I’m curious as to how important is body fat percentage compared to actual weight, I know they probably go hand in hand but is either more important than the other? Also can anyone recommend a not so complicated way to measure body fat, I know it’s a science in itself I tried with a set of calipers from GNC and could not figure out how to do it, it’s difficult to find exactly where to measure. Thanks.
Body fat percentage importance?
Steven_Ellis
#2
It’s important at the higher levels of the game more so than the youth levels, in my opinion. For college and pro players, it’s another way to measure and track progress in the development of lean mass that’s more accurate and helpful than a scale. While there are all sorts of methods to measure BF%, some more accurate than others, I think any method is fine as long as the tool used to measure is consistent over time. Even the pinch test for BF in 3-5 places works well.
12-14% BF is what pro pitchers are expected to be.
I was 210 lbs and 11.7%-12.3% in college as a stater and then 225-230 and 10% in pro ball as a closer… this indicates I gained 15+ pounds of muscle in my first year of pro ball (gained mostly in the off-season) in a healthy way. That’s the benefit of measuring BF%.