To use a body fat chart, measure body fat with a caliper, add measurements, and consult the chart to determine body fat percentage. The chart lists desirable percentages by gender and age range, with categories of excellent, good, fair, and poor. Skin fold calipers measure thickness in strategic locations, and the total is located on the chart to determine body fat percentage. Scales only measure weight, not fat tissue.
To use a body fat chart, a person must first measure their own personal body fat with a caliper, add the measurements, and join the results with the data from the body fat chart to discover their body fat percentage. The more detailed body fat chart lists desirable body fat percentages by gender and age range. Often the columns will identify a range of categories, including excellent, good, fair, and poor. According to many studies, those with body fat percentages classified as poor are at risk for diabetes and heart disease. By using the body fat chart with a caliper, a person gets a better idea of whether their body mass is healthy; people find body fat charts more useful than scales, which only measure weight and not how much of that weight is fat tissue.
Shaped like a forceps, a skin fold caliper is designed to fit over folds of fatty tissue. A ruler-shaped attachment on the caliper measures the thickness of the fat fold. Once thickness is measured at various strategic locations on the body, a person can acquire a general estimate of their body fat percentage by consulting the grids on a body fat chart.
The four most common areas to measure skin folds are the triceps, waist, biceps, and just below the shoulder blades. To measure, a person simply pinches off as much fat as possible in these areas, according to fitness instructors. The correct place to measure the waist is generally in the front and just above the hips.
The unit of measure for most calipers is the millimeter. Once the caliper measurements for all four body locations are added together, individuals can locate the total in a body fat chart by looking under the first column; it is usually titled “Sum of Skinfold Measurements.” This column may not list all possible measure sums, but users will likely be able to find approximate matches. For example, a user whose four measurements add up to 98mm may find that her body fat chart doesn’t have that number, but instead has 100mm. She can use that measure in her place.
After the total of the measurements in the first column of the body fat grid has been found, a person will find that the following columns correspond to age groups and gender. To complete the body fat analysis, the person should use the following columns to locate the correct one for their age and gender demographic. You can then scroll down to find the body fat percentage that corresponds to the total measurement identified in the first column. Going back to the 100mm example above, a 29-year-old man will find that 100mm of body fat suggests that his body is 27.6 percent fat, based on a standard body fat chart. A woman who is the same age and measurement total will find that the body fat chart converts her data to a body fat percentage of 36.3.
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