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I use the 3 piont caliper test to measure progress but when I step on one of them high tech scales that is suspose to read bf, it puts me a couple points higher. I really dont care what my exact percentage is as long as I look good but which one is suspose to be more acurate.
i used one of those body fat scales that sends electrical impulse thru you and i am not sure i believe it's accuracy...it's got me at 26% and though i have some stomach fat going on, i don't think i can be at 26 %...i'll have to try that caliper method
calibers is the most accurate out of them both. anything more accurate and were talkin hydrostatic weighing.
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the thing about those scales is that they are made for sedentary people...notice it says if you are an athlete or body builder they're not recommended. some do have an athlete setting, but even those arent so accurate for the amount of money they cost....water displacement is supposed to be the best, calipers are fine but you need to make sure that the same person is doing them each time to ensure accuracy...personally until i start contest dieting im just gonna use the mirror.
well today i did my body fat for the first time ever in my life.. i was at 8.3 percent.. im not really sure what is good.. i think in a couple months i coudl get down to 6.. but the lady used the caliber method
with calipers I'm 4.2%
see about water testing in your area...
Some times I will use the calculators on these kinds of sites but I doubt those are accurate at all. What do you think guys? Mine says that I am at 8% and it seems pretty accurate because I am pretty ripped.
yeah i agree 4.2% doesn't seem that realistic. I have about a 1/2" pinch when I grab around my belly button and my abs are not clearly visible. what is involved with water testing?
I am a personal trainer and I always use the calipers for my customers because it is easy to make the outcome come out how ever I want it to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hypo
You get pretty much naked, they weight you, take your height, body measurements stick you underwater so you're completely submerged then they calculate how much more volume was added to the water, your weight, etc and they come up with your body fat percentage. (I've never done it, but they touched on it a little bit in med school (actually pre-med) and I remember the basic idea behind it).
I've never bothered with getting measured. I've got more fat on me now than any other time in my life and I can still see my abs and the seperation of my bis.
Weight / Volume = Density
When Achimedes discovered this in the bathtub he ran naked through the streets screaming Eureka!
4.2%???? If you weight over 180 you must be RIPPPPPPPED! Your veins must be visable at twenty paces. If you weight about 150, you are just malnourished.
Anything under 10% is very actually very good, you will look good at the beach (assuming you weight over 200). Around 8% is awsome (agree with Whitey Kauai, at 8% the mirror will tell you all you need to know- you are totally vascular), 4.2%, uh huh... contest weight.
Just for calibration- anadrol's avatar is about 10-12% body fat.
well i must not be 4.2 then. I thought the calipers were supposed to be accurate? I'm probably more like 10.
i find all those online bf measure things as fake as they can be. I say the real way to measure it is go to your doc and ask him to direct you in a right way
Any suggestions on where to get callipers, how much are they?
I got 3 point calipers and they had me at 12.5%. Went to get hydrostatic done and I was almost 16%. Calipers suck but if you have the same person do it every time you at least can see your progress.
Calipers are rated at + or - 3-5%. Then you have to also throw in the testers error. I forgot what the organization is (international something of Antropometry) but they have a certification program to standardize testers.
After you get accurate measurements, it will still depend on what equation you use and which skinfold sites you use.
Hydrostatic weighing is based on Archemides Principle....but not:
Density = Mass/Volume.
because it would be very difficult and inaccurate to measure the increase in volume after putting a person in the tub. The water will be moving too much and unless the tub is a very tall and skinny cylinder, it won't be precise. Archemides Principle is when an object is in water, there is a upward force proportional to the amount of volume displaced. So what they do is measure on land (mass) which is very accurate. and then measure your weight (as in force) under water. Then throw that in a formula and they come out with body density.
Then you have a choice of a few equations to use to come out with % body fat and there are a few assumptions they make which i don't have time to go into right now but i will later. Anyways most ppl use the Siri equation. To conclude, hydrostatic weighing is by far superior to calipers.
yea go to your doc and ask him where to measure it and i am sure he will let you know