Body Composition Method Comparison

mom23mangos

Warning - This is going to be long.

I got a small unexpected bonus from work the other week and my husband told me to do something for myself with it. So I decided to finally splurge on some body composition testing. It's been 6 months since I started my journey to get back in shape, so it was great timing. I was in a deficit for the first 3 months to lose ~10lbs and have been maintaining the past 3 months.

I wanted to compare a couple of methods to see how far off they were so I knew if it was worth spending the money on the more expensive options for follow up. I decided to book appointments for both DXA and Bod Pod screenings and to compare those to Impedance measurements from my Aria scale as well as tape measure calculations like the Navy calculator and eyeball estimations from visual scales.

Stats below:

Sex: Female
Age: 41
Weight: 101
Height: 5'2"
Waist: 24.25”
Hips: 32.8”
Neck: 12”
Very small frame

Photo comparisons:
Left is beginning of Feb. Right is beginning of August




Using a visual scale like below, I estimated my BF between 15-20%, most likely 17%.


Navy Tape Measure calculations put me at 18%
Aria scale morning of Dexa put me at 14.1%

Lean Body Mass
Navy Tape Measure - 82lbs
Aria scale - 86lbs
The Boer Formula Result: 83.2 lbs
The James Formula Result: 80.5 lbs
The Hume Formula Result: 79.6 lbs

Dexa results - 15.4% BF with 82.8lbs lean mass
Bod Pod results - 16.3% BF with 83.5lbs lean mass

Dexa results also confirmed my apple shape with 25% of my fat being stored in my legs.

All in all, they all weren't terribly off from each other. The DXA certainly gives you the most information, but I think just the visual estimation to be pretty accurate.

mom23mangos

I also had my Resting Metabolic Rate measured. My BMR from 4 different calculators averaged around 1140. The Bod Pod estimated my RMR at 1007. Actual RMR was 1378. Whew!

middlehaitch

@mom23mangos love the transformation.
I have been waiting to see what the results would be

Excellent info for comparison.

Cheers, h.

mom23mangos

Thanks @middlehaitch ! It was fun to see how the different methods compare.

middlehaitch

Your welcome @mom23mangos. I could only dream of getting such good results.

Ooh, the RMR is interesting. As you can guess at my age (22y older than you) most calculators have it in the 950-980 range.

Cheers, h.

Orphia

Love it!

Well done for being scienceish and doing testing!

queenliz99

Nicely done!!

tinywonder25

Nice work!! Amazing transformation. We stated right about the same time!

PAV8888

Did you get your RMR from a separate test or are you using the lean mass figures from dexa or body pod which, afaik, just use Katch McKardle?

bioklutz

Very cool @mom23mangos! Which test put your RMR as 1378?

Sumiblue

Wow, great transformation!

mom23mangos

PAV8888 wrote: »

Did you get your RMR from a separate test or are you using the lean mass figures from dexa or body pod which, afaik, just use Katch McKardle?

bioklutz wrote: »

Very cool @mom23mangos! Which test put your RMR as 1378?

I actually had my RMR measured by sitting still with oxygen mask for about 20min. I think it was COSMED?

RosieRose7673

Awesome transformation! You look fantastic!

Maxematics

This is awesome! Congrats on your progress and thank you for sharing this! I'm so curious about my BF%/RMR now because we have extremely similar body types/stats and even though I know the Aria is off, I figured it would be by so much more than that. I get the same BF% measurements as you, but I've been assuming I'm like 22-23% due to self-doubt.

LivingtheLeanDream

fantastic results @mom23mangos the girl has done good!

ninerbuff

I'd say you're about 18%-19% BF just from visually looking. I competed and have coached quite a few competitors and judging BF% was a consistently done on a week to week basis without having to get a DEXA or even just calipers out everytime.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

MamaFunky

Awesome transformation! Thank you for sharing the results with us. Very interesting. You look fantastic! Way to go my friend!

RoseTheWarrior

@mom23mangos first, that's a great way to use a bonus! Second, what a fabulous difference in a short period of time! Inspiring to say the least

SLLRunner

GREAT job!

sardelsa

Amazing transformation! Congrats!

What program were/are you currently running? Also from the 3 months you were at maintenance, did you see a large difference in body composition or were you at goal and just maintaining it?

chewyxrage

Wow awesome job! Very informative post, thank you for taking the trouble to share

mom23mangos

ninerbuff wrote: »

I'd say you're about 18%-19% BF just from visually looking. I competed and have coached quite a few competitors and judging BF% was a consistently done on a week to week basis without having to get a DEXA or even just calipers out everytime.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

After doing the comparison, I think visual is pretty accurate as well, especially with someone trained as yourself. I also would place myself closer to your range visually. I think it is my lack of boobage that makes the overall numbers via DXA/Bod Pod lower. If I could move the remaining fat from my legs to by boobs, I would look completely different.

mom23mangos

sardelsa wrote: »

Amazing transformation! Congrats!

What program were/are you currently running? Also from the 3 months you were at maintenance, did you see a large difference in body composition or were you at goal and just maintaining it?

Thanks @sardelsa! I did Body for Life for the first 3 months and then Bill's newer program Back to Fit for the next three. I noticed continued improvements into the 4th month, but then after that was pretty much just maintaining. I've actually put on a few pounds in the past couple of weeks, but I'm OK with that. I was probably too lean around month 4. I'm running Strong Lifts for a couple of months to see how far I can get my strength up before plateauing. Then I'll start shopping around for the next program.

mom23mangos

Maxematics wrote: »

This is awesome! Congrats on your progress and thank you for sharing this! I'm so curious about my BF%/RMR now because we have extremely similar body types/stats and even though I know the Aria is off, I figured it would be by so much more than that. I get the same BF% measurements as you, but I've been assuming I'm like 22-23% due to self-doubt.

@Maxematics, looking at the pics on your profile, I'd say you are much leaner than I am. And your thighs are a good 3in. smaller. If you can afford it and have a place to do it, I would recommend testing to make sure you don't go too low. That was a good thing for me, because it made me see I don't have much wriggle room and other than continuing lifting to try to firm my legs more, I'm probably not going to be able to safely get rid of much more fat.