What's the best way to measure BF % if you don't go to a gym

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Lanfear
Lanfear Posts: 524
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, as above really

When I used to belong to a gym, one of the trainers would write a six week programme for you and measure body fat percent at the start and end of your programmes before doing another one, so you had a baseline. I haven't been a gym member for about 3 years now as I think the fees are extortionate and I get bored, so I've found other ways to exercise. But I'd still like to know what my body fat is - apart from "too high" LOL.

is it easy to measure your body fat percentage at home and if so what is the best method?

Thanks

Replies

  • slm33
    slm33 Posts: 11
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    Bump because I wanna know too! :-)
  • rydn4h2o
    rydn4h2o Posts: 255
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    bump...me too!
  • stargazer008
    stargazer008 Posts: 531
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    There are body fat scales you can buy. My school has these Tanita body fat scales and they work pretty good, they aren't 100% accurate, there close to accurate.
  • ramseyrose
    ramseyrose Posts: 421 Member
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    You can buy scales which have a body fat monitor on them. I am not sure how accurate they are, but when my weight has stuck, my body fat has still gone down. This has kept me motivated. I bought mine from the local pharmacy but loads of places have them.
  • MakingAChoice
    MakingAChoice Posts: 481 Member
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    This is the trainers tool I use at the gym. I was going to buy one before I started using theirs. So you could always buy one yourself. I would suggest getting the hand held style over one that is built into a scale, I have read they are quite a bit more accurate than they scale version.

    http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HBF-306C-Loss-Monitor-Black/dp/B000FYZMYK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300297573&sr=8-1
  • BrittanyGQ
    BrittanyGQ Posts: 92 Member
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    The easiest would be to buy an electronic scale that will measure it for you (however, I find with mine that it can fluctuate a lot based on how dehydrated I am!). Otherwise, you could buy calipers and measure certain parts that way and use some sort of formula...but the first suggestion is easiest. :P I bought my scale for only about $35, so they're reasonably priced and good at giving you a nice baseline at home.
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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    Another good option is calipers. If you search the net for Accu-Measure calipers you can find them very inexpensively. They are cheap plastic calipers, and they are far more accurate than the scale.
  • changling82
    changling82 Posts: 137 Member
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    You can buy scales which have a body fat monitor on them. I am not sure how accurate they are, but when my weight has stuck, my body fat has still gone down. This has kept me motivated. I bought mine from the local pharmacy but loads of places have them.

    yep....i've got a weight watchers scale. It keeps me motivated because I know if my body fat is going down, but my weight is going up or staying the same....it just means i'm packing on muscle.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    No, the most accurate was is to have Hydrostatic Weighing conducted. This costs $, other than that having a trained professional use calipers will give a good estimate. The home scales can be way off as much as 5-10%, and will change depending on hydration levels, amount of food in your system, etc. For the scales, you can get on then go away have a bite to eat a couple glasses of water and your BF can be 5% different, very unreliable
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Another good option is calipers. If you search the net for Accu-Measure calipers you can find them very inexpensively. They are cheap plastic calipers, and they are far more accurate than the scale.

    Only more accurate if you are trained in using them, it is very difficult to do this correctly to yourself correctly.
  • taso42_DELETED
    taso42_DELETED Posts: 3,394 Member
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    Another good option is calipers. If you search the net for Accu-Measure calipers you can find them very inexpensively. They are cheap plastic calipers, and they are far more accurate than the scale.

    Only more accurate if you are trained in using them, it is very difficult to do this correctly to yourself correctly.

    Good point. I've heard that you can get to within +/- 1.5% just from the suprailiac measurement. Think there's any validity to that?
  • strohm3
    strohm3 Posts: 4
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    This site has an easy method that will get you close.

    http://www.healthcentral.com/cholesterol/home-body-fat-test-2774-143.html
  • Charli666
    Charli666 Posts: 407
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    i have scales that measure fat percentage, water, bone mass, and they seem pretty consistent, i tried eating and drinking to make the %'s change for body fat and they didn't the water bit did go up though! they are weight watchers, i dont think they are 100%accurate, but a good estimate
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Another good option is calipers. If you search the net for Accu-Measure calipers you can find them very inexpensively. They are cheap plastic calipers, and they are far more accurate than the scale.

    Only more accurate if you are trained in using them, it is very difficult to do this correctly to yourself correctly.

    Good point. I've heard that you can get to within +/- 1.5% just from the suprailiac measurement. Think there's any validity to that?

    Banks (SheBoss) may have more insight to that than I have. But using this will show progress even if you don't get the correct BF%.
  • Lanfear
    Lanfear Posts: 524
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    Thanks lovely people! I will perhaps look into scales as I don't really have access to the other methods. I guess I just want a rough ballpark estimate so anything is better than nothing...

    cheers all :smile:
  • Limeinthecoconut
    Limeinthecoconut Posts: 234 Member
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    If rough ballpark estimate is what you're looking for, you may want to google a body fat calculator on the net. Obviously they aren't the best option, but you will be able to get a rough estimate. And if you keep losin inches/weight, you'll be able to recalculate the amount you lose later. Much like a scale which is inaccurate still gives you an accurate "loss amount" over time an online BF calculator would let you know if you're heading in the right direction. :) I think the US army has a BF calculator.
  • Mayor_West
    Mayor_West Posts: 246 Member
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    I think the US army has a BF calculator.

    The military developed a method for calculating body fat % based a few simple measurements. Height, neck, waist and for women, hips. There are several calculators online that will allow you to enter in your measurements and get a very consistent measurement.

    Here's the site I use to enter in my measurements:

    http://fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Body-Fat-Navy
  • missabeez
    missabeez Posts: 280 Member
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    This site has an easy method that will get you close.

    http://www.healthcentral.com/cholesterol/home-body-fat-test-2774-143.html

    I am not sure how accurate this is...it tells me I only have 21% body fat, but I thought it was more than that....
  • Limeinthecoconut
    Limeinthecoconut Posts: 234 Member
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    Regardless, if you start losing inches you will be losing some body fat. The online tool will be a good guide for that. Eg I was 29%, now am 21%. woo!

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