How to Measure Your Body Fat Percentage at Home
When tracking your fitness journey, the scale only tells you half the story. If you are lifting weights and eating in a caloric deficit, your weight might stay exactly the same—but you could be losing fat and gaining dense muscle simultaneously!
This is why tracking your Body Fat Percentage is vastly superior to tracking your total weight. While clinical methods like DEXA scans or hydrostatic weighing are incredibly accurate, they are expensive and inconvenient.
Here are three ways you can estimate your body fat percentage at home.
1. The US Navy Tape Measure Method
This is widely considered the best balance of convenience and accuracy for home use. Developed by the US Navy, this method requires only a flexible measuring tape.
You take specific measurements of your body circumferences, and plug them into a complex logarithmic formula.
- For Men: You measure the circumference of your Neck and your Abdomen (at the belly button).
- For Women: You measure the circumference of your Neck, your Waist (at the narrowest point), and your Hips (at the widest point).
You also factor in your height. The formula calculates the ratio of your measurements to estimate your lean mass vs. fat mass.
Tip: Always pull the tape measure taut so it lies flat against the skin, but not so tight that it pinches or compresses the skin.
2. Skinfold Calipers
Skinfold calipers are inexpensive plastic tools that physically pinch the fat beneath your skin (subcutaneous fat).
You typically take "pinches" at three to seven different sites on your body (such as the tricep, abdomen, and thigh). You then add up the millimeter measurements and compare them to a standardized chart.
While highly accurate when done by a trained professional, it is notoriously difficult to pinch yourself accurately at home, leading to high margins of user error.
3. Smart Scales (Bioelectrical Impedance)
Many modern bathroom scales claim to measure your body fat when you step on them. They work by sending a very weak, painless electrical current up one leg and down the other. Because fat conducts electricity differently than muscle and water, the scale estimates your composition based on the resistance it feels.
While these scales are incredibly convenient, their accuracy is heavily impacted by your hydration levels. If you step on the scale after drinking a liter of water, your body fat reading will be completely different than if you stepped on it dehydrated.
The Easiest Way to Get Your Number
If you have a tape measure handy, you don't need to do the complex Navy logarithm by hand. Simply take your measurements and plug them into our free Body Fat Calculator. It will instantly give you your estimated body fat percentage and tell you exactly which fitness category you fall into!