Thread: Bf%?

bodyfat caliper

you can find out the real bf% by them weighing u in water and that will calculate your bf%.

Hydrostatic is the best way.You can sometimes find and exercise science lab in a college you can pay to do this. Using high quality calipers by a trained person is also good. Calipers that are solid plastic used by a newb, sucks. Most bioelectrical impedance machines you find are crap and biased against people with muscle. When I worked in a lap we had one that I was told cost 10k. It wasn't completely accurate, but it was consistent. It was always 3% higher than calipers. Personally I use calipers. They aren't nice and I test myself, but it's at least helpful.

or you could just be a cheap jew like me and get a caliper...

DEXA is the new gold standard. That's all I use.

Built is correct, a Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) is king, but very expensive to use.

A hydrostatic weighing tank or a "Bod Pod" is one of the most accurate of all tests (next to dissecting parts of your body). Since these are hard to come by (some Universities and larger/more prestige gyms may have one). If not, use skin fold calipers. These calipers may seem easy to use, but measuring the right spot and using the correct equassion can be very difficult. In fact, it's extremely hard to get precise measurements.

Now, there are also "body fat scales" that are very effective. These new scales use BIA (Bioeletrical Impedance Analysis) technology and can give accurate readings in seconds. The downside with these scales is that the amount of water in your body, your skin temperature, and recent physical activity can all adversely affect the results.

As with calipers there are different equations used to calculate body fat from your body density. Unfortunately you are stuck with the equation the manufacturers programmed in and it might not be the most one appropriate for you.

Here is a good read about BF scales....The Complete Guide To Body Fat Scales


/V

i get mine checked with calipers also but they are hard to read but i use the ones where i work. but those plastic ones are one to be loved at best. good to know about dexa and the scale never knew they exsisted.

The biggest thing with bf scales or calipers is to be honest and consistant.Some of the scales I've seen you put your height age etc into and all of these effect the answer you get.Like was stated above calipers are difficult to use consistantly until you get the hang of it.I wish there were a place near me where I could use dexa or underwater weighing but alas no luck.

i should of said bf calipers are not consistent not hard to read.

Originally Posted by unclem

i should of said bf calipers are not consistent not hard to read.

Good calipers used by someone who knows what they are doing are very consistent. I'm not referring as much to self tests, but where someone else is doing the testing. I did 100's if not a 1,000 of them when I managed the college lab. My numbers were very consistent. Now at home testing my self with calipers that do not cost $100's, there are problems. I usually repeat the test and average the results. Typically it only varies by fractions of a percent once in the formula.

Also, as I said above body fat scales are very inaccurate (I've seen them off by as much as 15%) in individuals with a lot of muscle. The only one I've used that was very consistent and accurate (off by 3%) cost $10,000. I'm sure you can find cheaper ones that will work, but make sure you test them out and compare their results to what you get with a better method before trusting them.

^^ok, yeah iam no expert. so do them a few times the find the median? if i read it correctly. 10.000 scots for those holly toledo. thnx. i was taken it at face value. good to know. since you worked in a lab, how much for a dip in the pond? hydrostatics, but i think u knew wat i was talking about.

isnt DEXA like a MRI for bodyfat levels, or iam i off? anybody but built mentioned it. not very, at all familiar with this procedure. thnx

Originally Posted by unclem

^^ok, yeah iam no expert. so do them a few times the find the median? if i read it correctly. 10.000 scots for those holly toledo. thnx. i was taken it at face value. good to know. since you worked in a lab, how much for a dip in the pond? hydrostatics, but i think u knew wat i was talking about.

I would use mean (average) instead of median. It's not perfect, but it works.

We had a very expensive scale, but it was always 3% higher than the calipers. My cheap scale ($50) at home is not even close on anyone I've checked who lifts weights, but is ok on my wife. I've tried many other scales and never found one that was even close.

My lab didn't do hydrostatic. The local college does, but I do not remember how much. I'm thinking it was $35-55, but I could be off.