How "off" is the electronic bodyfat% machine thingie??

[KAEW44]

Guys the electronic machine which is pretty much a scale which you stand on bare foot and has sensors on it clocked me this morning at 31% bodyfat!!!!!

I am 165lbs, 5ft 10in height, and my waist is like 33.5inches! i am the skinniest guy of all my friends and family, is my heart clogged up with solid fat or is that machine crappy? its the machine at the gym btw it the one all the personal trainers use on their clients.

[Noles12]

Its crap. How can something you are standing on accurately measure the fat at different points of your body

[KAEW44]

Its crap. How can something you are standing on accurately measure the fat at different points of your body

LOL i know i have no idea how it works, i assumed it sent an electrical pulse and then measures how much of that pulse your fat "jiggles" back into the receiver sensor!

[Noles12]

Haha no. Just get it tested with at least a 9 point test. It is much more accurate

[sgt2jay]

it is not the most accurate. the best it can be used for is to track progress. it will at least show and incrrease or decrease, which i guess you could call results.

keep in mind to stay consistant check at the same time everytime. best time is morning after using the toilet.

how it works is it measures resistance with an electrical current from one foot through body and out the other. the more muscle the more resistence. hydration effect this as well the more water in the body the faster it travels. typically in the morning you are less hydrated so you get a lower reading. you can see a change as much as 5% - 8% in the after noon based on fluid consuption.

[gbrice75]

I wasted $80 on one. It told me I was 21% bodyfat - look at my avy. Granted i'm not near 10%, but 15% at best. 6% is a HUGE deviation!

[Dan111]

The handheld one is crap too, so don't bother getting one of those either. Apparently if you're below 3% or 4% BF it won't even register. Now normally that would be fine as most of us won't ever get that low, however it won't register my BF and I'm at around 10-12% (based off of calipers). So at least with my experience, the handheld ones suck also, just go with calipers.

[gbrice75]

Apparently if you're below 3% or 4% BF it won't even register.

Show me a person below 3% - 4% and i'll show you a dead man!

[Times Roman]

Show me a person below 3% - 4% and i'll show you a dead man!

If I'm not mistaken, I think a guy can temporarily get there if he is doing a show, but immediately needs to increase it afterwards.

[gbrice75]

If I'm not mistaken, I think a guy can temporarily get there if he is doing a show, but immediately needs to increase it afterwards.

I know bodybuilders in comps can get very low and only hold that for a couple of hours, but I don't know about 3%. I've heard of 6%, never 3. I'm not saying it's impossible, just that i've never heard of that. Where's Fireguy when you need him?!!

[most_desired]

Show me a person below 3% - 4% and i'll show you a dead man!

That's probably why it doesn't register.

[Times Roman]

there was a newb in here the other day all worried he had 61% bf, as measured by a similar device. his pic clearly showed he was NOT 61% bf... you'd almost have to be made of jello for it to be that high.

[Dan111]

yeah, I think your blood would be about as thick as molasses at that point, lol

and all the trainers at my gym use the electronic handheld thing on their clients, I realize it might be easier and more convenient, but it's certainly not accurate, if I was a trainer I'd tell my client to STFU and just let me use calipers on them

[KAEW44]

Thanks for the feedback guys, it did freak me out to find out i was 31% especially seeing that i dont look anywhere near 31%, but i guess i can use this method to track progress so when i am in much better shape i guess the machine will read 22%??

I will keep up the hard training and good diet and use the mirror/scale to judge my progress until i can get a caliper done!

[Noles12]

Well i wouldnt assume a 9% difference on the scale is truly a 9% difference in person. I think it would be more accurate than that thing to track you progress by looking in a mirror. You will see change. But keep in mind it is not accurate no matter what you are using it for

[MR-FQ320]

Get some calipers from Ebay, i paid about £4 for mine.