My Biosuit

Alrighty, I have finally made some body measurements and calculated an estimate of my body fat.

Neck: 15.5

Chest: 38.75

Abdomen: 32.5

Hips: 37

Thighs: 22.25

Calves: 15.5

Forearms: 11.5

Biceps: 12.5

I calculated my percent body fat three different ways. The first was with a handheld bioimpedance device that Gold's Gym was nice enough to let me use. I'm not sure how accurate this thing is but I entered my height, weight, and age into the computer and held on for dear life not knowing what in the hell it was gonna do. The trainer at the gym didn't seem to have a clue either. I did three measurements which were 12.8, 11.8, and 11.8.

I went and did some research after the fact and learned how these little buggers operate and the variables that can effect the outcome of their estimations. I think the leg-to-leg variety would offer a more accurate result and even then the reliability of the data seems to be less than that of the old skin-fold test. With that in mind I decided to make some calculations using formulas developed by the YMCA and the U.S. Navy which use simple body measurement to factor a body fat percentage. 

The YMCA equation for men only requires a weight and abdominal measurement: 

(4.15 x abdomen) - (0.082 x weight) - 98.42

----------------------------------------------------

                            weight

This gave me 13.4%

The Navy's equation is a bit more involved and requires a height, neck, and abdominal measurement:

(86.010 x LOG ((abdomen) - (neck))) - (70.041 x LOG (height)) + 36.76

This gave me 13.36%

Averaging the four estimations gives 12.84%... We''ll take it.