Your body fat percentage is the percentage of your body weight that comes from fat. You can determine your body fat percentage with a few body measurements and a gender-specific formula. This procedure is useful for evaluating your progress in a weight-loss program. Body fat percentage is a more meaningful measure of your fitness than total body weight because you may gain muscle weight while following a fitness program.
Step 1
Take specific measurements with a tape measure if you're female. Women must measure their wrist, forearm and hips at their fullest points. All measurements must be in inches.
Step 2
Obtain additional measurements for both genders. Measure your waist at your navel in inches. Weigh yourself with a scale that uses pounds.
Step 3
Calculate your lean body weight if you're female. This value is given by the equation (0.732 x weight) + (wrist / 3.14) + (0.434 x forearm) - (0.249 x hips) - (0.157 x waist) + 8.987.
For this example, assume you weigh 138 lbs., your wrist measures 6.5 inches, your forearm measures 9 inches, your hips measure 35 inches and your waist measures 29 inches. Your lean body weight is (0.732 x 138) + (6.5 / 3.14) + (0.434 x 9) - (0.249 x 35) - (0.157 x 29) + 8.987 = 120 lbs.
Step 4
Compute your lean body weight if you're male. This value is given by the equation (1.082 x weight) - (4.15 x waist) + 94.42.
For this example, assume you weigh 157 lbs. and your waist measures 32 inches. Your lean body weight is (1.082 x 157) - (4.15 x 32) + 94.42 = 131 lb.
Step 5
Calculate your body fat percentage from your lean body weight. This value is given by the equation (total weight - lean body weight) x / (total weight) x 100.
If your total weight is 138 lbs. and your lean body weight is 120 lbs., your body fat percentage is (138 - 120) / 138 = 13 percent.
Things You'll Need
- Bathroom scale
- Tape measure
- Calculator
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