How to measure your % body fat?

[confused25]

Is using that skin caliper thing the only way to accurately determine your % body fat? When I first joined my gym a while back they had this gadget where you hold in your hands and it tells you your body fat %, but I was told that gadget is not entirely accurate. Are there any other ways to do it? something that I could possibly do it myself?

[BellaDonna]

This is the method/forumula I always use- with the calipers. I am able to do it by myself:

 

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They also make digital scales that can measure your approximate bodyfat percentage.

 

No method is perfect (the most accurate is a method where you have it measured while in a tank of water), but as long as it keeps going down from your baseline measurement, you know you're making progress,

[shikashika]

i would get them done properly... unless you are skilled in that area. I know people who have down it themselves and their bodyfat % is waaaaaay off the mark.

[Daddy Bear]

I use a free online BMI (body mass index) calculator, and measure my progress not against others, but against my previous results.

[shikashika]

you can't figure out your body fat % form punching in your weight height and measurements online!

[Daddy Bear]

I knew I was going to have to explain this to you: the point of measuring your body fat is to determine whether or not you have the proper amount of it for optimum health - exactly what a BMI calc does for free.

[shikashika]

I knew I was going to have to explain this to you: the point of measuring your body fat is to determine whether or not you have the proper amount of it for optimum health - exactly what a BMI calc does for free.

 

 

you knew you were going to have to explain this to me?! sounds a little patronising to be honest!

 

You will not know your correct body fact unless you use calipers.. you cannot figure it out from a website!

[Daddy Bear]

All I said was that I had correctly predicted your response. I gave no indication as to my basis for that, and no patronization was meant to be inferred. I apologize for leaving my offhand remark open to misinterpretation.

 

Now, back to the subject at hand. Answer me this: what does BFP say about you that BMI doesn't?

[jsosk88]

I have one of those electronic scales that measure body fat. It seems to work well and is pretty accurate. Price was good too.

[shikashika]

All I said was that I had correctly predicted your response. I gave no indication as to my basis for that, and no patronization was meant to be inferred. I apologize for leaving my offhand remark open to misinterpretation.

 

Now, back to the subject at hand. Answer me this: what does BFP say about you that BMI doesn't?

 

A BMIhas to do more with your weight, not the muscle /fat composition.

 

One person could have a BMI of, for example, 19 and another the same, but one could be much healthier than the other with a much lower bodyfat percentage, yet still have the BMI.

 

People can have BMIs in the 'healthy range, yet do absolutely no exercise at all, where another person could be much leaner, with much less body fat with exactly the same BMI

[Daddy Bear]

A BMIhas to do more with your weight, not the muscle /fat composition.

 

One person could have a BMI of, for example, 19 and another the same, but one could be much healthier than the other with a much lower bodyfat percentage, yet still have the BMI.

 

People can have BMIs in the 'healthy range, yet do absolutely no exercise at all, where another person could be much leaner, with much less body fat with exactly the same BMI

 

Methinks you exaggerate slightly with your liberal use of the word "much". Here's what the Wiki God says about why most people prefer using the BMI:

 

It [body fat percentage] is more accurate as a measure of excess body weight than body mass index (BMI) since it differentiates between the weight of muscle mass and that of the fat mass while BMI lump all masses into one figure.

However, its popularity is less than BMI because equipment required to perform the body fat percentage is not readily available and skills are required to perform the measurement. Even when measured by a skillful person, there are factors that contribute to a significant margin of error.

 

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Remember also that I said I only compare my BMI results to my own previous ones. A person's frame does not change from month to month; thereforeeee, any variance in BMI from one calculation to the next is entirely relevant.

 

Furthermore, the World Health Organization uses BMI in determining weight pathologies such as morbid obesity and anorexia. If it's good enough for them, I guess it's good enough for me.

 

And did I mention that it was free?

[Puma]

Is using that skin caliper thing the only way to accurately determine your % body fat? When I first joined my gym a while back they had this gadget where you hold in your hands and it tells you your body fat %, but I was told that gadget is not entirely accurate. Are there any other ways to do it? something that I could possibly do it myself?

Calipers are a pretty good way of measuring, but don't get so stuck on the percentage since it'll most likely be off (give or take a few). The accuracy is highly dependent on the individual actually taking the measurements...a true change in body fat over time may be missed entirely if the skin-fold readings are taken by different people or by the same person with sloppy technique.

 

The gadget that you hold your hands on is the bioelectrical impedence method, where electrical waves are sent throughout your body. I believe this is the least accurate of bodyfat testing.

 

The most accurate is hydrostatic weighing, where you expel all the air from your body prior to submerging yourself underwater in a tank for a few seconds.

[BellaDonna]

Moderator Note Please stay on topic and avoid personal arguments in this thread. It is unfair to the original poster.

 

Any further off topic posts will be deleted.