whats the cheapest way to find out bf% ?

Debbiedebbiey

I can't afford a dexa scan, or any of the fancy stuff right now (hopefully someday) so I'm trying to re-figure my calorie intake after some loss, can I just use a tape measure and come up with a fairly accurate bf% ? Or do I need to go to gnc & buy some calipers ?

AlongCame_Molly

If you want any sort of accuracy, you're going to have to spend some money. Calipers and elecrical impedance monitors all carry a certain amount of inaccuracy, sometimes vastly so.

BodPod scans are one of the most effective ways to measure bf%. In my town they offer one scan for $59, or three for $79. Not too bad, considering they never expire and you can easily track progress over a long period of time for just 80 bucks.

Debbiedebbiey

Wow ! I thought it was much more expensive than that ! I think I could do $80, , what type of facility did u have it done at ?

Debbiedebbiey

Bump

TrainingWithTonya

Here is a blog post I did a while back on determining body fat percentage that gives you the formula for using measurements if you want to do it that way. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/TrainingWithTonya/view/determining-body-fat-104431

If you want to try and find a bod pod or DEXA, call your local university and see if they have an exercise science degree. If so, call the person in charge of their lab and see if they can do a body composition for you as part of one of their classes. During my degree, we had to have volunteers come in for us to practice on in order to demonstrate our competency in doing the different forms of body composition, so they might have a student that needs to practice and can do it for free. If not, they may have a professor who will do it for cheap. Not all schools have a bod pod or DEXA, though, so you may have to call a few to find one.