Hydrostatic weighing and other high tech machines are expensive and almost impossible for a layperson to access. By doing this at the key locations can be a quite accurate representative of the total amount of fat that is on your body it is also possible to estimate the total percent of bodyfat on your body.
Personal Body Fat Caliper
Body fat measurement points. There are many different methods for measuring body fat but some are more accurate than others. The average adult male body fat percentage should be between 18 and 25. Skinfold calipers measure the thickness of your subcutaneous fat the fat underneath the skin at certain body locations. There are also hand held devices and scales which measure body fat but these are often inaccurate. For example if your waist is 30 your hips are. The skinfold caliper is a device which measures the thickness of a fold of your skin with its underlying layer of fat.
Measurements are taken at either 3 or 7 different sites on the body. So it may miss people who look thin. To calculate body fat percentage add your waist and hip measurements and then subtract the neck measurement to determine your circumference value. A 2012 study in the international journal of obesity found that 29 of people who were normal weight actually had a body fat percentage in the obese range. For women their percentage of body fat in relation to age should be between 25 and 31. The body fat chart also shows that the percentage of fat needed for the body to function properly increases with age.
Gallery of Body Fat Measurement Points
