most accurate body fat % measurement

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  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,835 Member
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    Question has been answered but just thought I'd add that, if you are feeling good about yourself and your progress then you definitely should not change your view on this because of a random number that a scan, calipers or scale gave you.

    I track mm via calipers as these pretty much don't lie. I don't worry about the % it gives me.

    And then I get a dexa once every 6 months or so. (because I'm a numbers man :smile:)
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
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    Question has been answered but just thought I'd add that, if you are feeling good about yourself and your progress then you definitely should not change your view on this because of a random number that a scan, calipers or scale gave you.

    I track mm via calipers as these pretty much don't lie. I don't worry about the % it gives me.

    And then I get a dexa once every 6 months or so. (because I'm a numbers man :smile:)

    I was going to post something like this. You have written way better than me. On the converse, if you don't feel good about yourself, that number won't change much your mindset either...I have never liked my body image so even if it said I was at 16% range, I wouldn't be happier either.
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    I just got a set of calipers from bodybuilding.com. They were 3.99 and I just ordered them on Monday, which I thought was amazing. I had a body fat reading at my gym using this gadget that you hold upright and pull the handles out. It said my body fat was 34%, which doesn't seem right to me. I tried the army and navy tape measure approach and got 29&, I don't know. I'm going to do the caliper measurements tomorrow morning before breakfast.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I'm at school in a health and wellness program, so I have access to a lot of equipment and tools. About 6-7 weeks ago, I used a Tanita scale that spit out a receipt reading that I was 33% body fat. I am 5'4" and at that time I was about 136lbs. That kind of devastated me, because if you look at average charts of what 33% looks like, I don't think I look that way at all. I'm inbetween somewhere, not all these fat hanging around, but not all muscle, either. Today I had skinfolds done, with 4 different quality of calipers for accuracy, and when all the calcuations and measurements and normative data charts were done, it says I'm 15.5% body fat (at the highest, the lowest with one caliper was 13.4%!) I mean, I've been at the gym and eating better in the past 6 weeks, but I don't see how I could have possibly changed that much. I am ready to chalk it all up to user error - measuring skinfolds is obviously a skill one has to learn - but I mean, I trusted the person that they knew what they were doing. I'm not happy accepting I'm on the higher, "at risk" end of body fat percentage, because I don't think I'm that high at all. But I'm also not wading in the fit/athletic waters, either. Right now I'm 131lbs. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say I'm more in the 20-25% range.

    But really, what's the deal? Do you guys have a preferred method when it comes to finding out these numbers?

    Is that you in your profile picture?

    You look fit and very attractive.

    You are welcome.

    Now what was that about getting validation from random machines?
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    I just did my body fat% with the calipers I got and according to their measurements and the chart they have for women by age, I am 23%. So, let's see 34%, 29% and 23%. I guess I don't care which one. I'm in pretty good shape for my age (67) and no one is judging me. ;-)

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