Hey guys, just did a measuring for my body fat percentage as my new scales where lying to me and i was wondering what would you guys say is the optimal/good percentage for a healthy male to be at?

I'm currently reading in at approx 20% Body fat and want to know roughly what i should aim for so i know what a realistic number is for my goal weight. I have a bit of muscle on me atm and am weighing in at 126 kg ~ 278 pounds.

Thanks for any responses on the topic guys/girls.

20% doesn't sound right, unless you were a weight lifter before you put on weight?

How did you calculate it, did you use calipers to measure?

I'm about the same height as you and for a healthy bmi you would want to be in between around 200-210.

No I didn't use callipers as I couldn't find any in the stores near me, so instead I used the slightly more unreliable method of measuring my girth and neck circumference for online tape measure fat composition calculator.

I've never actually been not overweight/obese so I certainly haven't been a body builder, however I am currently completing my second full round of insanity and I used to lifts weight as hobby. When I say I have a fair amount of muscle I actually mean that in all the places I have fat left they are sitting on a fair amount of muscle.

[EDIT] I just did a whole bunch of other tape measurements and they all seem to be at about 25% body fat, that seems closer to the reality.

Slightly more unreliable is the understatement of the year, Ignore the neck its irrelevant. Example at 100kg playing rugby per week i had a 20.5" neck. at 330lb and fat/ lazy i had a 19" neck.

Yep I figured as much about the one with only two measurements. The other lot of tests I did had me measuring a bunch of different places and came out at about 25% in all of them and gave me a body weight of 94.5kg if I had no fat at all and retained my muscle. So to get to a healthy bmi with my wide build and amount of muscle I would need 0% body fat Lol, that's why I was asking what is a healthy fat% instead of BMI.

It probably won't matter in the long run as I'm just going to keep trying to lose until I'm happy with my body.

If you have a bioelectrical impedance scale that only has sensors in the feet and not your hands then it is only measuring the composition on the shortest path. Leg to leg. So you body fat in the lower extremities my around 20%.

Measure your waist circumference. That will give you an idea if you are losing belly fat.

At your height and build 100 kg is ideal, but that is based on a calculation and only takes into account height and build.