body fat measurement tools

[vavet]

We all know weight and BMI doesn't tell the whole picture of health and fitness.
What about the body fat measurement tools?
They have the calipers where you pinch the fat on your arm. That's really a 2 person kind of thing.
They have digital scales that also measure the body fat by shooting electrical current through some contacts you put your feet on. There are also handheld versions of these that do the same thing, but don't report the weight.
There are highly specialized, expensive things used in labs and specialized gyms.

I guess I'm mostly concerned with the scales or handheld devices. Who has one? I'm not even terribly concerned about how accurate it is, but is it precise? If it reports a 2% reduction, is it truly a 2% and not a 1% gain? I don't really care if I'm 24% or 22%. Does it fluctuate a lot day to day or week to week?

 

[65Goat]

^^^^

 

[RTM]

I have the scale that shoots the current, and its fairly static. I didn't move week to week for a long time. Haven't checked it lately, don't want to know right now.

 

[CGarage]

I keep it real simple.

Hey BABY, what would you rather have???

A six-pack, or a keg?

Oops........Not the American Express, AGAIN!

 

[quickfarms]

A mirror

 

[Steve_P]

Omron makes these. No idea how accurate they are, but that's what the nurses used where I worked. I do know when I gained weight, it said I had more body fat LOL

 

[Sumboodie]

Notches in your belt.

Edit: I tried an electronic one years ago because it sounds like a good idea, but it worked by measuring the resistance of a small amount of electricity running through your body. However, it was all over the place because it varied greatly depending on how much water was in your body.

My belt note wasn't sarcastic. Stick with your scale and how you feel in your clothes. You will do great.

I keep needing to put new holes in mine. Pretty sure it's stretching out more than anything though.

 

[humber2]

Belt notches are actual evidence, my electronic scales welcome me with LO then I restep on to get my weight.

Do they measure and display weight lower as the battery runs down?

My concern is what I might weigh when I renew the battery.

 

[jives]

I teach about the reliability and validity of such tools. You are right that BMI only tells one piece of information. The gold standards are hydrostatic weighing (underwater weighing) and DEXA scanning, followed by air displacement plethysmography (BodPod), followed by skinfolds. All require considerable expertise by the technician, even the skinfolds (we require our students to get reliable results after 100 people). After that, nothing is terribly accurate or reliable because of factors like hydration, and the prediction equations built into the systems are generic across a wide scope of people.

The most important question is if it is useful to know your bodyfat percentage. For research, medical issues (obesity to anorexia), or high performance athletes, the answer can be yes. For curiosity sake, yes. For real health monitoring by average people, no. Your scale and your mirror are all you need.

 

[Sumboodie]

Belt notches are actual evidence, my electronic scales welcome me with LO then I restep on to get my weight.

Do they measure and display weight lower as the battery runs down?

My concern is what I might weigh when I renew the battery.

I had one that did actually.

I'm thinking, darn I'm doing good. Feeling better too.
Then had a annual physical and their certified scale said I weighted like 25lbs heavier. Put new batteries in my scale and yup, it was correct too.

 

[RTM]

I had one that did actually.

I'm thinking, darn I'm doing good. Feeling better too.
Then had a annual physical and their certified scale said I weighted like 25lbs heavier. Put new batteries in my scale and yup, it was correct too.

Wow, mine is dead on on weight until the battery dies. No change from before to after.

 

[Jswain]

A wife

 

[Old Man Roger]

I’ve been told BMI charts are pretty close, as long as you’re not excessively muscular.

I’ve always been interested in knowing what my body fat was at different times, but too cheap to buy any tools to actually find out..lol

 

[KenC]

Does anyone else think ignorance is bliss????

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

Belt method here. Middle hole is my nominal girth. +1 hole is my Thanksgiving and Christmas setting. -1 hole is my heat of summer setting. I try to stay in range.

 

[speed bump]

There is one of the scale ones at the gym. I don't look often but when I do I try do it before I work out when I'm fairly hydrated. Not sure what my actual percentage is but it moves around about what I expect 14-15% out of outage season in May when I haven't seen the gym in 5-6 weeks and 11-12% at the end of the year when I am crushing the gym.

What are you trying to accomplish?

 

[65Goat]

Belt method here. Middle hole is my nominal girth. +1 hole is my Thanksgiving and Christmas setting. -1 hole is my heat of summer setting. I try to stay in range.

^^^^

 

[2ndGearRubber]

I’ve been told BMI charts are pretty close, as long as you’re not excessively muscular.

I’ve always been interested in knowing what my body fat was at different times, but too cheap to buy any tools to actually find out..lol

Unless one has a body composition way out in left field, they'll generally be accurate. Like if you're missing a limb or have a 305 bench for reps it's not super relevant. But overall it is.

I'm more of a "specs" guy. What's your mile time, and a few weight lifting exercises. That and bmi will give you a good idea of health. Sub mile run for 500m or 2000m row, etc.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Unless one has a body composition way out in left field, they'll generally be accurate. Like if you're missing a limb or have a 305 bench for reps it's not super relevant. But overall it is.

I'm more of a "specs" guy. What's your mile time, and a few weight lifting exercises. That and bmi will give you a good idea of health. Sub mile run for 500m or 2000m row, etc.

What’s this “run” thing you speak of? Lol

 

[2ndGearRubber]

What’s this “run” thing you speak of? Lol

Like I said: sub a 2000m row instead. Set your drag factor correctly and your run time will be surprisingly close.

I'm looking at doing a 5k in the next couple months, so I'm pretty in tune with my run times currently.


EDIT:

As reference - I run a 7:30 mile as an aggressive time, 17:20 2 mile (need to retest), 35min 4 mile. An aggressive 500m row is low 1:40s, aggressive 2000m row is 7:40ish

 

[uscarry45]

If I remember correctly I think the very most accurate is the water displacement method. So if you got into a tub of water and remainder still how much the water rose. I know their is a calculation for this as it relates to body fat muscle bone etc.

 

[Old Man Roger]

If I remember correctly I think the very most accurate is the water displacement method. So if you got into a tub of water and remainder still how much the water rose. I know their is a calculation for this as it relates to body fat muscle bone etc.

I believe you need to also compare dry weight and under water weight. And if I remember correctly, a cat scan or mri, can’t remember which one, is actually more accurate than the water test.

 

[Ingram306]

As long as you’re consistent using the same device over a period of time it should
give you a good idea if you’re headed in the direction you want or not.

The mirror and belt are definitely the most motivating things to see a difference in.

 

[Squankum]

Spent years using a bodyfat scale. But the belt told the same exact tale, really.

And like so many things, Jack LaLanne got there first. "Your waistline is your lifeline."