no way this is my body fat percentage, is it?
Today I did a body fat percentage check on apparently just some sort of scale. It asked gender, age, and how often i did physical activity, It then measured my weight, (it had those medal foot prints) then a thing came down and tapped my head to measure my height. and that was it???, then it said my body fat was 19.7%!!! In highschool i had a 6% body fat using a caliper test, I weighed just 12 pounds less, that was 3 years ago Now im not stating any of this to brag or anything dumb like that but, I now weigh 142 pounds and since then i have regularly worked out 2-3 times a week, eat healthy and have almost completely cut drinking pop, I have a clear 6 pack, and very noticible vascularity expecially in my arms, (i have never had the abs in highschool) i am in better shape then I was then too. and I just didnt think that was possible or at least plausible to have visible abs and veins with 20% body fat. Sorry if this whole thing seemed stupid to ask but I was just shocked that all my weight training and exercising rewarded me 14% more body fat... I just gotta know from you guys was this method really a useful way to find out my bf%? I honestly can not believe this method is at all an accurate way to calculate body fat, it just didnt seem like enough information that i gave it. I know that I quite possibly could have gained body fat. obviously expecting to be below 6% is somewhat unrealistic. but i was expecting to be around 8-10% not 20. Also I'm not trying to lose weight lol I've actually been trying (although slower than i would like) to gain weight.
Public Comments
- You may have gained some body fat, but the body fat test you just took was wildly inaccurate. Body fat can only be tested by testing the FAT in some fashion (water displacement, calipers), not by just asking questions. Many gyms will do this for free, even if you aren't a member. Check it out.
- It seems to me that machine is messed up. But at the same time that doesn't mean that your body fat should be under 10% since we all gain a few pounds after high school. Even if you have abs, you could have gain body mass, as in muscles, this also increases your body fat percentage. My best recommendation is to do another caliper test and that should let you know for sure or try doing a complete physical, those are always good and the results will let you know exactly what you need to do to better your body's health.
- ya those things r crap dnt even worry about it
- As I have found out recently those scales aren't that accurate. It was showing that I had 10% more body fat then I actually do have. I went and got an analysis done with a body pod and it showed that I was 10% lower than my scale at home shows that has the metal foot prints. It really all depends on your activity level too. I'm sure you if you have only gained 12 lbs and you are actually still actively working out then your body fat might be closer to 9-11%. just a guess not know you or seeing you ever.
- It's okay, these things are really quite crappy, they overexagerate on everything. When I was weighed on one, it told me I was morbidly obese, when I am 5"3' and under 8 stone.I know I am pretty chubby but I was rather shocked :O lol, it says things like the average weight for a woman my height is like 6 and 1/2 stone, but that's seriously underweight, so don't listen to their crap :D And I wouldn't bother trying to lose weight and tone up, you seem pretty fit :P lol
- Try going for a DEXA scan, that should put the matter to rest. Although I will say you are right, to have a six pack and visible muscles is not possible for a guy at close to 20% body fat as far as I know.
