Thread: Body Fat Calculators

post a link

It seemed close on me, but I wouldn't trust it.

http://www.healthcentral.com/cooltools/CT_Fitness/bodyfat1.cfm

link doesnt work KJR55

take an http out of it and it works

Sorry. www.healthcentral.com/cooltools/CT_Fitness/bodyfat1.cfm

I don't understand how this is supposed to work without knowing you height as well...

I don't either, thats why I wanted some peeps who are sure of their BF to check it & see what it tells them.

This tape-measure test is used to estimate your percent body fat. It is usually quite accurate-- so if a man got 17 percent from this test, he could expect his true percent body fat to be anywhere between 15 and 19 percent.



For some people, however, the results of the tape measure test may not come so close to their true percent body fat. People who are very, very fit can get numbers 3 to 5 percent higher than their true percent body fat. Because they don't have a lot of fat inside their muscles, very fit people may be lower in body fat than this tape measure test indicates.

Conversely, if a person is skinny but not fit, this body fat test may yield a number 3 to 5 percent lower than his or her true percent body fat. Though they look thin, unfit skinny people really have more than the usual amount of fat inside their muscles, which you can't see from the outside. So, what's the bottom line? For many people, this tape measure test is quite accurate, it puts you in control, it can be done frequently and it costs nothing.

Originally Posted by Seanp156

I don't understand how this is supposed to work without knowing you height as well...

Height has nothing to do with bodyfat measurement. You are thinking of BMI. Height is not used in caliper or hydrostatic measurements.

Originally Posted by Minotaur

Height has nothing to do with bodyfat measurement. You are thinking of BMI. Height is not used in caliper or hydrostatic measurements.

My bf impedence scale uses height (and age) to calc bf

Originally Posted by KJR55

Could someone please check out healthcentral.coms body fat calculator and tell me if it truly is more accurate than others?

absolutely not.

Nope. Mine was way off. Mine was over 5% off...lower then what it really was.

According to my scale at home, I'm around 14-15% BF, according to that website I'm 11.5%...

anyone know of any good ones online for do you really have to buy one to get decent readings

Originally Posted by X Ring

anyone know of any good ones online for do you really have to buy one to get decent readings

There are none.
To get an accurate reading your need atleast do the calipers.

4 me, 1 or 2 % OFF is no big deal? As long as i can measure a beginning .....2 an end? I found great deals on-line for commonly seen metal BF Calipers for $10.99 that also included the shipping.

_______________________
mine will B used 2 measure BF from start 2 finish not 2 impress people with #'s. lol.

id say if you measure right its pretty accurate....

i had my bf done about a month ago with hydrostatic weighing, and it came out to be 5%. this says 6% so its up there in accuracy

"You have 3.5% body fat"

You have 11.3% body fat.

I've had these things tell me as low as 9.8% some time ago, I think that one was weight, age, wrist, waist.

You have 13.1% body fat.

According to my bf impedence scale i have 26%

damn i'm fat, that says i'm 19% that electronic at gold's says i'm 13% hmmmm

need to be 6% in about 3months

Originally Posted by BulkMeUp

According to my bf impedence scale i have 26%

Mine is an official Tanita scale, and it varies as much as 2% within a single minute. I have read anywhere from I think an absolute low of 17% to into the 30s. Basically I haven't seen anywhere under 27% in a good long while. The only regularity it has lately is that it generally only varies 2% from night to morning, which is when I am dehydrated and have lost about 2 pounds as well.

Its nowhere near accurate (for me), wet feet, dry feet, hydrated, eaten - haven't eaten. I'm not the only person who drinks over a gallon of water a day who finds it innacurate no matter what.

Maybe the home units dont put out enough juice to read heavier people, which would be design flaw.

wow 6%, i wish!

Originally Posted by Mudge

The only regularity it has lately is that it generally only varies 2% from night to morning, which is when I am dehydrated and have lost about 2 pounds as well.

...so Water Fluctuation is the reason? Yes, 2 lbs. is exactly the difference from Morning to night w/me as well. always (2 lbs less) in morning and 2 lbs. heavier at night?

Question? When is the Best time (or more Accurate time) to weigh ourselves? Either Scale and/or Calipers? Morning, noon or Night? thanks.

I always take an AM and PM measurement as far as weight goes, I pickup probably at least a pound after meal #1. The bulk of weight loss overnight I would say is water yes, 2 pounds or greater in caloric expenditure during sleep is probably not likely unless someone has a fever (still uncertain on that one) or maybe heavy bodily injuries to the point of being in the hospital. So yeah water weight comes and goes very quickly.

Since we are almost never going to be our wakeup weight before meal #1 to me it doesn't mean a whole lot other than, how much did I lose? Which basically depends how long I slept, it fluctuates very little other than by the hours I slept. So sometime during the night, before bed or at an otherwise nearby time I will go off that times weight when calculating my bodyfat. As long as you are regular about the time it doen't much matter, because really its the consistency thats important when tracking if you are going up or down in bodyfat percentage...

Once noon-time hits, I'd say I'm probably about my night time weight within half a pound, but I'm not positive since I'm at work most of the time

Thank you.

ok, i will just go by my early morning weight as my accurate weight then becuz it reads less, and i like that.

Originally Posted by Mudge

Maybe the home units dont put out enough juice to read heavier people, which would be design flaw.

Well, i'm a skinny guy(6'/160#) and it is still not accurate. These things are supposed to be consistant, so i mainly look at it to track changes.

My BF caliper arrived in the Mail today!

They recommend u "pinch some fat" on your waistline and clamp your device down. Then take 3 readings and take the ave.? Question? Is it just "Pick a Spot" and go for it....or what???

By the way.....i won't dare share my BF% with u! it's 2 embarassing! LOL. Let's just say i pinched a good inch!!! (not good!) LOL.