Army body fat calculator
This Army body fat calculator uses the one-site tape test from Army Directive 2023-11: body weight plus one abdominal measurement at the navel. Enter your sex, age, weight and abdomen and you get your body fat percentage rounded the way the Army records it, the maximum allowed for your age group, a pass or fail, and the waist-to-height ratio the Army has screened with since July 2026.
18% is within the 22% maximum for men aged 21-27, so this passes the one-site tape standard. Your waist-to-height ratio of 0.485 also meets the 0.55 screen the Army has used since July 2026.
How the Army one-site tape test works
The one-site tape test estimates body fat from two numbers: body weight in pounds and abdominal circumference in inches, measured at the navel. Army Directive 2023-11, signed on 9 June 2023, introduced it to replace the older neck, waist and hip method, and from 8 June 2024 it was the only circumference method the Army authorised. Men and women are measured at the same site; only the coefficients differ.
The formula for men
Body fat % equals minus 26.97, minus 0.12 times body weight in pounds, plus 1.99 times abdominal circumference in inches.
The formula for women
Body fat % equals minus 9.15, minus 0.015 times body weight in pounds, plus 1.27 times abdominal circumference in inches.
Rounding, the way the Army records it
Weight is recorded to the nearest pound. The abdomen is measured three times, each reading rounded down to the nearest half inch, and the average is used. The body fat result is rounded to the nearest whole percent and compared with the maximum for your age group. The calculator applies the same rounding, so a 34.4 inch tape is scored as 34.0 inches.
Worked examples from the Army
The Army's own samples: a man weighing 210 lb with a 35 inch abdomen works out to minus 26.97, minus 25.2, plus 69.65, which is 17.48%, recorded as 17%. A woman weighing 165 lb with a 30 inch abdomen works out to minus 9.15, minus 2.475, plus 38.1, which is 26.475%, recorded as 26%.
Why more weight lowers the result
Weight carries a negative coefficient. At the same waist, a heavier Soldier is assumed to carry more of that weight as muscle, so the estimate drops. A 160 lb man with a 36 inch abdomen comes out at 25%, while a 200 lb man with the same tape comes out at 21%. The abdomen does most of the work: for men every extra inch adds about 2 percentage points.
Army body fat standards by age and sex
The maximum allowable body fat comes from AR 600-9, Table B-2. It rises with age in four bands and sits 10 points higher for women than for men. A result at or below the maximum for your age group passes; a result one point above it fails. The calculator reads your age, picks the band and shows your margin in percentage points.
| Age group | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 17 to 20 | 20% | 30% |
| 21 to 27 | 22% | 32% |
| 28 to 39 | 24% | 34% |
| 40 and older | 26% | 36% |
Army tape test chart for men
Because the formula is linear, you can turn it around and read the largest abdominal measurement that still passes at a given weight. The chart below does that for men, using the Army rounding rules: abdomen in half inches, body fat to the nearest whole percent. Anything above the listed tape fails for that age group.
Read it as a planning tool, not an official table. The Army publishes the equation, not a lookup chart, and your own weight will rarely land on an even 20 lb step: put your exact numbers in the calculator above.
| Weight | 17 to 20 (20%) | 21 to 27 (22%) | 28 to 39 (24%) | 40+ (26%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 140 lb | 32.0 | 33.0 | 34.0 | 35.0 |
| 160 lb | 33.5 | 34.5 | 35.5 | 36.5 |
| 180 lb | 34.5 | 35.5 | 36.5 | 37.5 |
| 200 lb | 35.5 | 36.5 | 37.5 | 38.5 |
| 220 lb | 37.0 | 38.0 | 39.0 | 40.0 |
| 240 lb | 38.0 | 39.0 | 40.0 | 41.0 |
Army tape test chart for women
The female equation leans far less on weight (0.015 per pound against 0.12 for men), so the passing tape barely moves as weight changes. Between 120 and 200 lb the limit shifts by about one inch in each age group. For women the abdomen measurement is almost the whole test.
| Weight | 17 to 20 (30%) | 21 to 27 (32%) | 28 to 39 (34%) | 40+ (36%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 120 lb | 32.5 | 34.0 | 35.5 | 37.0 |
| 140 lb | 32.5 | 34.0 | 36.0 | 37.5 |
| 160 lb | 33.0 | 34.5 | 36.0 | 37.5 |
| 180 lb | 33.0 | 34.5 | 36.0 | 38.0 |
| 200 lb | 33.5 | 35.0 | 36.5 | 38.0 |
New Army tape test standards in 2026: waist-to-height ratio
On 7 July 2026 the Army announced that the height and weight tables, the circumference tape test and the supplemental body fat assessments were replaced by a waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) check. The waist is still measured at the navel, the same site as the one-site tape, and divided by height. A ratio below 0.55 is compliant, and reporting on the directive says the ratio is recorded to three decimals without rounding, so 0.549 passes and 0.550 does not. Every Soldier is assessed twice per calendar year, and a Soldier at 0.55 or above gets a confirmation measurement before being enrolled in the Army Body Composition Program.
What that means for this calculator
If you are checking compliance under current Army policy, the waist-to-height number in the result panel is the one that counts, and the waist-to-height ratio calculator covers it in more depth. The one-site body fat percentage is still useful: it is the method behind every Army record from June 2024 to July 2026, it is what most recruiters and Soldiers still quote, and unlike a ratio it tells you how much fat you are carrying. Because both use the same navel measurement, one tape gives you both answers.
The table below turns the 0.55 limit into a waist measurement for common heights. Unlike the tape test, weight plays no part.
| Height | Waist must be under |
|---|---|
| 5 ft 0 in (60 in) | 33.0 in |
| 5 ft 2 in (62 in) | 34.1 in |
| 5 ft 4 in (64 in) | 35.2 in |
| 5 ft 6 in (66 in) | 36.3 in |
| 5 ft 8 in (68 in) | 37.4 in |
| 5 ft 10 in (70 in) | 38.5 in |
| 6 ft 0 in (72 in) | 39.6 in |
| 6 ft 2 in (74 in) | 40.7 in |
| 6 ft 4 in (76 in) | 41.8 in |
ACFT and AFT body fat exemptions
From 2023, Soldiers who scored 540 or more on the record Army Combat Fitness Test, with at least 80 points in each of the six events, were exempt from the body fat assessment. When the five-event Army Fitness Test (AFT) replaced the ACFT, Army Directive 2025-17 (September 2025) moved the bar to 465 points or more, again with at least 80 points per event and no alternate events. Exempt Soldiers still had height and weight recorded but were not taped or enrolled in the Army Body Composition Program, and the exemption ran until the next record test, at most 8 months for active duty and 12 months for the Guard and Reserve.
The July 2026 change replaced the body fat assessments that exemption applied to. The Army's own guidance on the new standard says the waist-to-height standard is mandatory for every Soldier regardless of Army Fitness Test score, so a high score no longer exempts you.
How to measure for the Army tape test
Almost all the error in a tape test comes from the measurement, and the abdomen coefficient is large: for men, half an inch moves the result by about one percentage point.
Abdomen
Stand upright, arms relaxed at your sides, feet together. Place a non-stretch tape horizontally around the abdomen at the level of the navel, snug but not compressing the skin, and read it at the end of a normal exhale. Do not suck in or push out. Take three readings, round each down to the nearest half inch and average them.
Weight and height
Weigh in light clothing, without shoes, and round to the nearest pound. Height is only needed for the waist-to-height ratio: stand against a wall without shoes, heels together, and read to the nearest half inch.
Measure in the morning before eating or training. A large meal or a hard session can add half an inch to the abdomen, which on its own is enough to move a borderline result from pass to fail. If you want to log the numbers over time, the body measurement chart has a template.
The old multi-site Army tape test
Before June 2023 the Army taped men at the neck and abdomen and women at the neck, waist and hips, then combined those circumferences with height in a logarithmic equation from the same family as the Navy method (Hodgdon and Beckett, 1984). A study of 1,904 active-duty Soldiers measured against DXA found that a single abdominal site with weight predicted body fat about as well as three sites (Taylor et al., 2024).
This calculator does not use the old method. If you want the neck, waist and hip estimate, which is still the better choice for a body fat percentage outside a military setting, use the Navy body fat calculator.
How accurate is the Army body fat calculator?
At group level the one-site equation tracks DXA closely. For individuals the spread is wide. An independent 2024 study in 96 adults found the Army equation within about 1.3 percentage points of a four-compartment model on average, but with limits of agreement of roughly 10 percentage points either way, so a single person's result can sit well above or below their true value.
That is the trade-off of a test built to screen thousands of Soldiers with a tape and a scale. It is fair on average and fast to run, and it can still misjudge an unusually muscular or unusually built individual. Use the result to see where you stand against the standard, not as a precise measure of your body composition. For a lean mass figure to plan training around, the lean body mass calculator is a better starting point.
Coaching a client toward the Army standard
Recruits, ROTC cadets and serving Soldiers who hire a trainer usually have one number to hit and a date to hit it by. For the tape test and the waist-to-height check alike, that number is the circumference at the navel, so the job is a steady loss of abdominal fat while holding on to the strength that the fitness test also scores.
Log the navel measurement and body weight at intake and every two to four weeks, measured the Army way. Scraler keeps those measurements on each client's profile with their weight and progress photos, and check-ins make remeasuring part of the weekly routine instead of a scramble before a record test.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Army one-site tape test?
- It is the body fat method introduced by Army Directive 2023-11 in June 2023 and made the only authorised tape method on 8 June 2024. It uses body weight and one abdominal measurement at the navel for both men and women, instead of the old neck, waist and hip sites.
- What is the Army body fat formula?
- Men: body fat % equals minus 26.97, minus 0.12 times weight in pounds, plus 1.99 times abdomen in inches. Women: body fat % equals minus 9.15, minus 0.015 times weight in pounds, plus 1.27 times abdomen in inches. The result is rounded to the nearest whole percent.
- What are the Army body fat standards?
- Under AR 600-9 the maximum is 20% for men aged 17 to 20, 22% at 21 to 27, 24% at 28 to 39 and 26% at 40 and older. For women it is 30%, 32%, 34% and 36% for the same age groups.
- Is the Army tape test still used in 2026?
- On 7 July 2026 the Army announced that the tape test, the height and weight tables and the supplemental body fat assessments were replaced by a waist-to-height ratio check, with a ratio below 0.55 as compliant. The waist is measured at the navel, the same spot as the one-site tape, so this calculator shows both numbers.
- How do I use the new Army tape test calculator for 2026?
- Enter your height along with your abdominal measurement at the navel. The result panel shows your waist-to-height ratio next to your one-site body fat percentage. Under the July 2026 rules a ratio below 0.55 passes; at 0.55 or above, a confirmation measurement follows.
- Why does weighing more lower my Army body fat result?
- The weight coefficient is negative. At the same waist size the equation assumes a heavier person carries more lean mass, so for men every extra 10 lb at the same tape lowers the estimate by 1.2 percentage points. For women the effect is much smaller, 0.15 points per 10 lb.
- Can a high fitness test score exempt me from the body fat standard?
- It could until July 2026: 540 or more on the ACFT with 80 per event from 2023, then 465 or more on the AFT with 80 per event under Army Directive 2025-17. Under the July 2026 rules the waist-to-height standard applies to every Soldier regardless of AFT score, so the exemption no longer applies.
- What happens if I fail the Army tape test?
- Under the tape test era rules a Soldier over the maximum was flagged and enrolled in the Army Body Composition Program, with the option to request a supplemental body fat assessment. Under the 2026 waist-to-height rules, a result at 0.55 or above is confirmed by a second measurement before ABCP enrolment.
- How accurate is the Army one-site tape test?
- It matches DXA well on average across a group, but individual results can be off by up to about 10 percentage points in either direction. Treat it as a screening number against the standard, not a precise body composition measurement.
Sources
- US Army Training Center and Fort Jackson Inspector General. IG Update 23-4: Guidance on Changes to Army Directive 2023-11 (Army Body Fat Assessment for the Army Body Composition Program), 2023Source of the one-site equations for men and women, the two worked samples, whole percent rounding and the 9 June 2023 and 8 June 2024 dates.
- US Army. Army publishes new body fat assessment guidance, June 2023Announcement of Army Directive 2023-11, the navel measurement site for both sexes and the supplemental assessment option.
- US Army. DA Form 5500, Body Fat Content Worksheet (Male)Recording rules: weight to the nearest pound, three abdominal readings rounded down to the nearest half inch and averaged.
- US Army. AR 600-9, The Army Body Composition Program, 16 July 2019Table B-2, maximum allowable percent body fat by age group and sex.
- US Army. Army exempts Soldiers who score 465+ on the AFT from body fat standards, September 2025Army Directive 2025-17: 465 points with 80 per event, exemption length for active duty and reserve components.
- US Army. Army modifies body composition program, adopts waist to height ratio, 7 July 2026Source of the 0.55 waist-to-height benchmark, the navel measurement site, twice yearly assessment and confirmation measurement.
- US Army. The full measure: the Army's new WHtR standard, 2026States the waist-to-height standard is mandatory for all Soldiers regardless of Army Fitness Test score.
- Military.com. Army Soldiers have 90 days to get measured under new height-weight rules, 2026Reports the ratio is recorded to three decimals without rounding and the same-day confirmation by a different team.
- Taylor et al. Development and cross-validation of a circumference-based predictive equation to estimate body fat in an active population. Obes Sci Pract, 2024DXA study in 1,904 active-duty Soldiers showing one abdominal site performs about as well as three.
- Body composition estimation from mobile phone three-dimensional imaging: evaluation of the USA army one-site method. Br J Nutr, 2024Independent validation against DXA and a four-compartment model: about 1.3 points mean bias, roughly 10 point limits of agreement.
- Hodgdon JA, Beckett MB. Prediction of percent body fat for U.S. Navy men from body circumferences and height. Naval Health Research Center Report No. 84-11, 1984The log based circumference method behind the old multi-site Army tape test.
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