High Body Fat %

lee111s

Also don't forget that women have a high amound of fat in the boobs. If you've got big knockers then that can rocket the percentage!

dbrookf

sammyjammy wrote: »

Its called viceral fat and is the fat that can coat your organs, you're right it does have serious consequences and can be common in outwardly skinny/slim people but I don't think it would be measured in your body fat %. As I understand it the best way to measure body fat is with calipers and then the person need sto be trained to measure you properly. How were you measured for your body fat?

I wouldn't worry about it too much anyway mine is 45% :eek:

Had to stand on a weighing type machine and hold onto two handles....

dbrookf

lee111s wrote: »

Also don't forget that women have a high amound of fat in the boobs. If you've got big knockers then that can rocket the percentage!

unfortunately not...:cool:

Person_one

dbrookf wrote: »

Had to stand on a weighing type machine and hold onto two handles....

Ah, ok. They can be reasonably accurate but can also be wildly off the mark, like any scales really!

This is clearly a bad reading.

happy35

21-33% is the normal range for a 20-40year old woman.

[Deleted User]

I think people are getting confused between BMI and body fat. Unless the OP is a very young athletic female then her body fat is quite normal. It is very difficult for women to get their body fat below the high 20s. When i was weight training every day i got mine down to 24 but its very difficult to sustain. My friend who is slimmer and weighs less than me and runs half marathons has a body fat of 35% - its quite normal for a woman between about 20-40. As you get older your body fat gets higher. It doesn't mean you are actually fat, its a measure of the percentage of your body that is fat rather than muscle

Swinstie73

I'm no expert at all but have had the same thing happen. I had my body fat % done at my gym last year, I was 5' 3" and 10 stone 7lbs and my body fat was 41%. I was told that it should be around 36% - got it done again after doing some strength training/watching what I ate and this time I was 10 stone 4lbs, so had only lost a few pounds but built some muscle and it had dropped to 29%.

The reason - the first time I was tested I was severly dehydrated! The second test I drank the minimum 2 litres of water. The test I had done measured lean body fat % etc (was a digital/electronic test). Apparantly being dehydrated can squew the readings quite drastically.

Get tested again and make sure you are hydrated.

ETA: I was re-tested again a few weeks ago and I've went back up - hoping it really is just lack of water!

dbrookf

Swinstie73 wrote: »

I'm no expert at all but have had the same thing happen. I had my body fat % done at my gym last year, I was 5' 3" and 10 stone 7lbs and my body fat was 41%. I was told that it should be around 36% - got it done again after doing some strength training/watching what I ate and this time I was 10 stone 4lbs, so had only lost a few pounds but built some muscle and it had dropped to 29%.

The reason - the first time I was tested I was severly dehydrated! The second test I drank the minimum 2 litres of water. The test I had done measured lean body fat % etc (was a digital/electronic test). Apparantly being dehydrated can squew the readings quite drastically.

Get tested again and make sure you are hydrated.

ETA: I was re-tested again a few weeks ago and I've went back up - hoping it really is just lack of water!

that's interesting will remember that!

~Chameleon~

What's your muscle mass like? And what size clothing do you were? This makes a huge difference to body fat % and many people can have a large amount of visceral fat (surrounding internal organs) which isn't visually apparent.

Lots of high intensity plyometric and cardio exercise such as squats, burpees, squat jumps, mountain climbers, tuck jumps (check you-tube for examples of these).

Also reduce refined carbs and increase proteins and (healthy) fats in your diet and drink plenty of water (2-3 litres a day).

jenniewb

OP please don't worry about these fat % tests. Try taking one and then drinking 1L of water and taking the same test straight afterwards. As you'll be able to see the fat % change quite obviously, there isn't any firm truth in the tests.

I used to be a very big gym addict. I'd spend every free hour I had in the gym and would clock up to 15 hours of cardio a week, and then go on to do yoga and resistance (muscle exercises) for a few more hours when I had the time- and energy! I had a lot of strength and a BMI of around 23 or 24. I had a lot of muscle and perhaps even too overdeveloped in areas such as my calves which wouldn't fit into anything other then baggy jeans or trackie bottoms -but I could easily do 5 spinning classes a week in addition to the rest of my workouts!
My fat % was apparently 29% during that time. Something I look back at and dispute.
I am smaller now due to having to cut back on the gym and have nowhere near the strength or stamina I used to have. I know I have lost muscle!

Not according to the fat % machine which tells me I have overdeveloped muscles in my legs and not enough fat elsewhere! Sorry but this is so wrong it's almost funny- I know I have lost muscle because I cannot do as much and am not training my muscles anywhere near as much yet the machines tell me the polar opposite.

OP, the day these machines are allowed to rule your life is a very sad day indeed because they are at best a guess and much of the time are an incorrect guess. Unless you can ensure you have the exact same hydration, its the same time-of-the-month and your not retaining water due to stress of lack of sleep or consuming too much salt...unless you can ensure all of this your fat % rating is always going to be something very objectable.