Body Fat?

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katedevall
katedevall Posts: 240 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How do you measure your body fat? I always see people talking about their body fat, but I'm not sure how to measure it. Can I do it from home or do i have to go have someone do it for me?

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  • MrRaph
    MrRaph Posts: 12
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    Search body fat calculator on Google if you want an estimate. Most people buy skinfold calipers, you should also research about that.
  • alexveksler
    alexveksler Posts: 409 Member
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    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/

    Health clubs have devices that measure BMI. Your doctor would probably able to take measurement. Everything else online is just an estimate. AND the worst thing about them, it does not take into consideration how much muscle your body has. Body builders with almost no fat on their bodies have very high BMI.
  • 2getgeorge
    2getgeorge Posts: 81 Member
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    My scale tells me.
    Omron HBF-514C Full Body Composition Monitor Scale.
    There are other brands too
  • CristinaL1983
    CristinaL1983 Posts: 1,119 Member
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    If you really want to know exactly, go get a DXA scan. It is kind of like an x-ray but it checks bone density, muscle mass, and all other fat-free mass as well as mass. My university offers them for $75. A lot of places will do a package deal where you buy 2 for a discount (one now and one for in 3 months or so).

    There are body pods or hydrostatic testing available at various places for various costs. Second in accuracy to the DeXA scan.

    Other than that, calipers are the most accurate (you can do it or have it done) you can buy a set on amazon.com for pretty cheap (5-20 bucks).

    After that there are online calculators. The more measurements they take into consideration the better (some only want one or two but some want more).

    The least accurate are the scales (or eliptical machines) that send an electric current. They only check certain areas of the body (whatever the shortest path from one to the other) and only measure the time it takes the electricity to get from one point to another so they are an estimate that can be grossly off.
  • jjrichard83
    jjrichard83 Posts: 483 Member
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    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/

    Health clubs have devices that measure BMI. Your doctor would probably able to take measurement. Everything else online is just an estimate. AND the worst thing about them, it does not take into consideration how much muscle your body has. Body builders with almost no fat on their bodies have very high BMI.

    yep, which is why I don't like BMI at all. It's useless to many active people.
  • jjrichard83
    jjrichard83 Posts: 483 Member
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    I have fat calipers - 7 point system very accurate. It gives me the same results as my handheld Omron monitor. However the handheld can be off if not properly hydrated. I usually drink 1.5 liters of water, wait 30 mins then test with that method.

    Bodpod is the most accurate as well as dexa scan
  • CristinaL1983
    CristinaL1983 Posts: 1,119 Member
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    I have fat calipers - 7 point system very accurate. It gives me the same results as my handheld Omron monitor. However the handheld can be off if not properly hydrated. I usually drink 1.5 liters of water, wait 30 mins then test with that method.

    Bodpod is the most accurate as well as dexa scan

    Potato potato but DXA is actually more accurate than BOD POD. Bod Pod results are off by up to 3% compared to DXA (which is the most scientifically valid way to measure)

    Source: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/75/3/453.full

    Edit to add: I think you changed the wording between the time I read it and the time I quoted and posted this... I thought it said BodPod was more accurate than DXA so I pulled a study...
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
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    If you don't have access to calipers, you can use the Navy formula (google it to find many calculators for it) which uses just body circumference measurements that you can take at home with a measuring tape. It's not very accurate, but if you use this method each time you will see a progression. It's that progression that you can use to determine whether or not you need to change things up if it is going the wrong way.

    The most accurate measurements of body fat are also quite expensive. Tape measures and Accumeasure calipers are cheap, but definitely not nearly as accurate. But I still contend that it's not accuracy that's really important, just the ability to see the progression.

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