Hello I was wondering if bf % calculators like this one were accurate?

http://www.stevenscreek.com/goodies/pi.shtml

Entering 158 lbs at 5'7" and 31 inch waist output 10.9% body fat

Whats the best way to calculate bodyfat?

Whats the best way to calculate bodyfat?

The most accurate way involves lowering yourself into a big pool of water to determine your exact volume vs. weight. I've never done it, but I hear it's pretty expensive.

Calipers are pretty accurate if you can learn how to read them and you have a good pair.

Electronic devices are the easiest to use, but they are notably inaccurate, but pretty precise in my experience. My bf% device says that I'm currently 34% fat. I'm pretty sure I'm in the 20s, not 30s. But as I lose fat, the number is going down. It measures my progress pretty well even if the exact number is pretty far off.

I don't know much about these internet "enter you measurements" bf% forumlas. I'm sceptical, but I really don't know.

That link reads either very high or a little low for me.

One of the websites takes a lot more measurements. From what I remember neck size,waist,chest etc.

The problem with all these methods is they depend on you matching some standard. If you store fat in ways that don't match the standard they won't be accurate.

yeah I really don't think that I'm 25 percent body fat, I think I have more muscle than fat...I will have to check it with calipers...electronic devices don't work too well :(

yeah I really don't think that I'm 25 percent body fat, I think I have more muscle than fat...I will have to check it with calipers...electronic devices don't work too well :(
Do a search or use this link (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showpost.php?p=430515&postcount=52). There have been many references to bodyfat% calculators on these forums.

Estimation # 2 was close for me.

Interesting...

Estimate 1 is silly. Estimate 2 is pretty close.

Estimate #1 based on height and weight
Your "Ponderal Index" is 11.93 which gives an estimated body fat of 35.1% (64.9 pounds of fat)

Estimate #2 based on waist size and weight
Estimated body fat of 12.6% (23.4 pounds of fat)

Estimate #3
My tanita scale this morning
Estimated body fat of 12.7% (23.5 pounds of fat)

Estimate #4
Spreadsheet using waist, hips, forearms, wrist (Navy formula I think)
Estimated body fat of 10.28% (19 pounds of fat)

Estmate #5 (I wish)
FatTrack II Calipers
Estimated body fat of 7.5%

Estmate #6
Health Central Online Calculator (link from John's FAQ)
Estmated body fat of 10.4%.
You have 18.5 Pounds of fat and 166.5 Pounds of lean (muscle, bone, body water).

What really matters to me is that I went from about 26% bodyfat in late 2004 to having a blurry six pack in early 2007, replacing about 20 pounds of fat with 20 pounds of muscle.

I owe a lot of this success to watching Mr. Stone.

As for the calculators - I would just pick one and go with it. If you are losing fat, the percentages will reduce.

Interesting...

Estimate 1 is silly. Estimate 2 is pretty close.

Estimate #1 based on height and weight
Your "Ponderal Index" is 11.93 which gives an estimated body fat of 35.1% (64.9 pounds of fat)

Estimate #2 based on waist size and weight
Estimated body fat of 12.6% (23.4 pounds of fat)

Estimate #3
My tanita scale this morning
Estimated body fat of 12.7% (23.5 pounds of fat)

Estimate #4
Spreadsheet using waist, hips, forearms, wrist (Navy formula I think)
Estimated body fat of 10.28% (19 pounds of fat)

Estmate #5 (I wish)
FatTrack II Calipers
Estimated body fat of 7.5%

Estmate #6
Health Central Online Calculator (link from John's FAQ)
Estmated body fat of 10.4%.
You have 18.5 Pounds of fat and 166.5 Pounds of lean (muscle, bone, body water).

What really matters to me is that I went from about 26% bodyfat in late 2004 to having a blurry six pack in early 2007, replacing about 20 pounds of fat with 20 pounds of muscle.

I owe a lot of this success to watching Mr. Stone.

As for the calculators - I would just pick one and go with it. If you are losing fat, the percentages will reduce.
The reason estimates 4 and 6 are similar is that they are the same measure. If you look at the bottom of the HealtCentral bodyfat test you will see it's from Covert Bailey's Fit or Fat book. That's where I took the test from and created a spreadsheet because the online test would not allow decimals in the test. For example I'm 35.5 inch waist but the online test would only let me use 35 or 36.

The reason the spreadsheet uses a > or < 30 years old is that the book lists it that way. The online asks age but probably only makes it > or < 30 for the calculations. And current weight just tell s you how much of your weight is muscle and fat. There the online and the spreadsheet are probably the same.

It's not absolutely vital that you get a precise measurement but if you want to continue over time you should balance precision with ease of measurement. Too many measures and it's too time consuming and too few measures and you're introducing too much error to be consistent.

True.... I rounded up on the health central calculator (fat I round up and muscle I round down!).

I'll take 10.28%! If the spreadsheet I used comes from you, Lefty, many thanks.

Today was the first time I calculated bf% in about 8 months. After consulting with Swolecat last year, I stopped calculating bf% and followed his suggestion to go by look and feel because the scale and the tape measure will mess with your head.

try this one.
http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

try this one.
http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

I looked at the link. I've never tried the caliper method as the tape measurement was all I had at the time and didn't want to start the process over.
That said, the tape measure bodyfat % calculator on that page is nothing but height, neck, and abdomen. The age and weight factors are not clearly stated as to their effects. And it gives me a reading of 22.58. That's 4.5 % over my consistently calculated method with the tape.
I'm sure if you used that one regularly you could judge changes over time. That is the true measure of the bodyfat calculator.

True.... I rounded up on the health central calculator (fat I round up and muscle I round down!).

I'll take 10.28%! If the spreadsheet I used comes from you, Lefty, many thanks.

Today was the first time I calculated bf% in about 8 months. After consulting with Swolecat last year, I stopped calculating bf% and followed his suggestion to go by look and feel because the scale and the tape measure will mess with your head.
If Swolecat told you to stop calculating bf% while doing SGX then that's what I would do. Since it's been 8 months since then, I wouldn't worry about an occasional bf% calculation messing with anything. But I don't measure more than once or twice a month. And over the last year I've only noticed a change of about 1% bodyfat. That's hardly any change considering variance. But I do regard that as a very good indicator of consistency.