Body Fat Calculator

By: David Bradley

Want to know how to measure your body fat without having to have an MRI scan or be lowered into a flotation tank so they can work out your density, or worse still waste $100 on those body fat scales? Well, there are literally dozens of methods, for some you'll need a pair of skin-pinch callipers to grab hold of your subcutaneous fat and enter measurements into a complicated formula, others base it on the intrinsically inaccurate but simple waist measurement. But, according to the latest medical research the Navy Circumference Test still works best. 

So, what is the Navy Circumference method?

This body fat calculator involves taking a few simple measurements - Abdomen (men only and horizontal at navel level, Waist (women only horizontal at smallest width, Hips (women only - biggest horizontal circumference, Neck (just below the larynx with the tap sloping slightly downwards), Height without shoes.
 

Got those? Next step is to feed them into this form, which will tell you the awful truth, or otherwise:

Abdomen Height Neck

FEMALE

Hips Waist Neck Height


Incidentally, if you're wondering why it's called the Navy Circumference Test, it's because the US Navy accepts new recruits only if their body fat percent is below a certain value, and expect their sailors to maintain it at or below that value. Of course, recruits often question the test, but Navy research and independent validation has shown again and again that it really is accurate.