View Full Version : Fat %
poolee womack
07-21-03, 11:13 PM
can anyone tell me if they perform the body fat% test to eveyone going to basic or is it just the people who are overweight for thier hight on the chart?
22DevilPup87
07-22-03, 08:54 AM
According to what I've read at www.usmilitary.about.com they only conduct a body fat percentage test if the recruit in question is overweight according to the Marine Corps height/weight standards.
If I read and recall correctly, even in that case they use the Navy circumference method.
Patrick8605
07-22-03, 09:08 AM
What is the Navy circumference method?
poolee womack
07-22-03, 11:20 AM
Yea I read the about.com before and thats what I thought to but I thought I read somewhere that everyone gets it for some reason. I don't know how but even though i am well under my weight limit i am at like 22% body fat. maybe the scale was off or something but that is rediculus. I can pass my IST and I work out almost every day I don't know how it could possably be that hight but as long as I am under the limit I was hoping I would be ok.
Echo_Four_Bravo
07-22-03, 12:07 PM
You are OK as far as shipping to boot, unless something has changed recently. But, if your body fat is at 22% you may face issues with appearance down the line. I am quite sure you will not graduate over 18% body fat, just be sure it stays that way after you graduate.
ProtectnServe
07-22-03, 12:52 PM
I know when I got my bodyfat% done at the gym i was 19% but that was with the electronic measurement, I've heard they use tape at meps and its usually more. As of right now I'm supposed to get down like 10 pounds before August 3rd, to be able to ship off at below weight (my recruiter told me i'm supposed to be at 179 but at about.com it said 187, so I'm not sure which is right).
poolee womack
07-22-03, 02:33 PM
Yea I am actually going to the store to buy one of those tapes and see how much it comes out to with that because it's just too hard for me to believe my fat % is that high right now.
ktriplett
07-22-03, 09:53 PM
my Senior Drill Instructor just looked at all the recruits one night and told them who was going to go on a diet. It was appearance to him, but it could be different for other companies.
Sixguns
07-23-03, 05:53 AM
I hope you are at 18 percent body fat or less (males)!!
Sixguns
jegries
07-23-03, 08:55 AM
Drink nothing but water except for dinner where you should have juice or milk. Lay off Mc D's and fast food and work out with your recruiter and you should be down in no time. I dropped from 15% to 5% and I've been in 2yrs 1Mth. Remember when you feel there is nothing left there is always more deep down, you just have to find it
22DevilPup87
07-23-03, 11:28 AM
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but unless you build lots of lean muscle, the circumference method won't do you justice.
I'm way over ship weight. (143 as of this morning and need to be 125, though I have this thing with numbers ... I'm going to be 118. I don't want to risk coming across a scale that is off a couple of pounds) But according to the Tanita scale at the gym I'm between 24 and 26% body fat. However, according to the circumference method, I'm at the high end of 31 or 32% depending exactly how taught the tape measure is.
As I've lost weight I've found that my body fat comes down (sort of obvious, eh?) but the moment I lose 1/2 an inch around my neck it does up according to the circumference method.
What I'm getting at here is I -think- it'd be easier to make weight than body fat because of the way the Marine Corps measures it.
jenrmurray
07-23-03, 08:31 PM
Jess, I totally agree with you on that one. I think the tape method is out-dated and there are much more accurate ways to calculate fat.
poolee womack
07-23-03, 09:07 PM
Yea i can make weight right now I am like 10 pounds under my limit but for some reason my body fat has skyrocked. It really doesn't make a whole lot of sence to me because I used to be like 10% lower and since then I have done a lot of running and working out but somehow my % has gone way up. I am just trying to make sure that as long as i make weight they arn't going to test me on that because that would be bad. I have like no fat anywhere on my body besides my stomach I have a gut but you can't even see that with my shirt on unless I pull my shirt tight so it's kind of messing with me I guess.
leroy8541
07-23-03, 09:19 PM
when I went to boot the senior D.I. went down the line made everone take their shirts off and started off fat body, fat body, fat body. I f you every start slacking in P.T you automatically get slammed fat body. even if you are skinny as a rail. appearance is the key to it like PFC ktriplett said as long as your performance is up to par and you look good they will never put the tape on you. I was in a recon bn. myself at 5'10"@ 245 lbs no one ever put a tape on me. I got back from DS I started partying let myself go 5'10'@ 185lbs they got the tape out and Leroy went on weight control. Its all in your appearance. Oh yeah weight control can, and will ruin your carrer!!!!
poolee womack
07-23-03, 09:37 PM
Yea like I said I do have a gut that without my shirt is definetely noticeable. No one would consider me fat maybe the D.I. like you said with the fat body but i won't slack with the pt i know that. If i do catch thier attention and they make me do the work maybe it will actually get rid of this gut. No matter what I have done I have never been able to loose the gut.
22DevilPup87
07-23-03, 10:55 PM
To directly answer your question and address your concern, according to www.usmilitary.about.com if you make weight they won't tape you.
There are so many "if's" in it all, though. I've heard of recruits going to the Island, making weight, and then being a weight recruit for appearance. I also heard of a Marine that was on weight control his entire career because he didn't fit the appearance standards. He bulked up, a lot, and while he had no fat on his body, he was huge.
You have the advice from Marines here. Take it and run (literally).
Echo_Four_Bravo
07-23-03, 11:43 PM
OK, the height weight thing seems to be quite the hot topic. First, the tape method isn't the best, you are correct... but there is no way the Marine Corps can take everyone to the pool and use the water displacement method, and everything else is just a guess. Calipers can be very close, if the person using them is very good at it. Most Marines wouldn't be, so it would be hard to be tested fairly. The tape method is the best we can do... and it isn't bad. And for some, it is much easier to be below body fat than below weight. For most of my career I weighed between 215 and 225, with a max of 203. Yet, because I was at about 12% body fat, by the tape, I was never messed with.
Not many people that are really fit will be hit with apperance. That is usually reserved for someone with a large stomach, that still slips by the tape somehow. And as far as a DI just putting people on a diet... they can all they want to. It is their platoon. But, to be officially on weight control, you have to be over weight, over body fat, or have your apperance deemed to be unsat. So, unless you really look fat you should be OK if you are under weight.
Sixguns
07-26-03, 06:30 AM
Orders are orders!! If the Corps states it will use a tape and older method to calculate your body fat, deal with it. Now that you know how you will be evaluated, start getting yourself moving toward the goal. I know your recruiter or MEPS liaison told you what weight you needed to be at in order to ship to training. Your recruiter is suppposed to be monitoring your weekly progress. You know, you might be burning off a few more calories on a treadmill, rather than a keyboard!!! Stop complaining and start training!!!
SIXGUNS
poolee womack
07-27-03, 10:12 PM
i was never complaing about it and i am under weight i just wanted to check up on the rules for the body fat %. i run every day on a track even.
Sixguns
07-29-03, 08:18 PM
If you aren't affected by the body fat ruling, why would you be inquiring? Spend time doing more porductive things. Many people on this site want to help others to move toward their goal of becoming Marines. The information is posted to help those in need, not serve as a fruitless waste of time for all of those who research the answer and make an effort to post them here.
SIXGUNS
poolee womack
07-30-03, 02:06 AM
I guess we have moved way off what the original question was here and which I have already gotton the answer. My original question was if you were given that test only if you are over your weight limit or if it happened to everyone. Basically myo question was if I am affected by the body fat ruling it wasn't just a fruitless waste of time.
22DevilPup87
07-30-03, 06:14 PM
When you ask a question around here you tend to get answers not only to your question, but to questions you didn't ask. It's just a perk of Leatherneck.com.
CrazyBrave83
07-30-03, 11:20 PM
Gotta love it. ;)
Echo_Four_Bravo
07-31-03, 12:56 AM
That is what makes this site so great. When a new person comes to leatherneck.com long after you've earned the title and move on, they may have questions that are similiar to the ones you asked....
firstsgtmike
07-31-03, 02:30 AM
. ....- -..
Some secrets are best not revealed.
Sixguns
08-02-03, 09:43 PM
For the poolees:
Do you ask questions here because it's easier than talking with your recruiter? Your recruiter should be the first source of information. Besides, aren't you talking to your recruiter at least once per week??
SIXGUNS
Sixguns,
Thats what I was thinking. I talk to my recruiter probably once every other day. He has me stop by all the time to crank out pullups and to talk with me about what to expect. My friend Aron's parents said they would only sign his papers if he went next September :(. Since I'm doing buddy enslitment with him we have to wait until next Septemeber to get in...I was really hoping for right after the 4th of July next year but oh well...
Sixguns
08-06-03, 06:53 PM
Seeley,
Buddy program has it's benefits. My only concern about it is if he fails to make it, how will it affect you? What if he gets dropped or quits? Shipping with a friend seems OK, but do you really think that you guys are going to have time to socialize and "hang out" in recruit training? Be sure you get referral credit for his enlistment. That way you are half way to earning PFC before you go to MCRD. You guys can also move your ship date while in DEP if his folks would not be adverse to his leaving in July. First things first, let's just get you two DEPPED in.
SIXGUNS
Sixguns,
I'm already getting PFC outta boot :). I'm JROTC for 3 years so I'm good to go. I'm still going to try and get as many people in as I can though.