Free Online Body Fat Calculator for Bodybuilders
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This
is a typical body-fat calculator. Enter your
information and click "calculate" It's
about as accurate as any other form of "free"
calculation that doesn't require caliper or a scale.
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There is a
tremendous amount of variation in the body fat of different
groups of athletes. Percent fat in athletes can range from
5-20% in males and 10-20% in females depending upon the
specific sport or activity. Athletes competing in sports
where body weight is supported, such as swimming or
kayaking, tend to have higher levels of body fat, whereas
athletes involved in very high intensity anaerobic
(sprinting) or endurance events (marathon running) tend to
have lower body fat levels (5).
Having more or
less body fat can be an advantage or a disadvantage
depending upon the activity. For instance, having more body
fat can be an advantage for contact sports such as blocking
in football or playing rugby. Having less body fat is an
advantage when the main goal is to propel the body through
space, as in long-distance running. Aerobic performance is
negatively affected when body mass is increased
(nonfunctional mass) in runners (6).
There are two
types of fat: essential and storage. Essential fat is
required for the hormonal and immune systems to function.
Storage fat is used as fuel. Essential fat is stored in the
bone marrow heart, lungs, liver; spleen, kidneys,
intestines, muscles and other organs.
Women carry
additional essential sex-specific fat in the breasts,
pelvis, hips and thighs. This fat is biologically important
for childbearing and other hormone-related functioning.
Women carry more
than four times as much essential fat as men. Essential fat
should account for at least 10 to 12 percent of a woman's
total weight; lower levels may impair her health.
In addition to
essential fat, women have varying amounts of storage fat.
This is the fat that we gain or lose as our weight changes.
Storage fat amounts to about 15 percent of an untrained
woman's total weight.
A total-body-fat
percentage of 20 to 27 percent is well within a normal,
healthy range for women. With training, body-fat percentage
may be as low as 12 to 16 percent.
