How to Measure Body Fat With Cloth Tape

Measuring your body fat with a cloth tape can help make the difference between knowing your body weight and doing something to change it, and neglecting your fitness level and potentially developing dangerous health issues. What constitutes a healthy amount of body fat is relative to your age. According to the Anne Collins website, a fitness-based site, the younger you are, the less amount of body fat you should have to be considered healthy. Using cloth tape, equations and other fitness equipment can help you figure out your body fat percentage.

Things You'll Need

• Pen
• Paper
• Calculator

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Instructions

• 1

  Weigh yourself on a bathroom scale and measure your waist with the measuring tape, if you are a male. Take the cloth tape and wrap it around the narrowest part of the waist. Write down measurement in inches taken with the tape.

• 2

  Weigh yourself and measure your waist, hips, forearm and wrist, if you are a female. Take the cloth tape and wrap it around the narrowest part of your hips. You can measure any area of your forearm and wrist. Write down the measurements that you read on the cloth tape.

• 3

  Calculate your lean body weight by using the following equation. For a male, the equation is: (1.082 X your weight) -- (4.15 X your waist size) + 94.42. For a female, the equation is: (.732 X your weight) -- (.157 X your waist size) -- (.249 X the size of your hips) + (.434 X your forearm size) + (the size of your wrist/3.14) + 8.987.

• 4

  Use your lean body weight to calculate your body fat percentage. The formula is: (total weight -- lean body weight) X 100/your total weight.