If you are into fitness and often go to gym, knowing your body fat percentage becomes essential. It's not only about aesthetics, but also about your health. Body fat percentage or BF% is the part of your body weight that is composed of fat tissue. Knowing this number can provide you with insights of your fitness level and future health risks.
Why Does Body Fat Percentage Matter?
Body fat percentage is significant since it provides a more real picture of your health than merely looking at the number on the scale. Here are a few of the reasons why:
Health Assessment
According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, knowing your body fat percentage can help you assess your risk for certain health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Excess body fat, especially around the abdomen, can increase these risks.
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Fitness Progress
If you're working on improving your fitness or losing weight, tracking your body fat percentage is a better indicator of your progress than weight alone. You may be gaining muscle while losing fat, which won't necessarily show on the scale.
Personalised Goals
Body fat percentage can help you set personalised fitness and nutrition goals. It allows you to target a specific percentage for a healthier body composition.
What Are The Methods to Calculate Body Fat Percentage
There are several methods available to calculate body fat percentage, each with varying levels of accuracy and complexity. Here are a few common ones:
Skinfold Calipers
Process using skinfold callipers, involves measuring the thickness of skinfolds at numerous locations on your body with sophisticated callipers. These dimensions are then used to calculate your body fat percentage. While it is inexpensive, accurate performance needs considerable skill.
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis
“BIA devices measure the resistance of electrical flow through your body. Since muscle and fat have different conductivities, BIA is able to measure your body fat percentage. Many bathroom scales now include BIA technology,” said Vipul Sharma, fitness coach at IXPLODE gym, Darbhanga, Bihar.
Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry
Scans using this technology provide highly accurate body composition analysis by using X-ray technology. It can distinguish between bone, muscle, and fat mass. However, it's often expensive and not easily available.
According to the Radiological Society of North America, scans in this process produce very little radiation. It's roughly the same as you'd get in three hours of normal life.
Hydrostatic Weighing
This method involves submerging your body in water to measure its density. By comparing your body's density to the density of water, your body fat percentage can be estimated. It's highly accurate but may not be widely accessible.
Also read: Want To Burn Full Body Fat Without Jumping? Try These Cardio Exercises At Home
Body Fat Calculators
Numerous online calculators and apps estimate body fat percentage using data such as age, gender, height, weight, and sometimes extra parameters. While convenient, these approaches may not be as accurate as others.
The Importance of Consistency
It becomes important to maintain consistency while measuring body fat percentage, no matter which method you choose. For accurate results, you can follow these guidelines:
- Always take your measurements at the same time of day, preferably before eating or exercising.
- Maintain regular hydration levels, as these can alter BIA measurements.
- Choose a solution that fits your budget and availability while keeping accuracy in mind.
- Understanding your body fat percentage might help you evaluate your health and achieve your fitness goals.
While there are various methods to calculate it, remember that absolute accuracy may not be as important as consistency and tracking changes over time. By keeping an eye on your body fat percentage, you can make informed decisions about your health and fitness goals.
