What do you use to measure Body fat % ?

w33bl3

Ive been using scales , I dont know wether to trust them or not .. is it normal to drop 10% in a week?

I_Will_End_You

LOL no, it's not normal. Those scales are VERY inaccurate. I use calipers, which might not be totally accurate, but if you're precise with the way you're measuring, you can at least tell if your body fat % is going up or down.

Sued0nim

I stand in front of a mirror nekkid and jump up and down

anything that isn't boobs that keeps jiggling is fat

HTH

Sued0nim

PS I don't really, I was just amusing myself - scales are innacurate and shite in general

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Lasmartchika

I just measure with a measuring tape and use this website fat2fittools.com/tools/mbf/. But I'm pretty sure it's an estimate, but at least I have an idea.

CA_Underdog

w33bl3 wrote: »

Ive been using scales , I dont know wether to trust them or not .. is it normal to drop 10% in a week?

Nope--your scale may be a lemon, it may not be a good model, or you may not be following all the directions. Good scales have a single-use accuracy within 5% and a consistency within 1%.

segacs

CA_Underdog wrote: »

Nope--your scale may be a lemon, it may not be a good model, or you may not be following all the directions. Good scales have a single-use accuracy within 5% and a consistency within 1%.

That's for weight. Not for body fat.

None of the body fat scales on the market do even a halfway decent job of measuring body fat. The reason is that the method they use is really, really inaccurate.

Elise4270

I just Googled body fat women images and tried to figure out which one I was closest too, and which one I wanna be.

And measurements on a navy bf site. Says I'm 27% which "looks" real close to what I eyeballed.

BWBTrish

.

NJGamerChick

Calipers, when there are batteries. Mine are digital.

segacs

This article might be valuable reading for some:
strengthunbound.com/measure-body-fat-easily-accurately-home/

The nutshell version is, there are formulas that can estimate it based on measurements, but they're all flawed in some ways.

MoiAussi93

My scale is extremely consistent and has slowly come down as my weight has come down. I don't know how accurate it is, but it gives me results in the middle of the various body measurement formula methods, and based on representative pictures I also think it's about right. You just have a defective scale.

SergeantSausage

I pinch my belly, and a bunch o' other rolls and flaps with these:



I'm dropping under 11% this week.

Single digits here I come ...

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ashleycde

Lasmartchika wrote: »

I just measure with a measuring tape and use this website fat2fittools.com/tools/mbf/. But I'm pretty sure it's an estimate, but at least I have an idea.

I do the same myself. I'm OK with it not being 100% accurate, but it gives me some kind of idea of my progress.

Bookbuyer2015

Hand calipers (maybe $10 from Amazon) and the Aria Fitbit scale. The calipers put me at 35% and the scale at 38%. I'm treating it as a vague estimate for now and plan to measure once a month to see if I can track any reductions.

Kevalicious99

Those BIA scales are very inaccurate (ie Fitbit Aria) and it is totally normal ... you have to remember that you get what you pay for. Unless you are using an industrial quality model you will get just numbers. For example .. mine says 10% BF at night and 16% in the morning. So the ONLY thing they are good for is spotting trends .. ie up or down. But the numbers .. no, as they have been shown in studies to be up to 8% +/- compared to the true numbers. And this is for "Body Fat" measurements .. your weight numbers can be relied upon if you have a descent digital scale. I do find that the muscle mass / water etc percentages are a little more stable than the body fat % numbers though.

CA_Underdog

segacs wrote: »

CA_Underdog wrote: »

Nope--your scale may be a lemon, it may not be a good model, or you may not be following all the directions. Good scales have a single-use accuracy within 5% and a consistency within 1%.

That's for weight. Not for body fat.

None of the body fat scales on the market do even a halfway decent job of measuring body fat. The reason is that the method they use is really, really inaccurate.

Actually, that's for body fat, and the study below shows even years ago it only took a $65 scale for BIA scales to score +/- 5.12% (w/ 95% probability) on single-use accuracy vs. a skinfold caliper's 4.2% single-use accuracy if done by the same person. Neither is so great, but I care more about the consistency which is within 1% and good enough for tracking progress.

http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijes/vol4/iss3/2/



The image above is a 10-day snippet from one intense period in my journey. Body fat trends were far more helpful to me for charting progress than total weight.

Here's another thread showing how helpful they can be.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10070645/body-fat-scales

shortiequinn

rabbitjb wrote: »

I stand in front of a mirror nekkid and jump up and down

anything that isn't boobs that keeps jiggling is fat

HTH

I should try this. Except my boobs are too small to jiggle.

CA_Underdog

w33bl3 wrote: »

CA_Underdog wrote: »

Its A fitbit scale .. oh i dont really care.. i was wondering because it was such a huge drop and i normally go off measurements anyway

The Fitbit Aria's a decent enough scale. Maybe not as consistent as a Tanita, but more convenient. It's particularly sensitive to movement.. after a move, it takes 2-3 weigh-ins to recalibrate. In their instructions, they offer ten guidelines for more accurate body fat measurements. Mostly it comes down to, "Don't move it.", "Wear the same thing.", and "Weigh first thing in the a.m."

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