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Covert Bailey Body Fat Calculator

Enter your weight, waist and wrist size to get a tape-measure body fat estimate.

How it is calculated

The tool uses only two tape measurements and a sex-specific rule. First it takes the gap between the waist and twice the wrist: diff = waist − 2 × wrist, in centimetres. For men body fat % = diff × 0.5; for women body fat % = diff × 0.6 + 4. Height and hip are not used. Fat mass is weight × body fat % ÷ 100 and lean mass is weight − fat mass, both in kilograms. If the estimate is zero or negative, or above 65%, the tool returns no result; so do weights outside 2–650 kg, waists outside 40–250 cm and wrists outside 5–40 cm. Because it is a rough tape rule, it is better for tracking change in the same person than for a single exact reading.

Worked example

A man weighing 85 kg with a 96 cm waist and a 17.5 cm wrist. Twice the wrist: 2 × 17.5 = 35. Difference: 96 − 35 = 61. Body fat = 61 × 0.5 = 30.50%. Fat mass = 85 × 30.50 ÷ 100 = 25.93 kg. Lean mass = 85 − 25.93 = 59.08 kg.

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Common mistakes

  • Measuring the waist at the belt line or over clothing instead of at the narrowest point or navel level you use every time; a few centimetres moves body fat by one or two points.
  • Entering the wrist in inches or the weight in pounds; waist and wrist are centimetres, weight is kilograms. A wrist under 5 cm or a waist under 40 cm is refused outright.
  • Forgetting that the wrist is doubled in the formula: entering twice the wrist yourself counts it four times over.
  • Choosing the wrong sex: the women's rule adds 4 points and uses a larger multiplier, so the same measurements give 40.60% instead of 30.50%.

About this calculator

The Covert Bailey tape-measure method, popularized by fitness author Covert Bailey, estimates body fat percentage from just a few tape-measure circumferences, primarily waist and wrist, rather than skinfold calipers or imaging equipment. The full published method sometimes adds hip and forearm and uses lookup tables; this calculator uses a simplified waist-and-wrist formula instead, with no height or lookup tables. It trades some accuracy for accessibility — anyone with a soft tape measure and a scale can use it at home.

The method was widely popularized through Bailey's fitness books and became a common at-home alternative to gym-based skinfold testing or bioelectrical impedance scales, particularly before body-fat scales became inexpensive and widespread. It remains useful today as a quick, no-equipment way to estimate fat mass and lean mass and track relative change over time, though like all circumference-based methods it is less precise than DEXA or hydrostatic weighing for a single absolute reading.

Weight plus waist and wrist measurements are enough: the gap between your waist and twice your wrist, with separate equations for men and women, gives body fat percentage, fat mass and lean mass, so you can follow body-composition trends with just a tape measure.

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