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Originally Posted by kfisherx
Is this even possible? I started a training program yesterday am 5'5" and weigh in at 134.5 pounds. He measured me at 31% body fat. I do have a pudge at my gut but other than that am pretty lean. He measured my biceps, triceps, back and gut area. It seems counter intuitive that I would be in this fat category given my body weight. I feel like getting a second measurement somewhere.
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Based on your other post where you said you were 44 and have focused mostly on cardio, I don't find the 31% bf surprising. You can have a normal or low total body weight and still have a body composition that's higher in fat.
Your tester used the Durnin/Womersley four-site test, which tests the same four sites on males or females. I prefer the Jackson/Pollock three-site test for general fitness clients, which uses different sites for males (chest, abdomen, thigh) and females (triceps, iliac, thigh). If you choose to get another bf test done, you might want to use the three-site test for comparison.
On the other hand, it doesn't really matter if the number is accurate or not. It can still be used as a gauge of progress; if the number comes down then you're reducing bodyfat. No bodyfat test is ever 100% accurate.
Here's a page with some bodyfat testing information you might find interesting (be sure to scroll down to the female section):
Body Fat Calculator
Here's Krista Scott-Dixon's excellent article on bodyfat. It's long but definitely worth reading:
Body fat part 1