed so much in that time - going from very little working out to making sure I worked out more regularly, doing circuits etc, and yet my BF% didn't seem to have really come down in the long term.

I've come to terms with it over time - I know I'm doing more than lots of people, my diet's not horrendous (there's definitely room for improvement, but I don't just eat rubbish all day every day), it is what it is.

[superram]

47.2% now you all feel better! Bmi 30. I’d be happy under 35%

[slowrun]

There is jiggery pokery going on with those machines! Try telling it you're a man and watch your percentage instantly go down! My husband's instantly went up on his birthday when he told our scales his new age.

Btw mine is 40% as a woman. It does go down with dieting etc. I just pay attention to the chAnges as it's not that accurate.

[Johnnycomelately1]

25.6% per dexa scan which is the only accurate way to really measure it. BMI of 23. Next best is calipers but they are only really good for comparing over time as it doesn’t neatly translate to a %. Home and gym scales are really easily distorted by hydration levels etc.

[Caribbeanyesplease]

I had a dexa scan

13%

[Caribbeanyesplease]

Johnny where did you get your dexa?

It was so expensive, looking for alternative places as was in central London (Marylebone)

[Johnnycomelately1]

caribbean are you a man?

[Johnnycomelately1]

Sorrry, to add, I don’t live in the uk so got it at the local university which has a sports science dept. They let joe public get zapped to offset the cost of the machine 😆

[Caribbeanyesplease]

Female
Very skinny
Trying to put in weight after food poisoning
Always been skinny and fit though

[Johnnycomelately1]

Ah- sorry. I thought you must either be a man or a super hardcore bodybuilder on a shred.

[dimots]

If you've got large boobs I think they get measured as fat on those things.

[dimots]

I've got 33% fat and I'm 5ft 6 and about 60kg. But I do have massive tits, so I'm blaming them.

[Johnnycomelately1]

Actually if you are a normal weight and don’t do dedicated strength training then 30% plus is pretty normal. We are generally weaker than previous generations because we do t have to lug things about so much and v few people do manual jobs now.

[SenorBork]

Just got measured on Tuesday as part of a health assessment - body fat is 29%. I'm nearly 40, 5'9" and BMI was also calculated as part of the assessment, at 22.9. When I got home and looked up what the percentage meant, I was greeted with pictures of people clutching spare tyres etc, but I really don't look like that! I exercise 3-4 times a week and am actually pretty slim all over, I carry the fat on my thighs and bum. I've got a flat tummy! I think it really just depends on your build and how it's distributed.

[Panda368]

The machines aren't that reliable. And those electric scales people have are awful and never really give an accurate result.

Had you drunk quite a lot of water before being tested as I've been told this can affect the results? I think the most accurate way of measuring BF is still actually skin fold testing.

I was about 20-22% before getting pregnant but with a BMI of 24. I'm short and carry a lot of muscle though from doing a power based sport.
In general BF % only really changes slightly with an increase in exercise if you want to get leaner then diet is more key. You're percentage will also drop if you start gaining more muscle to change your body composition. Your overall weight might not change much but you will look slimmer as fat takes up less room.

[lljkk]

hmmm... I don't do strength training but I literally do lug things around (wood, water, bikes). Before that I did a lot of lugging little children around.

No idea on the body fat, sorry!

[sinpan]

BMI 20.2 body fat was apparently 12% the one time I had it checked on a machine at the gym. This is obviously ridiculous. I think the margin of error must be very high on these machines. I'm slim and muscular but by no means skinny. I had it checked first thing in the morning after a workout, I reckon it was artificially low. So i dont know if its a really helpful measure unless you're a competitive bodybuilder. I think things like hip/waist ratio are better indicators of fitness and health

[Strongbeatsskinny]

If your a size 10 your body fat is more than likely around 25% ignore those stupid useless hand held devices.

I take readings of my clients with callipers from 12 different sites of thier body. A good coach that does ongoing courses to widen thier knowledge would be more than happy to advise you further.

[UrgentScurryfunge]

According to my scales, around 27%. Quite plausible for my age (late 30s) and build (BMI 22-23, pear shape with muscular build, small bust, bit of a mum tum which won't go by any pleasant, natural methods)

I know it's not particularly accurate in itself, but the statistical trends do consistently match how I feel about my body rather than setting too much value in the number alone.

[soulrider]

My mum's body fat scales have an athlete mode. Switch it to that and the percentage comes right down. Now if these things really measured body fat why would you need different modes? Why would body fat change because of age as someone up thread has said. It's because they're all just calculated guesstimates based on height, age, weight and resistance.

They're probably useful to track a reduction, but the actual figure is unlikely to be accurate

[arranfan]

By DXA scanning, 20% which is 2 centile for my sex and age group.

However, I'm still sarcopenic (following accident, clinically low levels of lean body mass by the Baumgartner equation) but I'm probably doing well to maintain my LBM and not lose any more.