You may have heard about BMI (body mass index) many times before. As such, your first impression about body fat percentage could be somewhat awkward. But, body fat percentage is palpably a better mechanism to determine your body fat with relation to a multitude of factors such as the weight, height, and the size of biceps, hip, thigh, forearm, and neck (both at the widest and the narrowest points).
In other words, the body fat percentage and your well-being are often found be more relevant compared to other accepted measures of its class. You should know here that the algorithms of body fat percentage have been developed based on the findings of YMCA (The Young Men’s Christian Association), US Marine, US Army, and the US Navy. As a matter of fact, the body fat percentage is getting more acceptance worldwide. Sites like bodyfatprcent.com can give you more info on this.
Facts that you should know in relation to the Body Fat Percentage:
To begin here with the right mindset, you should know that it’s never too late to take up corrective measures with a view to striking a balance between your body fat, weight, and the height. However, the sooner you act to control your body fat percentage, the better it is for you in the long-run.
- Normal body fat percentage: Your body fat isn’t all bad. In fact, for the proper functioning of the organs such as the secretion of hormones like testosterone, estrogen, and the safe pregnancy, your body needs fat. According to an estimate, 20-30% of your total calorie intake should contain fat. The study on normal body fat percentage for women is 21-36% and the same is 8-25% for men. Men should have lower body fat percentage since testosterone hormone lowers body fat. On the flip side, the body fat requirement for women is higher compared to their male counterparts with a view to retaining fertility, for instance.
In other words, women having higher testosterone have less body. On the flip side, men with higher estrogen have more body fat than the average. However, age takes a toll on your body fat percentage. Having said that, we mean, as you grow older, your body fat percentage tends to be on the higher side, maybe because of growing inactivity and others. For instance, you keep sitting for long hours at home or office, use lifts at the high-rise, travel mostly by cars, and so on.
- Obesity: One-third of the US population is overweight while another one-third of it is obese as found by the people in the business of body fitness in the USA. Whatever the case may be with you, you can always take control of your body fat percentage. Some of you resort to bariatric surgery that may be important only in the case of a morbid obesity under the advice of a qualified doctor. For the rest, it’s NOT.
Popular methods of body fat percentage measurement include underwater weighing, dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA), ADP (air displacement plethysmography), NIR (near-infrared interactance), and skin-fold method. You can learn more about these methods on bodyfatprcent.com, for instance, and it is dedicated to all who want to take charge of their body fat percentage. After all, knowledge is power to you.