Measuring Body Fat

stuffinmuffin
stuffinmuffin Posts: 985 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
Morning all,

Just a quick question about how you measure your body fat percentage. Would you recommend calipers (if so, how do you measure effectively with them), or the scales which determine muscle/fat?

Ta muchly :flowerforyou:

Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    Calipers are much more accurate than a body fat scale IF the person doing the measuring is experienced in using them.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    I use a tape measure.

    You can equations to convert that to BF%:
    http://strengthunbound.com/measure-body-fat-easily-accurately-home/

    Or you can leave it as-is. In males (and apple women), a waist measurement is a good proxy for body fat. You might not know your exact BF%, but that doesn't matter a whole lot. Eventually you can work out the relationship (in me 1/4" gain/lost = 1 lb body fat).
  • BetterDecisions
    BetterDecisions Posts: 5 Member
    I get a DEXA scan every 3-6 months. In my opinion, it’s the most accurate reading possible. It is, however, somewhat expensive. For day-to-day readings I use my Fitbit Aria scale which monitors body fat. Its measurement comes in about 4% higher than my DEXA scan, so I know it’s not too accurate. I use it more for general trends, to see what direction my body composition is moving in – and I think it works fine for that. The Aria also uploads over wifi to my Fitbit account, so I have a permanent record, which is nice.
  • KingRat79
    KingRat79 Posts: 125 Member
    personally I find callipers highly inaccurate, and generally (for me at least) give a reading that is at least 5% to low. I do find though if you are consistent in how you measure with callipers you can get a consistent reading (if you ignore the final figure)

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