boots scales and body fat %

MoveitlikeManda
MoveitlikeManda Posts: 846 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
so i sometimes go and weigh my self on the scales at boots, the weight is always the same as my home scales for the day

but my question is....

how accurateis the body fat % bit??

iv never used it before as its an extra 20p on top of the 50p for weigh and hieght (i know, tight lol)

but today i thought ill do it and see, now i was not suprised to see the result tbh although rather disgusted at myself.
but does anyone know if they are right or are they not so spot on as the weight measuring?

also does anyone know what sort of % i should be aiming for?

im female, 28years old and 5"4

Replies

  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
    Body fat scales are notoriously inaccurate.

    The chart here shows body fat ranges: http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentage-chart/ but bear in mind that the look you actually see at each range will depend on how much lean body mass you have.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Body fat scales are notoriously inaccurate.

    The chart here shows body fat ranges: http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentage-chart/ but bear in mind that the look you actually see at each range will depend on how much lean body mass you have.

    Oh wow, if you believe those charts I'm probably in the 'lean' part for my age. It's mind boggling...

    But the main issue is that it's very hard to know exactly what your body fat % is. The only accurate way to do it is expensive (you have to be submerged in water or something). Calipers work too but I'm guessing that with loose skin like mine, it totally messes up the results, so there goes that.

    Here's a good link that explains it

    http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Body-Fat-Percentage-Accurately
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    weightology.net/weightologyweekly/?page_id=218
  • FitFitzy331
    FitFitzy331 Posts: 308 Member
    I'm actually 28 and 5'4" as well. I'm aiming for about 19% BF. I use one of the scales to try to get a quick estimate on my current BF (telling me around high 23%-low 24% depending upon the day) I know they aren't accurate but every few weeks I compare it to the results I get from my calipers and they are pretty close to each other so I'm taking that as approximately my current BF%.

    A "healthy" women's BF% is somewhere between 10%-30%. I'm going for the more athletic but not competitor range so 19% seems to be about my ideal. As I get closer I may change that a bit. The BF% goal is really about how you want to look. Check out some pictures of women at different body fat percentages and see which one looks ideal to you then aim for that. Good luck!

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