Women experience more changes in hydration levels than men because of their menstrual cycle and this can affect body fat measuring particularly using the bia method. It is necessary fat that maintains life and reproductive functions.
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Body fat measurement during period. The good news about period weight gain is that it isnt actual fat mostly just water weight thanks to your hormones and the gi irregularityand less than ideal eating and exercise habits. Its a physical symptom of premenstrual syndrome pms. The healthy range of body fat for men is typically defined as 8 19 while the healthy range for women is 21 33. Women please be aware that your menstrual cycle effects your bodys hydration and will cause fluctuations in your body fat testing. If the amount of water in your body. If you are using a body fat scale or monitor your body fat reading is affected by the amount of water in your body.
Well talk about the healthy range for men and women and the limitations. In a 1987 study published in sports medicine researchers debunked the theory that maintenance of body fat percentage of 17 to 22 percent were necessary to maintain normal menstrual function. Focusing on body fat percentage instead of weight is much more useful to track fat loss progress. Calculating body fat percentage isnt always completely accurate and there are many methods to try. Its recommended women refrain from testing during their period to avoid erroneous measurements and misleading progress graphs. Because the amount of water in your body is constantly fluctuating so will the estimate of your body fat.
Here are the 10 best ways to measure your body fat percentage. During your period its normal to gain three to five pounds that goes away after a few days of bleeding. Pms includes a wide range of. Water affects your body fat scale reading. Retaining fluid may also cause weight to fluctuate day to day during this period causing additional variation in the body fat percentage. The amount of essential fat differs between men and women and is typically around 2 5 in men and 10 13 in women.
There are a few ways to measure but many people go with a three site approach. A skin fold test is done using a tool called calipers to pinch different areas of your body and measure body fat.