Decrease your body fat and maximize lean muscle with this program
Learning how to measure body fat at home is one of the best skills you will learn to assist you in your fitness transformation. Relying on the scale is simply not an accurate way to gauge progress since lifting weights is likely going to cause you to gain weight while you may be dramatically lowering your body fat percentage. A scale could make you think you are off track on your way to your lean goals.
Instead, mastering your measuring abilities of your own body fat will help you to determine your true progress. In this video, I show you how to measure your body fat yourself in your own home to figure out how close you are to your six pack abs. One method is more expensive than the other, however when you realize just how important this number will be to your progress, you may just find a way to add this tool to your gym equipment.
First, skin fold calipers are a classic home testing option. Are they the most accurate? No. However, they are the most readily available and don’t require the set up that a DEXA scan would. The tradeoff in accuracy is not that high, given that as you become more skilled in pinching…your accuracy could be within 1-3% of the exact number.
If you would rather use a more economical method for testing your body fat level at home however, you can easily do that as well. When you realize just what calipers are testing it becomes very easy to see how you can do this with a simple fifty cent tape measure. Calipers are literally measuring the thickness of the skin fold that you pinch when doing your body fat measurements.
If you can (easier when you enlist the help of someone else) simply pinch in the locations shown in this video and use a standard tape measure to mark out the thickness of the fold. Average out the results performed on your chest, abdomen and thigh and determine your body fat with this chart:
Ellington Darden:
1/4 inch pinch is 5 to 8 percent body fat
1/2 inch pinch is 9 to 13 percent body fat
3/4 inch pinch is 14 to 18 percent body fat
1 inch pinch is 19 to 22 percent body fat
1 1/2 inch pinch is 23 to 27 percent body fat
2 inch pinch is 28 to 32 percent body fat
2 1/2 inch pinch is 33 percent body fat and up
Alternatively, if you get your skin fold measurements either with a caliper or with the old fashioned tape measure method you can input them at to determine your current level of body fat.
For a complete workout and nutrition program geared at helping you to maximize every ounce of lean muscle you can build while minimizing your body fat, be sure to head to and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System.
For more videos on how to burn body fat with workouts you can do at home or at the gym, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at
34 comments
This guy’s channel makes Me realize what a fat useless piece of shit I am thank you
His skin looks more glowing than in his recent videos
but how big should the pinch be, you can grab 2inches or 10 inches, and the result will be different
Thank you Jeff. How about female body fat percentage? Just (abs + thighs)/2?
What a great figure
wtf?its fucking hurt when im pinch it.LOL
After 5 years I'm here.
Me, a female: am I supposed to grab my whole boob or what?
21% body fat. Damn son I need to cut! 2month until beach
According to the calipers Imliterally dead
ouch, it hurts
Anyone have recommendations for a scale that measures this fairly accurately?
I can't pinch my skin like that, help
1:40 yeah sir I cannot do that, I have one thing called breasts
47,5 percent of muscle mass is good or bad. I Don’t understand I have 13.9 percent body fat and that I understand but the other thing I don’t
bruh im normal levels which im happy with like 20 23% and all i need to do to decrease this is a little bit thx i needed this
Jeff, if someone is insulin resistant how does your system combat that as you recommend carbs too?
Brah i can't even pinch my shit
“You not measuring yourself is killing your gains”
You can use Vernier caliper too
wow my body fat % is around 13-14 and thats crazy
i am 15 years old btw
Sharing this calculator for calculating body fat: https://wellness-essence.com/body-fat-calculator/
Measuring body fat is KILLING your gains
Fat distribution is weird. Measuring those areas I get 1/2" leg, 1/2" belly and 1/4" chest, which would seem to be around 10% body fat, yet on my love handles I can pinch at least 2" in some spots
wait how can I measure my bodyfat if I am measuring my chest fold. Like I have boobs xD should I measure my whole boob?
02:38 thanks bro, very useful angle
I cant even pinch my belly
Wow ima get one cause my scale measures it to using electric signals but I wanna see what these calibers say, I’m at 12% according to stand on scale but I do have 6 pack just I got really sharp definition some places and not others so it makes sense to me.
I can't fucking pinch my skin
Is… Is he butt naked
according to my pinch test, i am carrying all of my body fat on my stomach.
…my skin doesn't do that
At the start of the video Jeff looks naked xD
Lol this middle aged man really opened shirtless in front of a brick wall.
“Hey guys come see how good I look”