Body fat - skinfold - YMCA

The YMCA skinfold body fat test is one one the most widely tests used for estimating body fat percentage. The advantage of this test is that you can choose to include or exclude the thigh measurement as this is often difficult to measure accurately.

Instructions:

1. Measure skinfold in millimeters as indicated on the illustration and enter values.
2. If the thigh measurement is a problem - either due to difficulties in getting a well-defined skinfold - or due to clothing, you can exclude this from the test with only minor effects on accuracy.
3. For further instructions see our guide "How to measure body fat with a skinfold caliper"

Background:

The YMCA skinfold test is based on the Jackson and Pollock four sites formulas. Experience has shown that the thigh measurement is sometimes difficult to obtain and therefore an option to use only three sites is given.

References:

YMCA Fitness Testing and Assessment Manual
Lawrence A. Golding (Editor)
Human Kinetics Publishers; 4 edition

Generalized equations for predicting body density of men. 1978.
Jackson AS, Pollock ML.
Br J Nutr. 2004 Jan;91(1):161-8.