Sunday 1 July 2012

Calculating Body Fat composition -Cherin (3-08)


Method: Measuring Skinfolds

It estimates the percentage of body fat by measuring skinfold thickness at specific locations on the body.  
They are generally taken at specific parts of the right side of the body.  It is done by pinching the skin at a particular area and pulling the fold  away from the underlying muscle so only the skin and fat tissue is being held. Special skinfold calipers are then used to measure the skinfold thickness in millimeters. It is taken twice and then averaged.

These are the main areas that are measured:
-Triceps
-Pectoral
-Subscapula (Beneath the edge of the shoulder blade)
-Midaxilla (Midline of the side of the torso)
-Abdomen
-Suprailiac (Just above the iliac crest of the hip bone)
-Quadriceps

There are many formulas used to calculate body fat, below is one of the simplest:

For Females:

Body Density = 1.0994921 - (0.0009929 x sum) + (0.0000023 x sum) - (0.0001392 x age)
"sum" refers to the sum of triceps, suprailiac and thigh skinfold measurements.

For Males:

Body Density = 1.1093800 - (0.0008267 x sum) +( 0.0000016 x sum ) -( 0.0002574 x age)
"sum" refers to the sum of pectoral, abdominal and thigh skinfold measurements.

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