What is body fat percentage?

What’s a good amount of body fat to aim for?




What is body fat percentage?



A super ripped male body builder who is minimizing body fat percentage could have a percentage down as low as 3-4%, while a super ripped female body builder who is minimizing body fat percentage would only get as low as 8-9%. A male athlete could be in fantastic shape and have 10% body fat, while a women at comparable level of athleticism and appearance might be at 18-20% body fat. To take the comparison to the other end of the spectrum, an overweight male at 30% will look vastly different than an overweight woman at 30%.

What’s a good amount of body fat to have?





Essential fat













32% plus

26% plus



If you are looking to have that “ripped” look (dudes) and “toned” look (we hate that word), you’ll want your body fat percentage to hover in the “athletes” section.

If you’re looking to look healthy, I’d argue that you’ll want to be in the fitness range. Once you get into the upper ends of  “acceptable” and “obese”, a decrease in body fat percentage would benefit your health.

So, determining what’s an optimal goal for you:

  • If you are trying to look like Ryan Reynolds or Jessica Beil in Blade III, good luck! Aim for a body fat percentage of 6-8% (men) or 13-15% (women). Note: your athletic/strength gaining performance will most likely suffer at this percentage as well as it being hard to maintain.
  • If you are interested in getting that coveted six pack, drop your body fat down to the 8-11% range for Men and 15-17% range for women.

What do these amounts look like?





How do you calculate your body fat percentage?

The question I get asked above ALL others. 


  1. Take a Look – This might be my favorite method, although it requires a trained eye and isn’t exact. By having an accurate list of pictures and comparing a picture of yourself, you can determine somewhat closely what your body fat percentage is. This is a great article I’ve found for accurate portrayal of body fat percentage. Make sure to note the difference in the two men, both at 10% body fat further down the page.
  2. Body Fat Calipers – Pick up a set of calipers Pull the fat away from your muscles, pinch them with the caliper, take the measurements, and look at a chart to figure out your body fat percentage. Some recommend using one test site, some multiple.



What’s the best way to lower body fat percentage?

Results may vary –  If you only want to drop a few percentage points, you can start with the advice at the top, and work your way down towards the bottom as you get lower and lower – the closer you get to single digits (dudes) or low double digits (ladies), the more strict you need to be with your diet and training.





Work out in a fasted state – Although advanced techniques to get to super low body fat percentages are beyond the scope of this article, here’s another tactic if you want to drop the last few percentage points: strength train in a fasted state, and don’t consume your first meal of the day until AFTER your workout. This is a technique used by many athletes and fineness professional. I’ve been training in a fasted state with zero issues on energy.

How is Body Fat Percent different from Body Mass Index?

When you go to a doctor, they will most likely calculate your Body Mass Index (BMI).




For example, a six feet tall man who weighs 185 pounds with a body fat percentage of 10%, I would be put in the same “overweight” category as a guy who was six feet tall, 185 pounds, and a body fat percentage of 25%. If two women have the same amount of body fat, and one tends to carry more water weight or have bigger bones than the other, one woman could be considered “overweight” while the other might be “average.”