Tracking Body Fat Percentage?

butterflyfaerie

I've seen a lot of people on here talking about tracking percentage body fat, and I was wondering how you go about doing that?

Mollydolly10

The "Tools" section at the top of MFP, and "BMI calculator" gives your your Body Mass Index. For body fat, calipers are cheap!

emersoam

There are body fat scales, which are only marginally accurate. The best way to find out your body fat percentage is to get measured by a health/fitness professional (at a gym)...calipers are best!

Gogo76

I get measured at my local gym, but amazon.com has a similar version of the one that the gym uses. Go to amazon.com and search for Omron HB-306C fat loss monitor.

clioandboy

I use my beurer scales, they measure weight , fat %, water% and muscle % - I dont know (or particularly care) how accurate they are so long as the percentages are going in the right direct that is what matters. Then I record the percentages in my check in section..............

Yzfdude1

I use a tanita BC 568 scale. As to the accuracy it was only 2% off of a measurement done at a sports lab using both calipers, and hydrostatic testing. The calipers were over 5% off of the gold standard which is the hydrostatic method.

A disadvantage of the caliper test is that you need some one to do it, hopefully they are trained. Getting the sub-scapular measurement is the hardest and why you need two people.

I find that only the cheapest ones are inaccurate. Even if the measurement on the scale is inaccurate but it's consistent then you can gauge a trend, hopefully a downward one.