Ideal body fat %?? FART for me!!!

Hey there men!!   FART for me:This week I just dropped under 20% body fat using my Omron hand-held body fat % calculator.  My BMI is about 28.   I've got a question here about ideal body fat %.   What is a healthy target range for body fat? My confusion is that it seems different websites seem to give different answers to these questions. At this point, my goal is not to be a professional athelete, or body builder (Although all you guys out there on that track inspire me).  My goal was to look at body fat % as a better estimate of health than BMI.  I was prompted by the fact that I'm wearing the size of clothing I wore previously when I was 30 lbs lighter, and wanting to track to make sure I'm minimizing muscle loss. Thanks for your input!! --Dave

Congrats.  You have approximately achieved my #1 goal (body fat 19% or less).  For me, everything else is secondary (assuming no major health issues crop up). I saw a study on this a while back, can't find it now.  I believe everything from 10% to 19% has roughly equally life expectance, and 19-22 wasn't a big jump.  There was a very minor gain down to 16%, though it I'm not sure it was even statistically significant.  Below 10% actually saw some increased risk (from spontaneous numothoraxes, other stuff like that).  As you get older (past 45), you can add a point or so per decade to that.

Dave, Here’s some numbers from- Sports Fitness Advisor They give "ranges" and optimums for "Plain-ole-folks" as well as various athletes.

What it has told me is as far as %? I’m within the "Normal Range BMI," But an absolute Puss when in comes to Muscle mass. That muscle gain is a very slow go for those of us over 45….L Hey, still in my 35 GAP Jeans and a medium sized shirt. And my BP, Resting heart rate (59) and perfect bloodwork are good enough for me. Best Wishes- Dx