Acording the Zone body fat calculator I have 13% body fat. Can someone please put this in context for me. is this good? Should I have a bf goal? I am a 40 year old male.

Thanks

Hi - i found this - looks from this like you're doing pretty well!!!

Experts disagree on how much body fat is too much, but the following general guidelines are a reasonable estimate:

Obese: More than 33% for women and more than 26% for men
Overweight: Between 28% and 33% for women and between 21% and 26%
Acceptable: Between 17% and 28% for women and between 12% and 21% for men
Lean: Less than 17% for women and less than 12% for men
Underweight: Less than 8% for women and 5% for men

Thanks jaykay. Helps me feel a little better since my bmi is still a bit higher than "normal" - I hate bmi.

BMI can be high if you're muscly. We joke that my DH is little but dense! ie he's got a lot of muscle on quite a small frame and his BMI suggests he's obese. On the other hand his body fat is 14% and he has barely a hint of a spare typre - so he's obviously not.
BMI doesn't take into account body composition - its useful for an 'average' person, but lots of us aren't average!

Thanks jaykay; I feel a bit better. Another gripe: how can bmi apply to both men and women? This does not make sense to me. Is this due to our politically correct times, or does it make medical sense?

Body composition is my most important goal I think. I recently did a % body fat, lean body mass calculation with the Zone calculator. I come out at 21%BF with 168#LBM. If I get to my original 175# goal weight without losing LBM I would only have 4% body fat. Something's gotta give.

My strategy now is to eat enough protein to help preserve LBM, get to 15%BF, the supposed ideal male composition, and let the weight be whatever it will be. 22 protein block$ yikes! If I lose my job all bets are off!

Needless to say, a BMI goal would be ludicrous. My current LBM alone puts me at the top of the range. Dis boy got big bones

I think the BMI bit as far as men and women goes like this.
Blokes are supposed to have less fat than women. A person at 25% body fat would be overweight if male, but normal if female.
So, for a given BMI, the body would be composed more of muscle if male and more of fat if female, but since that's how its supposed to be, the same BMI range is healthy.
That's my understanding anyway.
Jay

You might try using a different method or two and compare the results. Try using calipers and/or hydrostatic weighing and see where those values fall. The "calculators" are good for a rough estimate, but can be way off depending upon your particular composition. For instance, the calculator puts me at 13% (which there's no way) and the other two methods (calipers and hydrostatic weighing) both had me closer to 7% and 8% respectively. So many factors go into it, but if you do a different method or two, it will give you a better range a to where you are!

HTH

Sporto