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Body
Fat Percentage
Body
fat percentage is more a accurate tool
Body Fat Percentage
is the exact or
estimated fraction of your body composition that is fat.
Body
Fat Percentage is the most accurate weight loss tool
of determining the amount of fat and therefore puts you in a position
to better plan a weight loss program.
Fat Loss 4 Idiots (lose 40 lbs with Calorie Shifting )
notes that weight loss
calculators such
as body fat percentage
or calorie counters
are a necessity in tracking your weight loss as
well as quantifying extent of your weight loss challenge as is the case
with body fat percentage.
Your
body is made up of many cells. Similar kinds of cells make up a
tissue, e.g. skin made up epithelial cell. Different tissue performing
a common function make up an organ e.g. heart or liver, both have
different tissues; while a number of organs connect together make up a
system e.g. the blood circulation system that consist of heart and
blood vessels.
Most
of the tissue in your body is active meaning it uses energy but
some like adipose tissue is not. The former is refereed to as lean
tissue. Adipose tissue consists of fat cells and this is the body
energy reserve. When you eat more calories than you need, it ends up
here.
Unfortunately
adipose tissue in excess has been related to ill health.
Body fat percentage is used to determine if your adiposity (amount of
body fat) is within a healthy range. Body fat percentage is much more
accurate than the common Body Mass Index
(BMI) because BMI doesn’t differentiate lean tissue
from the
fat
tissue, introducing significant errors into the index.
Calculations
that go into determining your exact body fat percentage
can be quiet complicated. This is because your total body composition
contains muscles, bones, fluids, fat etc. These calculations include;
Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry
(DXA) - This is a
complex measurement not easily accessible to the lay person. However it
is considered the most accurate estimation.
Hydro Densitometry - This
method
involves getting the individual weight under water to obtain their body
density. Some calculations go into estimating the body fat percentage
using the difference in densities of body constituents.
Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis
(BIA)
- This is the method used in gadgets sold in store for estimating body
fat percentage. The method depends on the varying ability of different
tissues to conduct an electric current. Usually the gadgets are used on
one’s feet and waist. Unfortunately the method introduces a
lot of
error because different people store body fat differently, and
therefore different body types may result to different body fat
percentages ever though they really have the same fat percentage.
Though all weight loss tools
have limitations some of BIA gadgets
can have very high margins of errors.
Skin fold measurement - Just
like BIA, skin fold measurement are also easily accessible. But unlike
BIA it can be much more accurate if done by an experienced and trained
tester.
The method is simple and involves precisely getting the measurements of
subcutaneous fat (fat under skin) by pinching skin (skin fold) at
particular spots on the body, using a caliper. These measurements are
then used in a mathematical equation that that estimate the body fat
percentage. Obviously depending on how it’s done, the
accuracy can be
as high as 98%
Body Fat Percentage Army/Navy style
- This method used by U.S army to measure body fat percentage depends
on girth measurement of specific parts of the body. The measurements
are then used in a mathematical formula to estimate body fat
percentage. It is also a more accessible method to the lay person as it
simply involves a tape measure. Points measured are the girth or
circumference of the neck, waist, abdomen, hip and your height.
Body fat is an essential constituent of your
body
composition. Infact there is an essential percentage of body fat of
which if you go below is injurious to your health. This varies between
men and women with women having more body fat due to more physiological
demand.
Essential
body fat ranges between 10-12% for women and 2-4% for men. In
athletes it varies between 14%-20% for women and 6-13% for men. For
fitness purposes it varies from 21-24% for women and 14-17% for men.
The acceptable body fat percentage is 25-31% for women and 18% to 25%
for men. Above 32% for women and 25% for men is considered
overweight.
The
amount of body fat determines your body shape of course as set by
your genetic body type. Indeed amount of fat determine your physical
size. This is because fat is much less compact than muscle. This means
that two people weighing exactly the same even with similar BMI yet one
will look bigger, fatter or heftier. This is because of different body
fat percentage.
This
discrepancy that is best shown between a sedentary
individual and a well muscled athlete that have similar BMI has
discredited the absolute accuracy of BMI. This is because BMI does not
take body composition into consideration. It needs to be complimented
by another indirect estimate like waist circumference to better relay
health risk associated with excess adiposity. BMI though continues to
be quiet popular due to its simplicity.
However
inspite the accuracy of body fat percentage, research has shown
that not only is the amount of fat a health issue, but so is where it
is deposited on the body. Particularly, abdominal adiposity has been
identified as highly elevating risk of health conditions than any other
form of adiposity. Therefore using more than one weight loss tool
cannot be over emphasized. This is a strategy central in the dieting
plan laid out in
Fat Loss 4 Idiots (lose 40 lbs with Calorie Shifting )
.
In the next page, you learn about Calorie Shifting You will discover;
Weight loss is based on science but you need to execute it
artistically. You need to know when to apply which principle to apply
when. So, in addition this Calorie Shifting will show you . . .
Next Page:
…………………………………….
To
learn more on Body
Fat Percentage
as well
as related
subjects use the links below.
Alternatively
you can use the Google search tool further below.
Articles Related:
To
Body Fat Percentage
Waist
Circumference - simple yet quite effective
Glycemic
Load - making sense of glycemic index
Glycemic
Index - carbohydrate quality indicato
Calorie Counters - counters for
losing weight
Weight
Loss Tools - tools to use when dieting
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