Plenty of people don’t recognize their body fat percentage.  

This is as damaging as not being aware of the amount of money you spend.  It’s a travesty, particularly in the realm of health and fitness.  Why is body fat percentage so important?  It’s the single best gauge of body composition.  Anyone who cares whatsoever about their health and fitness should know approximately what their body fat percentage is.  On the other hand, just about everyone knows how much they weigh.  Weight is not a good indicator of body composition.  Neither is Body Mass Index (BMI).  You can acquire what is commonly regarded as a standard BMI and have all sorts of concealed health issues.  That isn’t likely to be the scenario with body fat percentage.  What is a healthy body fat for men and women?

Short answer: the Athletes ranges in the American Council on Exercise figures below.

• Essential Fat: 2% – 5% (men), 10% – 13% (women)

• Athletes: 6% – 13% (men), 14% – 20% (women)

• Fitness: 14% – 17% (men), 21% – 24% (women)

• Acceptable: 18% – 24% (men), 25% – 31% (women)

• Obesity: >25% (men), >32% (women)

Long answer (my opinion): 

A healthy body fat percentage for men is between 6% and 10%.  A healthy body fat percentage for females is between 14% and 17%.  I concentrate on the lower end of the Athletes range for two reasons.  First, I believe that being an athlete is a minimum requirement of physical fitness.   Second, you can probably make do with being reasonably fit and healthy within the upper ranges of Athlete, but that’s not what I desire for you.  I would like you to become extremely healthy and fit and for that, you ought to develop an undoubtedly athletic build.  The Acceptable ranges in this chart are unacceptable.  I was in the upper end of the Fitness range for quite some time and I felt sluggish and heavy.  Be a little ambitious.  With some effort, anyone can look and feel like many of the superstars we idolize in sports.

Will your age affect your body fat ?

Theoretically, it does.  Your metabolic rate decreases as you grow older therefore rendering it more difficult to keep low body fat thresholds.   In reality, the reduction in your metabolism from aging has a negligible impact compared to the impact of your overall lifestyle.  In short, aging isn’t a legitimate good justification for having a higher body fat percentage.  I believe all men and all women should focus on the lower ends of the Athlete ranges no matter what age.  Due to a combination of factors, the normal body fat percentage for both males and females goes up with age.   Therefore, older individuals who hit an ambitious target and sustain an athletic body fat percentage look far more impressive amongst fellow men and women in their age group than younger people will.  Case in point: Mark Sisson.

How does a healthy body fat percentage tie in together with the other two components of The Magic Trio?

So far as personal finance , people who have a healthy body fat percentage will suffer from far fewer health issues and obesity-related conditions than the rest of the population.  What about enjoying life?  This one is a no-brainer isn’t it?  By keeping a healthy body fat percentage, you’ll obviously enjoy your life more since you will look and feel better.  Carrying excess fat around is one of those things you get used to if you’re obese, but that doesn’t imply it’s not damaging.  Getting rid of excess fat will give you much more vitality and self-confidence than you could ever envision.  It’s night and day.  My experience has been so encouraging that I can’t picture myself returning to the days of owning unwanted fat.  I’m certain that anybody else who has been through substantial fat reduction feels exactly the same way.  It’s like owning a DVR or watching sports in HD.  Once you switch, you can never revert back.  Now that you understand the healthy body fat percentage for men and women, it’s time for you to make a change!