Best way to measure body fat?

ItsPheebs
ItsPheebs Posts: 127 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have measured my body fat with both an Omron machine and with calipers and the caliper number is much lower. I did it the way instructed, and I've been shown by professionals, too. What do you guys think is the best way to measure body fat?

Replies

  • ItsPheebs
    ItsPheebs Posts: 127 Member
    bump
  • thatsit869
    thatsit869 Posts: 2
    Go to Cal Poly Tech School and pay them to get in the water tank. It is the most accurate way to measure body fat. Depending where you live, just find a tech school that has a tank. Good luck.
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
    Honestly, while it is cool to know the absolute number, you can't without DEXA or some other non-household method. For monitoring progress, anything that is consistent is good. I like to do calipers every morning and monitor the trend. Not many outliers, but by doing it every day, I can pretty much see when things are going well.
  • runfreddyrun
    runfreddyrun Posts: 137 Member
    i think the bodypod is second to the water tank in terms of accuracy. it cost me $30 at the university gym.
  • ItsPheebs
    ItsPheebs Posts: 127 Member
    Yes, as long as it's going down I guess that's all that matters ...

    Shark tank? Thanks.
  • thatsit869
    thatsit869 Posts: 2
    Shark tank..LOL....there really is a water tank method that is the most accurate...maybe you were being comical. Good luck.
  • rkr22401
    rkr22401 Posts: 216 Member
    Accumeasure caliper ($15 delivered). Has a snap-in-place slide mechanism that "records" your abdominal skin fold thickness without requiring a helper.

    They provide a chart for conversion to BF%, but all you really need is to trend the skin fold thickness. Very consistent as long as you use a body landmark to measure in the same location each time. They recommend a fold above the forward-most protrusion of your right hip bone. You could use multiple sites, but then you'd need a helper.

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