I'm thinking about getting one. I'm not really familar with skin calipers. I need something easy to use for my older brother who I'm trying to convince to lose weight. He's gone to the gym with me for the past 3 weeks working out and doing cardio after. He's gained 3 pounds and I want to make sure that it's muscle and not fat.
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Scales that measure body fat
- Thread starter Luminaire
- Start date
I
imported_gripstrength
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baby a is right: the readings vary significantly depending on hydration level, whether you've eaten (or exercised) recently, and probably other variables.
Having said that, I have one of these scales (a Tanita), and while I doubt its readings are precisely accurate, it does tell me where my bodyfat is trending. In that respect, I find it a useful tool.
Having said that, I have one of these scales (a Tanita), and while I doubt its readings are precisely accurate, it does tell me where my bodyfat is trending. In that respect, I find it a useful tool.
Good post,
Im thinking of getn one too, so any recomendations are welcome.
The only one in the gym measures your BMI, but this is useless because it does not take into account muscle, so in a bodybuilding gym every person comes out morbidly obese regardless of how little fat they have.
Im thinking of getn one too, so any recomendations are welcome.
The only one in the gym measures your BMI, but this is useless because it does not take into account muscle, so in a bodybuilding gym every person comes out morbidly obese regardless of how little fat they have.
I have a Tanita scale. It's OK as long as you use it the same time of the day (they recommend near the end of the day when you are better hydrated compared to morning). I still find I need to be really careful to be consistent. For instance, I need to be sure drink plenty of water with my dinner. I also have to remember to wear shoes or slippers just before I weigh in. I find that cold feet conduct electricity worse than warm feet and throws off the measurement (makes the fat number go up). And it's been darn cold up her in Vermont!
Also, I initially had one of those hand held body impedance things, but those were very hard to control to be consistent. I believe you are supposed to hold it straight out in front of you, but if you dropped your hands by even a few inches you could lower the fat measurement. That's why I went with the scale you stand on: it had less variables to screw up.
However, with all that said, I found impedance measurement worked better for me than calipers. I always had a hard time getting a consistent measurement .... did I measure in the same spot? Did I pinch more or less than I did before? Did I pinch too hard or not hard enough? Plus I was afraid I'd subconsciously mess with the caliper measurement to make it go where I expected it to go.
Also, I initially had one of those hand held body impedance things, but those were very hard to control to be consistent. I believe you are supposed to hold it straight out in front of you, but if you dropped your hands by even a few inches you could lower the fat measurement. That's why I went with the scale you stand on: it had less variables to screw up.
However, with all that said, I found impedance measurement worked better for me than calipers. I always had a hard time getting a consistent measurement .... did I measure in the same spot? Did I pinch more or less than I did before? Did I pinch too hard or not hard enough? Plus I was afraid I'd subconsciously mess with the caliper measurement to make it go where I expected it to go.
[b said:Quote[/b] (montstr @ Mar. 10 2005)]I find that cold feet conduct electricity worse than warm feet and throws off the measurement (makes the fat number go up).
Yea, wet vs. dry feet seems to affect it also. I've seen 20% on my Tanita on one day and 12% the next. Definately much better as a trend thing. When I'm being good about cutting, I usually write down my weight/bf% either on the calendar or on my HST printout that I use to track progression before I toss it into excel.
I would suggest using three concurrent methods to track progress:
1) Buy scale - Measure, every so often in the same condition. I measure upon waking, after using the bathroom.
2) Buy Calipers, they are $10 and proficiency is easily obtained at measuring problem areas like suprailiac or abs in a few months. Just keep track of change in mm to monitor fat loss progress. The key to getting good is measuring daily, but don't get depressed won't notice a signifcant change from day-to-day (to many factors come into play), I usually monitor a 5-day rolling average.
3) Take pictures weekly, when you look in the mirror you won't get a full look at yourself, plus the mirror greatly over/under estimates body condition as it pertains to holding water.
1) Buy scale - Measure, every so often in the same condition. I measure upon waking, after using the bathroom.
2) Buy Calipers, they are $10 and proficiency is easily obtained at measuring problem areas like suprailiac or abs in a few months. Just keep track of change in mm to monitor fat loss progress. The key to getting good is measuring daily, but don't get depressed won't notice a signifcant change from day-to-day (to many factors come into play), I usually monitor a 5-day rolling average.
3) Take pictures weekly, when you look in the mirror you won't get a full look at yourself, plus the mirror greatly over/under estimates body condition as it pertains to holding water.
hi, new member here. I have tanita scales as well. The only comparison study i could find showed tanita bioimpedance analysis to be a closer correlation to DEXA or underwater weighing than calipers. As previous posts have said, use the scales same time of the morning, after urinating, with dry feet to get a reliable reading. They're not perfect but are useful for plotting trends to see if diet/exercise strategies are burning fat and maintaining/increasing lean body mass.