The ratio of the body’s lean muscle mass to fat mass is called the body composition, or body fat percentage. There are various ways to measure this. One can be seen in the above picture using skin fold calipers. It can have a margin of error around 4-7%, but it also depends on how skilled the person using the calipers is. A more accurate measure is by a machine called the Bod Pod which uses air displacement. There are also machines that use water displacement. Body composition is an indicator for the level of physical fitness, strength, and overall health of an individual. A healthy male’s body fat can be from around 6%-15%. Women tend to have higher percentages of body fat with a healthy range around 14% -25%.
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