How to determine the percentage of fat in the body?

Many people who are striving for the ideal, want to know the amount of fat in the body. Knowing this value, you can understand whether it is worth losing weight or, conversely, you need to gain a few pounds. The normal percentage of fat in the body of a woman is 18-25%. If this value reaches 35%, then the body will show signs of obesity .

How to determine the percentage of fat in the body?

There are several different options, for example, you can simply measure the volumes with a tape measure to see the dynamics of the changes. But this method can not be considered universal, because it has significant shortcomings.

Other ways to find out the percentage of body fat:

1. Bioimpedance . It has long been proven that fat, muscles and other parts of the body have different electrical resistance. This method is used in medicine, but today you can purchase home scales, whose work is based on this technique.
2. Ultrasound . The method is developed taking into account the fact that tissues of different density in their own conduct fluctuations. At this stage, this method often does not give the right results, so work is still underway on it.
3. Weighing in water . Very complicated formulas are used in this technique. Measurement occurs approximately like this: a person sits in a chair that is suspended from the scales. Then he takes a strong breath and sinks for 10 seconds. in water. To obtain accurate results, the procedure is repeated three times.
4. X-ray scanner . This is the most accurate way to determine the percentage of fat in the body, but it is also more expensive. Thanks to a special technique, exact values ​​are obtained.
5. Measurement of fat folds . The simplest and most affordable way to get almost perfectly accurate results. With the help of a special caliper instrument, the fat folds are measured in several places. In principle, you can use a regular caliper. Fat fold is measured on the triceps, biceps, waist , and just below the shoulder blade. All values ​​are added up, and then look at the values ​​suggested in the table.