Modern society dictates the fashion for a healthy lifestyle and a slim figure without a drop of excess weight. In pursuit of a fashionable ideal, many people rush to extremes and bring themselves to exhaustion with rigid unbalanced diets.
No one argues – a toned body looks much more attractive than fat folds and cellulite (and, of course, is certainly healthier). However, useless fasting can only achieve dehydration and the loss of healthy muscle mass. To prevent this from happening, before compiling a diet, you need to decide – how much fat is in the body (and it can hide not only under the skin, but also around the internal organs, so that it is more dangerous for health) and to what rate its percentage in the body needs to be reduced.
How to measure the percentage of body fat using simple and accessible methods for everyone – read in the material estet-portal.com.
How to measure your body fat percentage yourself at home – best practices
Everyone knows that muscle and fat with the same weight can look completely different on the human body. For example, a 65-kilogram girl of average height and unsportsmanlike build will seem fat to most modern people. Moreover, if we are talking about an athlete (especially a fitness bikinist or bodybuilder) with relief muscles, it would never occur to anyone to call her plump. Weight one – the appearance and aesthetics of the body are completely different.
The fashion for measuring the percentage of body fat was introduced by nutritionists who prescribe the right diet for clients who want to lose weight without harm to health. Then the fashion was picked up by the jocks. and «phytonyashi» in gyms, for whom it was important to know the exact percentage of fat in their body before starting body cutting (and after it) in preparation for the competition. Now the question of how to measure the percentage of body fat is universally preoccupied by everyone who tries to lead an active lifestyle and carefully monitors their health.
We will try to help readers with this and tell you how to measure body fat percentage in simple ways, without leaving your home.
The main methods for determining the percentage of body fat:
- Eye
- By measuring fat folds in several places on the body
- Using a calculator
There are more scientific methods for measuring body fat that require special equipment and skills, i.e. – access to specialized clinics or fitness centers.
Among them:
- Body composition scale
- Weighing in water
- Bioimpedansometry (current through tissues determines the level of fat)
However, in more detail we will focus on home methods, which work quite well, unless, of course, you just want to get your body in order and you do not have the goal of preparing for international competitions.
How to measure eye fat percentage
On the Internet you can find a lot of photographs and pictures with the figures of women and men, the example of which shows what a body looks like in real life with one or another percentage of fat. Here is the easiest way to measure – just go to the mirror in your underwear and start comparing your figure with the photos. Which picture your physique is closest to, this is your percentage of body fat.
Of course, this method can hardly be called completely objective and 100% accurate, but it is quite possible to get a result close to the truth that will inspire you to start a sports life.
How to measure body fat percentage by measuring body fat in multiple places on the body
This method is considered to be very effective, however, minimal additional equipment is already needed here and the help of a friend is highly desirable, since not everyone will be able to dodge and measure their shoulder blade.
Ideally, measurements are carried out with an inexpensive special device called a caliper, but if you have a caliper – it will also work wonderfully.
Using the device, you need to measure the thickness of the fat fold in four places on the body:
- Waist (departing about 10 centimeters in any direction from the navel, but on the same line with it)
- Biceps (middle)
- Triceps (also in the middle)
- Under the shoulder blade (45 degree angle)
Then you need to add the received numbers and you can search in a special table by gender, age and your personal data for the percentage of body fat.
How to measure body fat percentage with a calculator
This does not mean just a calculator, but a special online calculator for determining the percentage of body fat. It is easy to find on the Internet and is considered a fairly accurate (and easy) way to measure.
It is enough to enter into it your height, weight and thickness of fat folds, measured in 7 places of the body – and the calculator will automatically calculate the amount of subcutaneous fat.
Muscles and fat with the same weight of a person look completely different on the body. The same weight, but with a different percentage of fat and muscle mass, gives a completely different appearance and aesthetics of the body.
How to know if your body fat percentage is normal
For those who carefully monitor the level of fat in the body, it is important not to go too far and not harm your health.
It is not uncommon for girls who are keen on losing weight to bring their percentage of body fat to a critical level of less than 10%, after which health problems begin – hormonal disruptions, disruption of the endocrine and reproductive systems, cessation of menstruation, hair loss and dry skin.
There are different body fat levels for men and women (for women, the average mark depending on age and build is 18-25%, for men, 13-21%), but you need to It should be noted that in small amounts fat is needed in every body for its full functioning.
Don't turn yourself into a concentration camp victim in pursuit of a slim figure! Maintaining a normal body fat level is essential, but chasing low levels is not.
If you are going to lose weight, then you need to monitor the level of fat in the body and avoid extreme diets, in which only water and muscles are lost. Therefore, it is worth measuring the percentage of fat before starting to lose weight, as well as in the process, which will help the methods given in this article.
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