As the proud new owner of a Withings WiFi Body Scale, I have a newfound interest in body fat percentages. After all, my shiny new scale gives me an estimate of body fat, so now I need to know where I stand.
While bioelectrical impedance isn’t a particularly accurate way of estimating body fat composition, it’s by far the most convenient method given my circumstances. At worst, it gives me a relative measure so I can track my progress.
So… What’s an ideal body fat percentage? As it turns out, the answer differs based on your gender. What follows is a breakdown ideal body fat percentages from the American Council on Exercise.
| Category | Women | Men |
|---|---|---|
| Essential fat | 10-13% | 2-5% |
| Athletes | 14–20% | 6-13% |
| Fitness | 21–24% | 14–17% |
| Average | 25–31% | 18–24% |
| Obese | 32%+ | 25%+ |
As you can see, the acceptable ranges are considerably higher for women than for men. As for me, my initial estimate from my Withings scale was around 19%, so I’m currently near the low end of average.
Again, I’m not reading too much into the actual numbers given the questionable accuracy of bioelectrical impedance, but at least I now have a benchmark for tracking my progress.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Yo, Fitnickel. This table is incomplete. I’ve always heard that 25-30% body fat for men is “overweight” and 30%+ is “obese”. I sure hope that’s true, or I’m still slightly obese. And I don’t look obese. I look a tiny bit overweight. Maybe even almost average.
JD: There are multiple versions of this table, so the finer details partly depend on the source. In other words, these distinctions are obviously somewhat arbitrary.
But why does it really matter if you’re slightly above or below the line? Whatever you choose to call it, 25% is 25%. You’re not fatter (or less so) when you look at one table vs. another. Yes, I know I’m pointing out the obvious.
In my view, such measures are mostly useful for relative (”internal”) tracking. In other words, I’m primarily interested in my numbers change over time, as opposed to where I stand with respect to some arbitrary threshold.
Ultimately, I like the idea of tracking body composition b/c it’s possible that you could become significantly more fit without a change in body weight (lose fat, gain muscle). That doesn’t show up on a regular scale, but it does show up in terms of a change in composition. It also shows up in the mirror, but this gives you a way of quantifying things.
I will, however, admit that I’m also curious about how I stack up “typical” values (hence this post), but I try not to get too caught up in such comparisons.