How are you measuring body fat%?

bahacca
bahacca Posts: 878 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I haven't had this done since MAYBE high school when they use calipers. How is everyone getting their number? Using calipers, a BF scale?

Replies

  • Mathguy1
    Mathguy1 Posts: 207 Member
    I use Weight Watcher Scale By Conair WW31X Digital Body Fat and Body Water Scale. You can program it for up to 4 people (height, sex, and age) and it'll compute your BF and water percentage.

    I'm sure using calipers are more accurate, but this scale is accurate enough for my purposes.
  • Elen_Sia
    Elen_Sia Posts: 638 Member
    Tape measure and Fat2FitRadio's Military Body Fat Calculator:
  • Dad_of_3
    Dad_of_3 Posts: 517 Member
    I'm so fat I use these old fashioned ice-tongs for those giant blocks of ice:

    ice_tongs_1.jpg
  • kealambert
    kealambert Posts: 961 Member
    Tape measure and Fat2FitRadio's Military Body Fat Calculator:
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
    My scale does it, but not well. I think it only gets the bf% of my lower extremities. I bought calipers. I don't think the number is necessarily correct, but I can definitely see trends and I've found that I get consistent results on myself.
  • ksavy
    ksavy Posts: 271 Member
    I have been going and having a bod pod assessment done every couple months. Benefit of being in the military is there is one on base, just have to make an appointment a few weeks in advance. Between the bod pod assessments I have been using one of the calculators on Fat2FitRadio's website, usually the Covert Bailey one. I go for my next bod pod at the end of this week.
  • capnrus789
    capnrus789 Posts: 2,736 Member
    Yup, I look at my fat guy and say, "That's a large percentage that needs to GO!!"
  • kealambert
    kealambert Posts: 961 Member
    I have been going and having a bod pod assessment done every couple months. Benefit of being in the military is there is one on base, just have to make an appointment a few weeks in advance. Between the bod pod assessments I have been using one of the calculators on Fat2FitRadio's website, usually the Covert Bailey one. I go for my next bod pod at the end of this week.

    what differences, if any, do you see in the results from the bod pod vs. fat2fit?
  • gshoemaker06
    gshoemaker06 Posts: 264 Member
    I use the electronic reader. Got it from ebay for about $25.
  • ksavy
    ksavy Posts: 271 Member
    I have been going and having a bod pod assessment done every couple months. Benefit of being in the military is there is one on base, just have to make an appointment a few weeks in advance. Between the bod pod assessments I have been using one of the calculators on Fat2FitRadio's website, usually the Covert Bailey one. I go for my next bod pod at the end of this week.

    what differences, if any, do you see in the results from the bod pod vs. fat2fit?

    Not a huge difference between the two, usually within 1-2%.
  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
    I use an Omron HBF-600 body composition monitor. It seems to work well.
  • hollyNhollywood
    hollyNhollywood Posts: 426 Member
    I bought this
    http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HBF-306C-Loss-Monitor-Black/dp/B000FYZMYK
  • kealambert
    kealambert Posts: 961 Member
    I have been going and having a bod pod assessment done every couple months. Benefit of being in the military is there is one on base, just have to make an appointment a few weeks in advance. Between the bod pod assessments I have been using one of the calculators on Fat2FitRadio's website, usually the Covert Bailey one. I go for my next bod pod at the end of this week.

    what differences, if any, do you see in the results from the bod pod vs. fat2fit?

    Not a huge difference between the two, usually within 1-2%.

    awesome. i used the handheld thing at my gym, compared to the fat2fit, and it was a 9 percent difference 0_o
  • Hayesgang
    Hayesgang Posts: 624
    BodPod every 3 months.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,228 Member
    Tape measure and Fat2FitRadio's Military Body Fat Calculator:

    I was doing this, but I've decided to stop tracking it that way. I'm just going to keep a visual record from here on out.
  • Graceious1
    Graceious1 Posts: 716 Member
    I have a body fat analyser, which my sister in law gave me. It is pretty accurate.
  • Kanlassak
    Kanlassak Posts: 101 Member
    I go and find 3 different measuring tape calculators on the internet, enter the same exact numbers into them and get results more than 10% different from each other. Then I stare at them in confusion, average them, call that close enough, and decide that one of these days I'm going to actually go get another method done. Apparently they just aren't that accurate if you have a small waist for your size.
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
    I go and find 3 different measuring tape calculators on the internet, enter the same exact numbers into them and get results more than 10% different from each other. Then I stare at them in confusion, average them, call that close enough, and decide that one of these days I'm going to actually go get another method done. Apparently they just aren't that accurate if you have a small waist for your size.

    One of the calculators said I was over 30% bodyfat (no way), another said i was 20.5% (i wish!), and another gave me an error about having unusual proportions. So that's why I switched to calipers.
  • bokodasu
    bokodasu Posts: 629 Member
    I use the Omron handheld thingy at the gym, but when I ran the numbers after my last measurement, it would have meant I had lost 5 lbs. of muscle and gained 2 lbs of fat - in one week. I find this... unlikely. So I researched all the different methods of bf measuring, and apparently they're ALL really inaccurate. (Did you know that the air in your intestines affects the Bod Pod measurements? Seriously, ew. Also, apparently those electrical ones are especially inaccurate if you try to use them while you're losing fat.)

    I'm still recording it, for the same reason I weigh myself every day - I figure a weighted moving average should be close enough for what I want to know, but I try to remember that any particular number is totally meaningless.
  • wazzanz
    wazzanz Posts: 78
    Scales, Tape measure (around waist at belly button) and a mirror.
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
    the Homer Simpson test.
    tumblr_lo8l5nklNt1qhon59o1_500.gif
    for every second it jiggles, I add 10%.
    nah just kidding. I use the Omron hand held thing.

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