Bodyfat % measuremnet is stupid...

[coolcolj]

Does anyone think like me that bodyfat% is stupid?

What I mean is if a guy is 200Lbs and has a 5% bodyfat, and another guy is 300LBs and has a 5% Bodyfat.
The second guy is actually quite fat compared to the first person!
10LBs of fat on him verses 15LBs on the 2nd guy.

I'd rather have a measurement that says, the exact LBs of bodyfat you have rather than a percentage. Because as you gain muscle your bodyfat % actually drops even if you don't lose any fat!!!

 

[Vageta]

Bodyfat % is purely the ratio of fat to LBM not an absolute measurement. If you are 6 inches taller than another person you are expected to have more absolute fat than them as well as muscle, bone, skin, etc...

Imagine some 150lb high school kid with 10 pounds of fat. Now imagine a 250lb bodybuilder with 12 pounds of fat. Do you consider the bodybuilder fatter because he has 2 more pounds of fat? I guarantee the bodybuilder will look 10x leaner than the 150lb guy because the ratio of fat to muscle is much more in his favor.

Take a guy with 12 inch arms that has 20 pounds of fat on his body. Now take a guy with 18 inch arms that has 20 pounds of fat. Imagine how much leaner the 2nd guy will look. Because his arms are 6 inches bigger the fat will be spread out much more thinly than the smaller guy even though their absolute fat is identical.

Yes you can lower bodyfat % by simply building more muscle but this is a very inefficient method to do it. You'd have to gain a huge amount of muscle to change your bodyfat % much.

 

[zlivan]

What difference does it make? Body fat percentage or total fat mass can't tell you exactly how it looks on you. Not to mention distribution of fat, some people have it all over more or less equally, others might have fat midsection only. The only thing that really matters is what you see in the mirror.

 

[FitnessFrk]

too many people are concerned with having low bodyfat levels instead of judging by the mirror. it's almost as bad as "How much do you bench ?".

 

[gymtime]

too many people are concerned with having low bodyfat levels instead of judging by the mirror. it's almost as bad as "How much do you bench ?".

True. But assuming you're not satisfied by what you see in the mirror, as most of us are, there has to be a quanitfiable number to work with to reach your goal. I mean, I guess there doesn't HAVE to be, but it's a big help. And I think bf% is a better number to use than scale weight.