I've noticed that a lot of guys here know the amount of body fat that they have and I was wondering how do you calculate it? Can you do it by yourself or do you need someone else with special equipment to pinch your skin and do it? Back in High school i remember having it done, but i remember that the results were quite sketchy.

Cheers.

I don't really worry about my bf% that much. I go by what I see in the mirror.

Basically, if I can't see a clearly defined six pack, then I know I still have some cutting/cardio to do. It's brutally simple.

From prior experience and having tested myself at various levels of bf, I can pretty much guesstimate where I am at.

Also keep in mind that most bf tests you get will have a margin of error of up to 3 percentage points.

The only truly accurate machines are only available in the sophisticated sports medicine labs and the tests run about 500 bucks a pop. They basically strip you naked and throw you inside a huge machine which then bombards you with energy and measures how much of that stuff bounces off your fat. It's very convoluted by 99% accurate.

I have a Tanita scale, and Diesel is right, the results vary by time of day and hydration status.

check this out...http://www.he.net/~zone/prothd2.html

The tanita scale sucks for b/f but weighs like a champ. Mine says anything from 29 to 33%.

My calipers hit near 17.5 every time.

I need to get measured at the gym for objective comparison purposes.

You can buy skin calipers for about 20-30 dollars, they are realtivily cheap. Or, you can do a tape measure test, to check your bodies density, but doing that will only give you an approximate guess. Theres scales that can measure your body, but how reliable they are, and cheap, is another question. There are many factors, that could screw up the measurments if you ahve someone not trained doing it for you. Your safest bet is to go to a gym and have it done by a trainer, they should be properly trained, when you sign up at a gym they usually break out the skin calipers, try seeing if they will do it for you for free. If your in college, usually they have them lying around the athletic training rooms, or exercise phys. labs, chances are would do it for you.