Want to know what 8 percent body fat looks like for a man? Or 20 percent for a woman? These handy body fat diagrams will give you a rough idea.
Click the image above or visit this page over at askthetrainer.com to see the full body fat reference diagrams.
To find out how long it will take YOU to reach a certain body fat percentage, look at my six pack timing chart.
What Should Your Body Fat Be?
My Opinion
In my opinion, men should aim to maintain 8% – 10% body fat all year round and women should aim for 18-25% body fat all year round. This is achievable with a good diet and training program.
Any lower and the body will fight against you to store fat. Any higher and you lose the muscle definition needed for a killer beach body, as well as significantly increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and other health issues.
The American Council on Exercise’s Opinion
The ACE would classify you as an ‘athlete’ if you are in the body fat percentage ranges I recommend above. Nothing wrong with that! Staying in the ‘Fitness’ range of 14-17 percent body fat for men and 21-24 percent body fat for women is fine too, but you won’t look all that slender and toned (women) or defined and ripped with a six pack (men).
The Jackson And Pollock Opinion
The Jackson and Pollock ideal body fat chart is more detailed than the ACE one, because it includes an age dimension. The younger you are, the leaner you are supposed to be. Overall, the recommended ideal body fat percentages are lower than those of the ACE.
In this ideal body fat chart, an ideal leanness for men aged 18-20 could be as low as 6.5 percent body fat, right up to around 13 percent body fat.
If you need help achieving a lean body with defined muscles, then check out all the body transformation advice on this site by starting here.
About Ryan
I have invented a floating underwater weighing system (see: hydrodensity.com) which allows anyone with a hot tub or swimming pool to measure his/her body density to get an accurate body fat percent. I am crusading against the use of body mass index (BMI) as a measure of body fatness. I would like to get photos of persons of varying body fatness/leanness along with height and weight data. Then I propose to calculate the BMI for these individuals and post selected photos on my website. It is my intention to pair the fattest and the leanest persons who have the same BMI in order to illustrate why it is not an appropriate measure of body fatness. If you are willing to help me with this project, please email a photo (in a swimsuit would be best) along with your height and weight and permission to use it. Thanks.
Hi Jeff,
That is an excellent idea. I would not be sad to see BMI fade into the background and body fat percent replace it as the standard measure. The notion of healthy weight simply doesn’t apply to all people, especially those with high levels of muscle mass.
Your website is a fantastic idea. Please visit my 2011 fat loss page where you can find pictures of me at various weights and body fat percents. My height is 178.5cm.
Keep in touch and let me know your website is complete.
Ryan
Whilst I agree with a lot of the points in this article, I find it slightly bizarre that you believe that being higher than 10% bodyfat, for a man, “significantly increases your risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and other health issues” – At the upper end of the teens, fair comment, but at 11-15% I would still consider that a healthy bodyfat percentage
Just my 2 cents