How to Measure Body Fat for Men

Whether you're just starting a new workout routine, or you've been training intensely for months, knowing how to measure your body fat will give you a read on the effectiveness of that workout. There are a number of ways to measure body fat, but this method is one that you can calculate right from the comfort of your own home.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Weigh yourself. Get on the scale and write down the number.

2. Measure your waist. Run a tape measure around your waist at the the belly button. Write down the measurement.

3. Take your body weight and multiply that figure by 1.082. Add the result to 94.42. Save this number.

4. Multiply your waist measurement by 4.15. Once you have this number, subtract it from your result obtained in Step 3. This result represents your lean body weight, or your weight if you had zero body fat.

5. Subtract your total body weight from Step 1 from the number you got in Step 4. Multiply this number by a hundred. Divide this number by your total body weight. This will give you your body fat percentage.

Tips & Warnings

• For greater accuracy, weigh yourself over several days before computing and use your median weight when calculating body fat percentage.
• It sounds complicated, but really isn't. Here is an example to help illustrate the equation: If you weigh 200 pounds and have a 32-inch waist, then step one is (200 x 1.082) + 94.42 = 310.8. Your lean body weight is equal to 310.8 - (32 x 4.5) = 166.8. Finally, you finish the calculation by taking your weight, ((200-166.8) x 100) divided by 200 = 16.6 percent.

Resources

• Body Fat Calculator

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[chris55]

on 7/27/2007 can't follow this, you say in step 4 multiply by 4.15 but in the worked example you say multiply by 4.5, which one is the correct one? it makes a difference!