You need a certain percentage of body fat to help produce hormones, protect vital organs and act as an insulator to maintain your body temperature. Although some fat is essential, too much can lead to obesity and cause a whirlwind of health...
Too much body fat can lead to a number of heath issues, include heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure), type 2 diabetes and varicose veins. The body mass index (BMI) uses your height and weight to determine the approximate amount of fat...
With 42 million children under the age of 5 overweight and numbers and rates on the rise, childhood obesity presents a global epidemic. Children who are overweight are at risk for ridicule and of becoming an overweight adult, according to the...
The United States Navy and Marine Corps require sailors and Marines to meet basic physical fitness and body-composition requirements. Weight is the preferred method of determining body composition, but if a sailor or Marine is determined to be...
Determining the amount of body fat that you possess provides an important measure of your state of physical fitness and general health. For average individuals, body fat should comprise between 15 to 17 percent of the total body weight of men and...
The body mass index, or BMI, is one of the most commonly used assessments to determine a person's nutritional status. The BMI is easy to calculate and relies only on an individual's height and weight. Though the BMI has a number of flaws, it is...
Body fat is a good, reliable indicator of fitness and health. When body fat percentage is high, it increases the risk of developing serious health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. A healthy body fat percentage range for men is 14 to 20...
Women are classified as having an unhealthy amount of body fat by the American Council on Exercise and the YMCA at levels above 32 percent. Precisely determining this figure has become of more importance, particularly if you are in your 50s and...
The amount of fat on your body is a common measure of fitness and is generally more meaningful than your total weight. This is because you tend to lose fat and gain muscle as your fitness improves, which may result in a net gain in weight. Your...
Calculating your body fat online is relatively simple. Knowing your percentage body fat can help you determine how much you should weigh and therefore how many pounds you might want to lose (or gain). Online tools make it easy to find out how much...
Your body composition is important in understanding your overall health and fitness. Measuring your body's composition helps you identify how much lean muscle tissue and fat tissue you have. Weight alone is not an accurate indicator of fitness....
Body mass index and body fat percentage are two methods of assessing your body composition. They are generally performed to determine if you are overweight or if you carry too much body fat. If you are overweight or carry too much body fat, you...
Heart rate, blood pressure, weight, time in a 5k run or pounds you can bench press--fitness and health have lots of numbers. Fitness professionals and exercisers both rely on subjective measures--like how you feel working out--and objective...
Knowing your height and weight is not necessarily enough to allow you to determine whether you have a healthy amount of body fat. Whether or not you are "big-boned" and the amount of muscle you have influence the number on your scale. To find out...
Knowing your body fat percentage can provide you with a more accurate measure of physical fitness and health than other commonly used measures like body mass index or weight. Using your body fat percentage along with percentage weight loss can...
Body weight alone is not the best indicator of a healthy body mass. A 6-foot tall professional basketball player might seriously outweigh a 5-foot 6-inch bank teller. However, because the basketball player is taller and has more muscle, the...
The percentage of your body weight that comes from fat is known as your body fat percentage. You can calculate your body fat percentage with a standard formula that uses a few simple measurements of your body. The specific procedure for the...
Body fat is the percentage of your total weight that comes from fat, rather than the total amount of fat in your body. You may not notice a change in your total body weight when you begin a physical fitness program because you may gain muscle as...
One way of determining how in shape you are is measuring your percentage of body fat. The human body needs a certain amount of fat to function properly. However, having a body fat percentage that is too high can mean that you are clinically obese,...
Body fat percentage consists of essential body fat and storage body fat. Calculation of body fat percentage is not always an exact science, but it has improved vastly over the years. Many methods are used to calculate body fat percentage, and all...
Your body fat ratio is the ratio of the weight of fat in your body to your total body weight. You can calculate it gender-specific formulas that use body measurements. You can estimate your general level of fitness from your body fat ratio, which...
Your body fat content is the percentage of your body weight that's due to fat. It should remain within a specific range for optimum health, although most people in the United States will need to reduce it. Fit males have a body fat percentage in...
The percentage of your body weight that is fat is a good indicator of your physical condition. You’ll frequently use your body fat percentage to monitor your progress during a fitness program. You may not experience significant weight...
You can quickly get an estimate of your arm fat with a modified skin fold technique. A skin fold on the arm is one of three measurements that personal trainers often use when helping clients determine their percent body fat. The measurements are...
There are many ways to calculate body fat, including using calipers to pinch folds of skin, bioelectrical impedance tests, DEXA scans and using hydrostatic weighing. The most accurate test is hydrostatic weighing and is the gold standard for...
Knowledge is power. And to win the battle of the bulge, the more information you have about your body means you will have more power to make changes and reach your weight loss goals. Professional athletes know exactly how many calories they take...
Your body fat measurement is the percentage of your body weight that comes from fat. It's a better measure of fitness than just body weight because you tend to gain muscle when your fitness improves. You can estimate your body fat with a few...
The amount of body fat you have can be an accurate measure of your physical fitness. You typically express body fat as a percentage of your total body weight, rather than the actual weight of your body fat. You can calculate your body fat at home...
The percentage of your total body weight that is due to fat is your body fat percentage. You can calculate your body fat percentage from basic measurements you can make at home. Body fat percentage is a common method of measuring the improvement...
