Does the age part of the body fat scale apply?

[apmark]

Just wondering if you are working towards getting lean with diet along with your weight training do you have to ad extra bf points based on your age or is it something like the BMI that doesn't account for the extra muscle you have and that you are exceptionally lean for your age group?

[ElrondHubbard]

I don't know why some formulas add fat for age alone and others don't. I'm suspicious of it myself. I know people usually get fatter as they get older, but I don't see that being lean and muscular means you still retain that added fat.

[Watsonm5]

It's certainly based upon averages from the information they have gathered. Very broad assumptions so basically means very little to me. Just like the BMI.

[tanksoldier]

Just wondering if you are working towards getting lean with diet along with your weight training do you have to ad extra bf points based on your age or is it something like the BMI that doesn't account for the extra muscle you have and that you are exceptionally lean for your age group?

BMI is, frankly, a farce.

There are 3 types of lies: Lies, damn lies and statistics. Like most things "scientific" (holes in the ozone layer, the new ice age, global warming, etc) the numbers are manipulated to say what people want them to say for those peoples' reasons and agendas.

Be who you are, be fit, make yourself happy with how you look and don't worry about the numbers on the scale.

[Fishman15]

Yea, I have one of those Omnitron or whatever the call it things you grab on to the handles and it does some sort of magnetic something or other to read your bf. I notice when I drop my age 10 years my bf automatically goes down a couple percentage points. I've gotten to the point where I put in 10 years old now so I can see single % bf. That strokes my ego very nicely...

[cubs415]

BMI is, frankly, a farce.

There are 3 types of lies: Lies, damn lies and statistics. Like most things "scientific" (holes in the ozone layer, the new ice age, global warming, etc) the numbers are manipulated to say what people want them to say for those peoples' reasons and agendas.

Be who you are, be fit, make yourself happy with how you look and don't worry about the numbers on the scale.

BMI does serve its purpose, its not a body fat measurement. its a body mass and science just shows that having a lot of mass is bad for you. even if you are at a 10% body fat. its not really farce. its just depends on what you want.

[BJE]

I think that on body fat formulas the assumption is that everyone loses muscle and gains fat as they age. It's probably true for most men, but I doubt that the body composition of fit men changes much as they age.

[pogioli4]

pretty sure whenever age is taken into account it has to do with the dropping t-levels.
they're just assumptions based on trends

[NorthernMusicia]

Clarence Bass. According to the base bodyfat charts MUST BE about 20% body fat. Yeah, good luck with that.

[yepitsme]

I found the upped percentage to be annoying with the Bod Pod tests. They add more percentage to your results based on your age.

"Q. Are there any age-specific body fat standards?
A. Research has shown that a moderate, natural increase in body fat with age occurs in many individuals. To account for this natural increase, % fat values provided in the Body Fat Rating table on the BOD POD test print-out sheet should be viewed as recommendations for adults 18 years and older, with the values being adjusted upwards by possibly 3-5% fat for older adults."

http://crossfitrc.com/cfrc/wp-conten...t-403-017C.pdf

[SwoleCPA]

BMI does serve its purpose, its not a body fat measurement. its a body mass and science just shows that having a lot of mass is bad for you. even if you are at a 10% body fat. its not really farce. its just depends on what you want.

What?? So now being muscular is bad for your health. BMI is used because it's an easy calculation that can be applied to large portions of the population (i.e. sedentary) to determine if they are overweight.

[ljimd]

Clarence Bass. According to the base bodyfat charts MUST BE about 20% body fat. Yeah, good luck with that.

Clarence is my hero. 75+ and kickin azz.

[01tj]

I am skeptical of those models that imply you will always get fatter with age. Most people decrease their activity level as they age which would throw off the averages

[ironwill2008]

Just wondering if you are working towards getting lean with diet along with your weight training do you have to ad extra bf points based on your age or is it something like the BMI that doesn't account for the extra muscle you have and that you are exceptionally lean for your age group?

Just use the mirror, the fit of your clothes, the changes in your body weight, and the numbers in your training logbook as a gauge of your progress, and forget the body fat percentage and BMI numbers as being pretty much irrelevant.

[Rickck48]

BMI is, frankly, a farce.

There are 3 types of lies: Lies, damn lies and statistics. Like most things "scientific" (holes in the ozone layer, the new ice age, global warming, etc) the numbers are manipulated to say what people want them to say for those peoples' reasons and agendas.

Be who you are, be fit, make yourself happy with how you look and don't worry about the numbers on the scale.

This is one of the most correct answers I've seen in a long time. Enough said. RTR!

[EjnarKolinkar]

Clarence Bass. According to the base bodyfat charts MUST BE about 20% body fat. Yeah, good luck with that.

At 5'6" and 150, try again, he is in the normal range. Although IKWYM, he had way more LBM than the general public. BMI is population data and not the best measure when applied to an individual, but most folks don't have the LBM Clarence does. But if you have 30 years or so of training under your belt he might be a good comparison.

Just wondering if you are working towards getting lean with diet along with your weight training do you have to ad extra bf points based on your age or is it something like the BMI that doesn't account for the extra muscle you have and that you are exceptionally lean for your age group?

I would avoid most population data and instead let the mirror and your belt be your guide to general fat loss.