Fitness Testing
Fitness Testing > Tests > Anthropometry > Body Composition > About
About Measuring Body Composition
Body composition refers primarily to the distribution of muscle and fat in the body, and its measurement plays an important role in both sports and health. Excess body fat may lead to obesity and increases the risk of getting many diseases. In sports, excess fat hinders performance as it does not contribute to muscular force production, and it is additional weight that requires energy to move about.
Body composition is often represented as a two compartment system;
lean body weight and fat weight. The fat weight is then expressed
as a percentage of total body weight, where percent body fat = (fat
weight / total body weight) x 100. The table below gives general
guidelines for body fat percentage levels.
general population |
athletes |
|||
males |
females |
males |
females |
|
lean |
< 12 |
< 17 |
< 7 |
< 12 |
acceptable |
12 - 21 |
17 - 28 |
7 - 15 |
12 - 25 |
moderately overweight |
21 - 26 |
28 - 33 |
||
overweight |
> 26 |
> 33 |
> 15 |
> 25 |
Many training or exercise programs are geared solely to modify body size and composition in some way. The tests described below provide a way of measuring current levels and determining changes over time.
Related Pages
- A list of Body Composition Tests
