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How do you get your body fat percentage measured?Discussion started by NikitaNikita |
Subject Description
It occurred to me that:
1) I can monitor my change in body fat percentage on an as-needed basis (for instance, at the beginning and end of cgk's challenge on here) rather than weekly
and
2) that there are other ways to get body fat percentages measured other than having a trainer do it, or owning a Tanitia (sp?) -type scale.
Any ideas how to go about this? I don't *think* I have access to a trainer as far as I know. (I just use a gym in my apt building, or go running/walking). I know the calipers are pretty cheap, but I also think if I do it myself I'm going skew the results or just plain do it incorrectly. :)
Thanks!
Nicole
(oh, and yes, I already searched AskMe, didn't find anything, figured I'd ask here first. :))
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The easiest way is to get a set of body fat calipers. I bought a set from GNC on my way to work today. Here's the one I bought:
It's very easy to measure.
Posted by AdmiralHaddock on Dec. 29, 2009 at 06:24PM |
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measuring body fati understand that calipers are the more 'scientific' way of doing it, but i've always used some of those scales (maybe like the ones you mention) that send electric pulses through your body & time the echoes (after you input your height, sex & classify yourself as 'adult' or 'athlete'). probably not as accurate, but as long as i'm comparing apples with apples, that's ok (i always take my weight & bf% readings before lunch on a friday, for consistency)
Posted by ubu on Dec. 29, 2009 at 11:31PM |
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afterthoughtoh, and i'd recommend only checking weight and/or body fat weekly, preferably at the exact same point each week. there's a lot of variability day-to-day (say, at least +/- 1kg in weight) depending on hydration, food in your belly etc, which overshadow any "base" changes, so weekly is about the smallest level of granularity to realistically monitor any trend over time. also, taking daily readings can lead to false optimism or pessimism. Posted by ubu on Dec. 29, 2009 at 11:40PM |
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Upper Limit?Do you know what the upper limit is for those calipers? My BMI is 45.5, and I'm sure that my BF% is extremely high. I'm not sure if there is a point over which calipers won't work and one must go to the dunk tank. I'm more interested in losing weight right now than anthing else, but for when I do get down to my target weight, it would be interesting to see how my BF% will have changed. Posted by SteveTheRed on Dec. 30, 2009 at 06:19AM |
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I Figured It OutSince I don't need a really accurate measurement at at this point, I just used the old neck and waist measurement method. The bad news is that I'm at 30%. The good news is that I float like a bobber in the swimming pool! Posted by SteveTheRed on Dec. 30, 2009 at 06:39AM |
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Yeah, the calipers say that you should not use them if you're "obese" (likely based on medical metrics, but the instructions don't elaborate). Instead, it suggests using Myotape:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/acc/myotape.html Posted by AdmiralHaddock on Dec. 30, 2009 at 02:49PM |
