Taking Measurements
The best time to take measurements is also first thing in the morning after a full nights sleep.
Measurement locations are also different for men and women.
Locations for men:
- Abdomen: Horizontal at the level of the navel. This is not the minimal width.
- Neck: Around the neck lower portion with the tape sloping slightly downward to the front.
- Height: Height measured without shoes.
Locations for women:
- Abdomen: Horizontal, at the level of minimal abdominal width.
- Hip: Taken horizontally around the hips at the largest place.
- Neck: Around the neck lower portion with the tape sloping slightly downward to the front.
- Height: Height measured without shoes.
Measure to the nearest 1/4 inch.
If you’ve taken measurements in metric units and need to convert them please use our metric converter.
About Body Fat Percentage and this Calculator
Body fat percentage is a measure of the percentage of your body mass that is fat as opposed to lean mass. Lean mass is made up of bones, muscles and other things in your body whereas body fat is just the fat. It is important to realize that all fat isn’t bad, however, and you’d never want to get to 0% body fat since that would most likely kill you. There is a healthy range of body fat percentages that you want to shoot for, however.
The essential body fat percentage, which is the amount of fat needed by the body to sustain life, is 2-5% in men and 10-13% in women. Women need more fat because of the need for childbearing and other hormonal functions. Fat above this range is considered storage fat and even some of this is healthy. The healthy body fat percentage range for men is 8-14% while for women it is 20-21%.
Once you’ve calculated your body fat percentage you can then easily use this number to determine your lean mass and thus fat mass in your body. For example say you weigh 180 and have a body fat percentage of 27%. To determine fat mass you multiply 180 by 27% (or 0.27) and get 48.6. This means you have 48.6 pounds of fat and 131.4 pounds of lean mass. By keeping track of this percentage you can help determine whether the weight you are losing while dieting is fat or other lean mass. You only want to lose fat because lean mass is all good stuff like muscles and bones which only help you look and feel better.
There are many methods to estimate body fat and none of them can get an exactly accurate measurement. However, some methods are more accurate than others. This calculator uses the U.S. Navy height and circumference measurement formula to estimate body fat. If you’d like a more accurate estimate you may want to invest in a pair of body fat calipers or have a measurement professionally done.
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