Thread: ?Tanita body composition analyzer?

Well, those Tanita scales can be quite innacurate. Your level of hydration will affect the BF% reading quite a bit. However, if your bodyfat is in fact 17.5, that is about 3.5% higher than what is considered "athletic" for a male.

I've seen sweat or being wet from a shower influence them too!

I think they are so inaccurrate, we had a doctor buy a handheld for the store...when I'm in the 5's, measure by 7 and 9 site...it's says I'm 22.4......in the 6's it says something like 24.8%. We tried it on WARLORD contest week when he was near 4%...and it said 19.2%. BMI is the only thing more riduclous.....we run 32-36 year round...."Clinically Obese"


DP

Originally posted by Dr. Pain
I've seen sweat or being wet from a shower influence them too!

I think they are so inaccurrate, we had a doctor buy a handheld for the store...when I'm in the 5's, measure by 7 and 9 site...it's says I'm 22.4......in the 6's it says something like 24.8%. We tried it on WARLORD contest week when he was near 4%...and it said 19.2%. BMI is the only thing more riduclous.....we run 32-36 year round...."Clinically Obese"


DP

So true DP...in my last show I was around 3.5% with calipers, but as high as 14% on a Tanita scale...ridiculous!

It also said I should gain 5lb of fat? I thought 17.5% was high, I don't have much fat on my body nor do I want to gain fat. What is a good range for body fat. I didn't think this was correct.

Thanks

I've known this about the Tanita's for awhile. Of course I didn't know it when I shelled out the cash to buy mine. I used to say it was something to use as a general guide to see the trends (like if the number was going down that was good even if the number itself couldn't be relied on)

Now I don't even use it ever at all. About 2 weeks ago it told me I was 17.5%. The next day I was 22.5%. Thank heavens when I stepped on it a few minutes later I had dropped to 16%. (sarcasm. )

No joke. I used to think they weren't that accurate. Now I think they are pretty much a complete waste.

Originally posted by tjc74
It also said I should gain 5lb of fat? I thought 17.5% was high, I don't have much fat on my body nor do I want to gain fat. What is a good range for body fat. I didn't think this was correct.

Thanks

For a male, 10-14% is excellent...for a female, 16-20% is good. Of course, it really depends on what your goals are. Some guys are not happy unless they are in single digits!

Do ANY of those kinda scales work? They seem like such a cool idea.. why hasn't someone made one that works yet?

They probably don't make ones that work because they rely at greatly on averages. The average man who weights 270 is assumed to be probably 50% body fat, and then it's modified by the reading it gets which depends on your hydration which changes a lot during a day. If someone happens to match the ideal weight that the scales were made for, then they might be pretty accurate (and I'm pretty sure no one wants to be however small that is, ideal to them might be 100 lbs for a man and 70 for a woman).

I will say that I'm perfectly happy with the weight side of the scale, it's just the body fat portion that is more marketting hype than value.

Originally posted by Corri
Do ANY of those kinda scales work? They seem like such a cool idea.. why hasn't someone made one that works yet?

These scales work by a method called BIOMETRICAL IMPEDENCE. This is simply an innacurate method of measuring bodyfat. Calipers are the best bet and hydrostatic weighing is hard to find but very accurate.

Is is possible to learn to do the calipers on yourself or do you HAVE to have someone else do it for accuracy?

Someone else...esp tricep, subscapular, axilla and thigh


DP