Body Fat Percentages of Men and Women - Pictures & Descriptions...

[Halla74]

Body Fat Percentages of Men and Women - Pictures & Descriptions

This is a summary of an article I found online that does a great job of depicting varying levels of body fat composition for men, and women

FROM: http://www.builtlean.com/2012/09/24/body-fat-percentage-men-women/

NOTE: A summary is offered for each picture that represents a given level of body fat in the male and female, so that you can understand what the physiological effects are, and not just what the appearance is of a given state of fitness. Please read the whole article for full details; I only copied the salient points here for brevity. -Halla74

Body Fat Percentage Basics
To best understand the descriptions in this article and how the pictures were chosen, here are some basic body fat percentage terms and concepts that are helpful to learn:

Body Fat Percentage –
is the amount of body fat (lb, or kg) divided by total body weight listed as a percentage. For example, a 180lb man with 30lb of body fat has a body fat percentage of 16% (30/180).

Body Fat Distribution –
We all have different body fat distributions, or how fat is distributed across our body. For example, some women may have very little body fat on their abs, but a lot on their thighs and triceps, while others will have the opposite. Same thing goes with men, but most men carry fat in their stomachs. I tried my best to show pictures that highlighted the stomach region for men and the hips/thighs/stomach region for women.

Body Shape -
Similar to body fat distribution is we all have different body shapes, so two different body shapes may have the same body fat percentage even if they don’t look like it. A classic example is a skinny runway model may have the same body fat percentage as a fit, athletic women.

Age –
The pictures in this post assume ages of around 25-35 years old. Most body fat measurement devices will reflect higher body fat levels as the age increases. For example, a 20 year old man and a 50 year old man may have the same subcutaneous body fat measurement (fat under the skin), but the 20 year old may be 15% and the 50 year old will be at 20%. As we age, fat around the organs (visceral) and within muscle (intramuscular) tends to increase and most formulas take this into account.

Muscle Striations –
As an individual becomes more defined, the actual muscle can be seen more clearly, which looks like thin rods, referred to as striations.

Vascularity –
This is the appearance of veins in different areas of the body as body fat decreases.


PHOTOS:

Body Fat Pictures of Men






Body Fat Pictures of Men - Descriptions

Body Fat Percentage Men 3-4%
Bodybuilders can drop as low as 3-4% body fat when preparing for bodybuilding competitions. This body fat level is characterized by extreme vascularity, so that veins are visible over just about every muscle in the body.

Body Fat Percentage Men 6-7%
Approximately 6-7% body fat for a man is a bit less extreme than competition bodybuilders, but it’s still hovering at a level that is not sustainable for most men. Around this level, or slightly less, the face becomes gaunt, and your family starts worrying about you.

Body Fat Percentage Men 10-12%
This is a sustainable level for most men where you should be able to see your abs, but they will likely not be as defined as a man in the 6-7% body fat range. This body fat range is the classic beach body look that most men want and many women love.

Body Fat Percentage Men 15%
The 15% body fat level is usually within the “lean and fit” category in most body fat percentage charts. The outlines of muscle can be seen, but there is no clear separation between them.

Body Fat Percentage Men 20%
Separation between muscles starts to blur, almost no vascularity, or striations can be seen, typically there is a small stomach pouch of fat, the look is “soft” but not very round.

Body Fat Percentage Men 25%
There is little to no separation of muscles, no vascularity, or muscle striations, waist begins to increase quite substantially with a waist to hip ratio as high as 0.9 (waist circumference/hip circumference).

Body Fat Percentage Men 30%
There is more fat all around the body at the 30% level including waist, back, thighs, and calves. The waist looks larger relative to the hips, and the stomach will likely be protruding over the waist noticeably. There is no muscle separation.

Body Fat Percentage Men 35%
As men get heavier and heavier gaining more fat, most of the fat is funneled right in the stomach. The 35% level is characterized by more significant protrusion of stomach fat over the waist. This is the beer gut kind of look.

Body Fat Percentage Men 40%
Similar to the 35% level, even more fat accumulates in the stomach and waist region, so that waist sizes can approach 45 inches, or more. At this level, basic every day activities like walking up stairs, or bending over to pick something up becomes increasingly difficult. This body fat level is approaching morbidly obese.


Body Fat Pictures of Women







Body Fat Pictures of Women - Descriptions

Body Fat Percentage Women 10-12%
This is an extremely low body fat level typically attained by female bodybuilders. Essential fat for women is round 8-10% compared to 2% for men. Why the difference? Women have more fat in breast tissue and the area surrounding the uterus. This level of body fat is not considered safe, or healthy for women who will be unable to menstruate.

Body Fat Percentage Women 15-17%
This is still considered a very low body fat for women, which is similar to the 6-7% body fat for range men. Many bikini and fitness models will reach this body fat level and some may not be able to menstruate.

Body Fat Percentage Women 20-22%
This is body fat percentage is usually in the “fit” category of most body fat charts and is typical of many female athletes. Some definition in the abs is apparent, there is body fat on the arms and legs, but it’s not too pronounced. There is minimal, but some separation between muscles.

Body Fat Percentage Women 25%
This is on the low end of what’s average for most women and is characterized by a shape that is neither too slim, nor overweight. Curves in the hips are usually more apparent along with more fat in the buttocks and thighs.

Body Fat Percentage Women 30%
While most men have fat funnel into their stomachs, as the body fat of most women (but certainly not all) increases, this fat tends to accumulate in the hips, buttocks, and thighs. At 30% body fat, the hips, thighs, and buttocks are more pronounced and round. This is considered the high end of average for women in many body fat charts.

Body Fat Percentage Women 35%
The hips become even wider at this level of body fat and the face and neck will appear rounder and more full. Hip circumference can start approaching 40+ inches and waist circumference of 32+ inches. Some belly fat may start protruding over the waist as well.

Body Fat Percentage Women 40%
The hips and thighs grow larger so that hip circumference can reach 42+ inches, waist of 35 inches, and thighs over 25 inches.

Body Fat Percentage Women 45%
The skin may begin to lose its smooth appearance as more and more fat accumulates. Hip Circumference may reach 45 inches+ and waist circumference 35+ inches. The hips may become noticeably wider than the shoulders.

Body Fat Percentage Women 50%
The will likely look like it has dimples more fat accumulates. Hip Circumference can may reach 45+ inches and waist circumference 40+ inches and thighs above 30+ inches. The hips will likely be noticeably wider than the shoulders.

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I hope this information is helpful for you if you are trying to assess where you are at right now with regard to your level of fitness.
This article has been a great planning tool for me because it is the first time I've seen pictures AND corresponding explanations of male/female body fat percentages at various levels.
The goal is to be healthy, fit, and young! umpyouup:

Have a great evening!



-Halla74

 

[gromit]

Cool, thanks Halla!

I think especially the point about women needing a slightly higher body fat percentage to be healthy (/menstruating) is really important.

 

[Halla74]

Cool, thanks Halla!

You're welcome, gromit!!

I think especially the point about women needing a slightly higher body fat percentage to be healthy (/menstruating) is really important.

Agreed 100%!

In the pictures above, look how shredded and lean a woman looks at 10% - 12% body fat, it is comparable to how a man looks at 6% - 7% body fat.
The deal is though, for women to get their body fat that low - there are very real and serious consequences to their health that men looking to achieve a similar degree of leanness do not have to be near so concerned about.

Our society puts way too much emphasis on idolizing unrealistic health and fitness expectations.
I am not immune to this, I'm directly affected by it because my entire childhood there were huge pictures/posters of all the classic bodybuilders taped to the walls of my family's basement, and my Dad and brother made me a "mini-kid" barbell and dumbbell set, and taught me how to lift at age 5. I was in the basement with them three days per week at five years old, and the pictures of the champions imprinted into my consciousness - so that by the time I was 10 - 12 years old I thought that looking like a pro bodybuilder was expected of all men, and if anything something you just had to strive to do as a right of passage. Thankfully I enjoyed weightlifting very much, but I enjoyed it too much - and wound up needing 3 shoulder operations and a spinal fusion surgery to repair me from the years of strain and tissue damage that were the price I didn't know I was paying in my quest to like those I respected and idolized as a young boy.

I have no regrets about any of my life experience as an athlete; I just wish society would be more responsible in communicating achievable ideals about health & fitness to all people, and give them the information, training, and support needed for all to choose the path that is right for them in achieving it.



-Halla74

 

[Magic Poriferan]

10-12% maybe, tops. I'm not quite sure, as I am heavier now than ever and still haven't quite adjusted to a sense of my body. Probably a year ago and before I was more like 6-7% as people definitely would worry and inquire.

I'm not sure regarding how body types play into this. I'm really ectomorphic, and muscle and fat still don't make me look very bulky in a popular sense, I've found.

 

[Rasofy]

Good job, Halla.

 

[Solar Plexus]

Interesting. Thanks for posting. Judging from the pictures, I would've put myself at 20-25%. I've been lifting weights for a couple of years and frequently get comments from people, asking if I take steroids and whatnot, which I don't. However, I could still afford to shed some fat in the stomach. I used the handheld bodyfat device at the gym today and it gauged me at 9%. I definitely don't have abs like that though; granted, for the longest time I shirked legs and ab workouts due to time constraints and lack of discipline.

 

[rav3n]

For women, the 20% body fat looks about right. That's where I sit, albeit a bit more on the arms and a bit less on the stomach. This aligns with the manner that Asians put on body fat, where it's focused on the upper body. Caucasians pack on more below.

 

[prplchknz]

Looking at the pictures I'm between 35 and 40 probably

 

[chickpea]

did a body fat calculator online and got 25%, that's what looks the most like me too.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I'm about 20% at 220lbs.

 

[garbage]

I could stand to lose a few %s, but apparently if I lose many more %s I will turn into a grotesque freak

 

[WhoCares]

I sit about 20-25% range at the moment which for me feels moderately overweight. I am happier in the 15% range, lookswise anyway. I dont need to worry about menstration since I'm sterile anyway. Its just an inconvenience for me.

 

[Sunny Ghost]

My bmi is roughly 25%-30%. Used to be much less. This is the heaviest I've ever been.

Because of the way I'm built, I often feel heavier. I gain weight in my gut and not my hips, arms, or breasts. I look terrible in a bathing suit, but my legs/hips/butt look great in shorts, dresses, and skinny jeans.

It's amazing how differently women can be shaped. My best friend is roughly the same height, maybe an inch shorter than myself. She's the exact same weight as me and roughly same bmi. But she has an hour glass figure. Her hips are much thicker and her breast are larger. But she looks so trim in her mid section. I'm always jealous of her curves, whereas she's always jealous of my smaller arms, butt, and legs.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [MENTION=6109]Halla74[/MENTION] What's the best way to calculate BMI? I used an online calculator and it says 24.3%.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

I'm probably closer to 25% at 230lbs.

Although I'm not that heavy at the moment.

 

[EJCC]

My height and weight (5'6.5", 140lbs) put me at 22%, on online BMI calculators, but those things aren't really accurate. Physically, I think I look somewhere between the 25% girl and the 30% girl.

 

[Halla74]

My bmi is roughly 25%-30%. Used to be much less. This is the heaviest I've ever been.

Don't worry about your BMI; it is largely irrelevant.

NOTE:
Body fat percentage IS NOT THE SAME as BMI

[MENTION=6109]Halla74[/MENTION] What's the best way to calculate BMI? I used an online calculator and it says 24.3%.

My recommendation is to not use BMI at all.
I will post links to better methods of determing your actual body fat percentage in a bit.

For purposes of knowing your true level of physical fitness AND optimizing your self-esteem, I reccommend:

(A) Knowing your somatotype (ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph)
(B) Being aware of your food intake & quality of foods eaten
(C) Being aware of your level of physical activity
(D) Accepting your body's unique characteristics so that you can set realistic goals that are a benefit not only to your physical appearance, but also of benefit to your physical health, self-esteem, and overall happiness.



-Halla74

 

[Randomnity]

Another vaguely 25-30% one here, at least according to those pictures. Hard to tell because I'm not overweight overall but tend to store more weight than I'd like in my abdomen, so the pictures with the perfectly flat stomachs (do those exist in nature?!) seem ridiculously far off for me.

 

[Solar Plexus]

Weird. When I used the handheld device at the gym on Sunday, it said around 9%. Yesterday it was 8% and today it's 7.5%. I don't have much fat, but I literally can't see any definition in my abs. It's quite frustrating.

 

[Solar Plexus]

Our society puts way too much emphasis on idolizing unrealistic health and fitness expectations.
I am not immune to this, I'm directly affected by it because my entire childhood there were huge pictures/posters of all the classic bodybuilders taped to the walls of my family's basement, and my Dad and brother made me a "mini-kid" barbell and dumbbell set, and taught me how to lift at age 5. I was in the basement with them three days per week at five years old, and the pictures of the champions imprinted into my consciousness - so that by the time I was 10 - 12 years old I thought that looking like a pro bodybuilder was expected of all men, and if anything something you just had to strive to do as a right of passage. Thankfully I enjoyed weightlifting very much, but I enjoyed it too much - and wound up needing 3 shoulder operations and a spinal fusion surgery to repair me from the years of strain and tissue damage that were the price I didn't know I was paying in my quest to like those I respected and idolized as a young boy.

I have no regrets about any of my life experience as an athlete; I just wish society would be more responsible in communicating achievable ideals about health & fitness to all people, and give them the information, training, and support needed for all to choose the path that is right for them in achieving it.



-Halla74

Just out of curiosity, is there anything you think you could've done differently to avoid causing tissue damage and requiring surgeries? Is that pretty common among veteran bodybuilders, something that is inevitable if you lift for so many years? I've gotten occasional wrist pain, which has been reduced since I started wearing wrist supports. Also, I do more exercises now to focus on strengthening the forearms.

 

[Halla74]

Just out of curiosity, is there anything you think you could've done differently to avoid causing tissue damage and requiring surgeries?

Hey there!

This is a good question, but one that cannot be answered without appropriately factoring out my distinct life experience from that of the risks of physical injury (be it acute, cumulative, and/or hereditary) that all human beings are at risk for simply by living.

First I'll address what I could have prevented, and when I say "prevented" I mean "lessened the probability of occurence" - because there is no guarantee that lessening (or even eliminating) the amount, duration, and scope of one or more activities will definitively ptevent an injury of any kind. Does this make sense? If not please let me know.

So, a majority of the cumulative damage done to my tendons, jonts, cartilage, and ligaments was caused by competitive powerlifting, which I did for three years when I was in high school. My freshman year I weighed about 155 pounds; by the end of my junior year I weighed 185 pounds. The majority of my training was centered on simple, compound barbell movements (bench press, squat, deadlift) - but I also integrated a variety of other barbell & dumbbell exercises into my routine because I wantes to have a balanced, proportionate physique. I never intended to be a powerlifter; I got involved with it because it is a natural stepping stone into bodybuilding. Long story short, I placed ninth in the state championship in the 189 pound weight class. That was good enough for me; I built the muscular foundation I wanted and was ready to move on and focus entirely on bodybuilding.

Muscles heal. Tendons and ligamemts don't heal well at all. And cartilage will progressively become degenerated in all joints over tthe human lifetime. So, back to my statement about preventio /risk. By pursuing powerlifting as I did, I without a doubt increased the likelihood/risk of developing chronic injury in my tendons & ligaments. BUT - that is most true for only my shoulders. My back injury (herniation at L4/L5 disc) was due toegenerative disc disease, which my Father has. In addition to the herniated disc (removed and repaired by fusing L4 and L5) I've also got three bulging discs not far from the site of ths herniation. So, in all honesty, I don't know how much of my disc issues are hereditary or self-induced; I'll never know and I honestly don't care to, I'm just rolling with it all.

A final caveat. I know people who have herniated a disc by simply picking up a gallon of milk at a bizarre angle. I know one of my shoulder surgeries (SLAP tear, left arm) was caused by me slipping and falling backward on my friend's deck; I caught myself with my left arm but severed my bicep tendon as the price of breaking the fall. Also, baseball players, swimmers, and tennis players all have similar numbers of shoulder injuries as weightlifters bodybuilders. This is why I am reticent to make any statements about what injuries of mine could have been prevented/attenuated if I pursued weightlifting any differently than I chose to.

Is that pretty common among veteran bodybuilders, something that is inevitable if you lift for so many years?

In general, yes, but honestly I don't think any more so than any other sport.

More specifically, for a given person:

(Genetic Predisposition) + ((Physical Activity * Intensity) * (Years)) + (Random Risk) = Probability of Injury from Cumulative Strain

I've gotten occasional wrist pain, which has been reduced since I started wearing wrist supports. Also, I do more exercises now to focus on strengthening the forearms.

Wrist pain is most commonly from:
(a) Tennis Elbow
(b) Golfers Elbow
(c) Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
(d) Repetitive Movements, such as Hammering Nails or using a Screwdriver

It's good you are aware of it. The wrist brace is a smart move too. Icing it a few times per week never hurts. If it gets too bad to where you can't hold a barbell or even a briefcase then PM me and I'll send you a link where you can buy a neoprene counterforce brace that wjll shut the tendonitis down when you're lifting.

In closing I will say that doing more reps and less weight is probably a good idea for most people. Also, always use proper form; you will get better results with less weight and also be less prone to injury. Stretching is also largely overlooked by a majority of recreational athletes/gym rats. These are the things I wish were emphasized as being more important than being a fucking enormous meathead by society. I also wish coaches explained the differences between the ability of muscle to heal as opposed to the limited ability of tendons & ligaments to heal.

The bottom line? Even if you sit on your ass and never take any physical risks in your lifetime - you will still wind up with one or more chronic/degenerative injury(ies) by the time you are middle aged, and you won't have had a whole lot of fun. We are frail, helpless and weak at birth and at death. What work we choose to do with our bodies while they serve us is our choice to make, and the affect on our bodies or the feats we might accomplish are our risks to take. The only thing that is certain is that one day we will die, and the story of our lives will be written by the words we spoke, and the actions we took while living for what we believed in.



-Halla74