While health guidelines focus on the Body Mass Index, a calculation of your height and weight, this method has several limitations. Your weight and height may be out of sync enough that you are categorized "obese" or "overweight" when the reality is that you carry a generous amount of lean body mass or muscle. The real problem with the obesity epidemic is not numbers on a scale, but the amount of fat Americans carry on their frames. Track your body fat percentage instead of your scale weight to evaluate your health and fitness.
Along with other measurements, such as weight and height, you can use your body fat percentage to get an idea of your general health and fitness level. Performing a body fat caliper test correctly often requires the assistance ...
While some anthropometric measurements are used to measure growth, anthropometric measurements of subcutaneous fat tissue, more commonly referred to as body-fat tests, measure the amount of fat underneath your skin. These body-...
Body fat composition data provides details about changes in your lean mass and body fat mass. Hydrostatic weighing and air displacement plethysmography are two reliable methods for calculating body composition; however, they re...
Because fats are not soluble in the water in your blood, they must move through your body attached to carrier molecules called lipoproteins. There are three major types of lipoproteins: high-density lipoprotein, low-density lip...
In addition to your body weight, waist circumference and fit of your clothing, a body-fat measurement sets a baseline to determine body-fat loss or gain. Repeating a body fat measurement periodically allows you to focus on tren...
Percent body fat is a measurement that reflects how much of your body is made up of fat tissue compared to lean tissue. According to the American Council on Exercise if your body fat percentage is higher than 31 percent for wom...
Percent body fat is a tool used by many fitness professionals to evaluate your overall health status and disease risk. Personal trainers and dieticians use percent body fat as a tool to measure progress of their recommended exe...
But your weight provides only one measurement of body fat. If you want to know accurately why your clothes don't fit or whether your muscle-enhancing workouts produced results, the water displacement test for body fat can help....
When an Army personnel's weight exceeds the Army's acceptable weight standards, a tape test is administered to determine body fat percentage. Occasionally, the test might also be given if a unit commander or supervisor feels th...
Baseball athletic tests, or BAT, include a wide variety of assessments designed to evaluate your skill and conditioning levels. According to MLB's online BAT site, baseball-specific evaluations -- as well as tests for overall a...
Accuracy varies among fitness-assessment protocols and should be considered when choosing methods of body-fat testing. For example, skinfold measurement, or the caliper test, is rated highly for accessibility and not as high fo...
Serving in the military is honorable, heroic and a good career choice for those who heed the calling. But meeting with a recruiter and doing the paperwork is no guarantee of a job. You will be subjected to scrutiny on many leve...
Adding body-fat testing to a fitness program enhances goal formation, tracks progress and evaluates risk for weight-related health issues. Underwater weighing estimates body composition and provides health insights beyond weigh...
According to Dr. Janet Starr Hull, alternative health practitioner and nutritionist, a pH level of 6.4 is ideal and "any deviation ... either higher or lower, may create a sharp energy loss, emotional imbalances, and a depresse...
There are a variety of tests that are used to analyze the relationship of a person's body fat and their lean tissue, which includes muscle. This relationship is referred to as body composition. Health professionals and personal...
Pure water has a neutral pH of 7, but our bodies are healthiest when slightly alkaline at a pH of 7.4, according to Dr. Robert Barefoot. Use strips of pH-sensitive paper, called litmus strips, to test your body's pH and see if ...
Health insurance carriers, doctors and clinics commonly test to identify nicotine in the body. Testing does not show actual nicotine levels; rather, the three tests available identify the component of cotinine in the body, a by...
In the pancreas, lipase helps in digestion of food by breaking down components of fat called triglycerides into smaller molecules that can be easily absorbed. According to the website Healthline.com, the pancreas is the primary...
Charting your exercise progress helps you stay on target to help you reach your fitness goals. Recording base measurements and daily workouts allows you to see your improvements in print, while keeping you accountable for the d...
However, a pH level in the body can be representative of overall health. Your body maintains pH through a process called acid-base homeostasis. Because pH is a comprehensive yardstick for health, a strong acidic or alkaline ana...
Because healthy body mass is often denser than fat, some healthy people can appear overweight. Likewise, some people with very low body weight are suffering from malnutrition and other disorders. Calculating body fat percentage...
The amount of fat in your body is a good indicator of your general fitness level. Fitness enthusiasts commonly express body fat level as a percentage of your total body weight known as your body fat percentage. You can measure ...
Even if you have a normal body mass index, a high body fat percentage could put you at risk for obesity-related disorders, according to the Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic defines this condition as "normal weight obesity." In rece...
Losing weight does not equate losing fat, however, and a simple bathroom scale will not tell you how much fat that you lose. To get this information, you should instead use a skin-fold caliper, a tool designed to pinch and me...
Body-fat percentage tests determine how much adipose tissue, or fat mass, you have throughout your body as a whole. If you subtract your body-fat percentage from 100, you will get the percentage of fat-free mass. Your fat mass ...
Body fat testing, sometimes called body composition testing, is an important measurement in fitness. Body fat testing estimates what percentage of body weight is represented by fat versus lean body (muscles, bones and organs). ...
The acceptable range for your pH is between 7.1 and 7.5, according to Alkalize For Health. Anything above this range is considered alkaline, while scores below the range indicate acidity. You can use any of your bodily fluids t...
Body fat percentage is a common method of tracking your progress in a fitness program. The best way to test body fat without specialized training or equipment uses your weight and other body measurements. This procedure require...
Body fat percentage refers to the percentage of total body weight that's due to fat. This is a common method of measuring your progress in a weight-loss or exercise program. You can calculate your lean body weight from your tot...
You will typically experience a decrease in your body fat percentage as you follow a fitness program. You can test your body fat percentage from your weight and some other body measurements. This will allow you to record your p...
Turn the scale on and, when prompted, input your sex, age and height using the buttons below the display monitor. Foot placement is indicated by two electrode-containing metal panels. Step on them with bare feet and the display...
Bodies on the acidic end of the pH scale are more susceptible to conditions such as weakened bones, according to Dr. Susan E. Brown of the Center for Better Bones. Testing your body's pH consists of using a sample fluid to dete...
The easiest way to test your body fat is by taking skin-fold measurements with a pair of calipers. Calipers are simple tong-like tools that measure the thickness of your skin. Even though testing with calipers is cheap and wid...
