BF%

CarolAmanda
CarolAmanda Posts: 84 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My main goal is to lower my body fat percentage. I had a fitness assessment with a trainer at my gym, and he had me use one of those hand held things to get my BF%. Anyone know how accurate those are?

Thanks!

Carol

Replies

  • cpegasus01
    cpegasus01 Posts: 400 Member
    I think they are fairly accurate. Had one used on me about 12 yrs ago and it seemed to be right.
  • Lyadeia
    Lyadeia Posts: 4,603 Member
    Most ways to check body fat percentage have a pretty high margin of error unless you go to a doctor and shell out the cash. The important thing is to have your body fat percentage checked the exact same way every time to ensure that the changes you see aren't because of different margins of error in reporting.

    I personally use the US Navy method (there are calculators all over the internet for this) which still isn't entirely accurate, but at least when my measurements change I can see a decrease in body fat which still shows improvement. I just don't take the number as gospel.
  • HaleyAlli
    HaleyAlli Posts: 911 Member
    Fantastic point of view, BF% is what matters! However, most methods that are truly "accurate" are expensive, so just focus on which direction the numbers are going, not EXACTLY what the number is :smile:
  • portexploit
    portexploit Posts: 378 Member
    Lets say my actual weight is 200lbs and i get on a scale it says I weigh 500lbs. I workout eat right and it says 490??? does it really matter if it's accurate or not, progress is what matters.
  • supitstom
    supitstom Posts: 7
    The cheapest and easiest way to measure your body fat percentage are body fat calipers. Whether electronic or analog, anything beyond that would require either a specialist, a lab, or hordes of cash.

    I would suggest either borrowing or purchasing a body fat caliper and use some online body fat calculators to really find out what your estimated body fat percentage is.

    Here's one link:

    http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

    There's another one that I personally use from Scooby's workshop, but his website only has the body fat calculator for men. The link provided above is for both men and women.

    Hope this helps!
  • Synnoveg
    Synnoveg Posts: 10
    They have around a 7% margin of error. Calibrating is more accurate (pinching skin folds and adding up the sum). But for tracking progress the hand held readers work just fine as you will see your BF go down.

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