Best way to track body fat?

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sksk1026
sksk1026 Posts: 213 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Looking for newbie recommendations on how to track bf. Scale? Calipers? Measurements? I'm eating at deficit to lose weight and am curious re tracking body fat levels.

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  • jayuk20
    jayuk20 Posts: 14 Member
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    Calipers are best, the BF scales are usually about 4% over.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,977 Member
    edited November 2017
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    jayuk20 wrote: »
    Calipers are best, the BF scales are usually about 4% over.

    Calipers are NOT the best way to measure BF. They are the cheapest but are susceptible to all kinds of error, starting w/operator error, and can be off by up to 10% if not used properly.

    See: https://weightology.net/the-pitfalls-of-body-fat-measurement-part-5-skinfolds/

    Bioelectric scales can have error rates of up to 8% They are among the least accurate and reliable methods of measuring BF but they are among the cheapest and most convenient to use.

    See: https://weightology.net/the-pitfalls-of-bodyfat-measurement-part-4-bioelectrical-impedance-bia/

    The most accurate commercially available methods for measuring BF are DXA scans and hydrostatic testing. They can have an error rate if 5-6% but there is nothing better.

    Used properly, calipers can approach the accuracy of DXA and hydro but this requires a skilled operator and the use of a minimum of 7 measurement sites, which as to be done by someone other than the person being meadured.

    I get a DXA scan and hydro test quarterly. DXA tends to yield BF% 3-5% higher than hydro but DXA also provides is a vidceral fst and bone density measurement and also categorizes the BF measurement by major body parts (arms, legs, trunk and abdomen).
  • jayuk20
    jayuk20 Posts: 14 Member
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    Seriously. Just get calipers, there're not exactly rocket science to use..... Or of course waste your money on a DEXA scan which is a bit extreme.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    jayuk20 wrote: »
    Seriously. Just get calipers, there're not exactly rocket science to use..... Or of course waste your money on a DEXA scan which is a bit extreme.

    Calipers need someone else to use them on you and they need some skill and experience to even approach any kind of consistency/accuracy.

    My vote would be tape measure and progress photos - you don't get a number (which is unlikely to be accurate anyway) but you do get to see progress and it's free.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    sijomial wrote: »
    jayuk20 wrote: »
    Seriously. Just get calipers, there're not exactly rocket science to use..... Or of course waste your money on a DEXA scan which is a bit extreme.

    Calipers need someone else to use them on you and they need some skill and experience to even approach any kind of consistency/accuracy.

    My vote would be tape measure and progress photos - you don't get a number (which is unlikely to be accurate anyway) but you do get to see progress and it's free.

    Agreed.
  • CJ_Holmes
    CJ_Holmes Posts: 759 Member
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    sardelsa wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    jayuk20 wrote: »
    Seriously. Just get calipers, there're not exactly rocket science to use..... Or of course waste your money on a DEXA scan which is a bit extreme.

    Calipers need someone else to use them on you and they need some skill and experience to even approach any kind of consistency/accuracy.

    My vote would be tape measure and progress photos - you don't get a number (which is unlikely to be accurate anyway) but you do get to see progress and it's free.

    Agreed.

    Agreed! Doing bodyfat testing can be fun and interesting, but probably won't tell you anything you're not going to know with tracking, measuring, and pictures.

    Pictures are key- you may not be able to measure yourself well and you may be like me where your waist stays the exact same size and the rest of your body changes in hard-to-measure-places.

    Whatever you do to monitor progress, do it consistently and follow it over a long period of time. So many of our numbers are inaccurate but the trends should emerge.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,977 Member
    edited November 2017
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    jayuk20 wrote: »
    Seriously. Just get calipers, there're not exactly rocket science to use..... Or of course waste your money on a DEXA scan which is a bit extreme.

    DXA scans are neither a waste of $ nor extreme. They are becoming widely available at lower pricing. I only pay $45 per scan w/a mobile testing company.

    No other method can give you a VAT measurement separate from total BF. VAT (visceral adipose tissue) is used to assess various health risks, including but not limited to cardiovascular disease.

    Also as noted, one cannot take all of the necessary skinfold measurements with calipers alone.

    Someone else has to help to take the measurements and the skill of the person taking the measurements can greatly affect the results, positively or negatively.

    Very few people are trained how to take skinfold measurements properly.
  • CJ_Holmes
    CJ_Holmes Posts: 759 Member
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    The best part of DXA scan is seeing your skeleton shape and butt fat. It also show if you have one big arm/leg from doing a sport, and how fat your head is. I recommend DXA as a good date activity.
  • jamesakrobinson
    jamesakrobinson Posts: 2,149 Member
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    sgt1372 wrote: »
    jayuk20 wrote: »
    Calipers are best, the BF scales are usually about 4% over.

    Calipers are NOT the best way to measure BF. They are the cheapest but are susceptible to all kinds of error, starting w/operator error, and can be off by up to 10% if not used properly.

    See: https://weightology.net/the-pitfalls-of-body-fat-measurement-part-5-skinfolds/

    Bioelectric scales can have error rates of up to 8% They are among the least accurate and reliable methods of measuring BF but they are among the cheapest and most convenient to use.

    See: https://weightology.net/the-pitfalls-of-bodyfat-measurement-part-4-bioelectrical-impedance-bia/

    The most accurate commercially available methods for measuring BF are DXA scans and hydrostatic testing. They can have an error rate if 5-6% but there is nothing better.

    Used properly, calipers can approach the accuracy of DXA and hydro but this requires a skilled operator and the use of a minimum of 7 measurement sites, which as to be done by someone other than the person being meadured.

    I get a DXA scan and hydro test quarterly. DXA tends to yield BF% 3-5% higher than hydro but DXA also provides is a vidceral fst and bone density measurement and also categorizes the BF measurement by major body parts (arms, legs, trunk and abdomen).

    I agree with this (I get a Dexa every 6 months myself) but have to point out that the 5 to 6% error range isn't 5 to 6% bodyfat, it's a deviation... For ease of numbers lets say your Dexa says that you are 10% fat... With 5% error margin (0.05 x 10 = 0.5) that means you are between 9.5% and 10.5%, NOT 5 to 15%.
    You didn't say or even imply the latter but I have seen literally HUNDREDS of posts talking about how wide the margin is of error is for Dexa and it is just that they are not understanding what the margin of error means. I am sure that this is mostly attributed to people who really didn't like the numbers they got from their scan and wanted to subtract as much as possible.

    I usually come in at eight point something in the summer and around ten in the winter... And I can tell you there are TONS of people carrying around 15+ who are convinced that they're 7... They HATE Dexa. My first ever was 24% and it shocked me. Now I know without a doubt what works for me.
  • sksk1026
    sksk1026 Posts: 213 Member
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    Thanks for all of the replies - very helpful!

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