Body Fat testing equipment

[Ryan Libke]

I am considering purchasing some tools to help me monitor my body fat levels. Earlier this year, I had a thyroidectomy and now my physician and I are attempting to get an optimum dose of Synthroid. I have gained some weight in the last couple of months, which may be more attributable to office work and laying off aerobic exercise, but I cannot say for sure. My strength training has been consistent, and I have been doing some interval work as well.

My plan is to lose some weight, but I want to know what is being lost in the process. That is, I hope to lose some of the fat. I have a scale that is supposed to check body fat levels, which indicates that I am about 19%. I would like to check this reading against something else, and wonder about other methods, such as calipers. Can anyone give some recommendations as to quality products? Or keeping track? I don't have any goals for sports or aesthetics; I just want to have a healthy level for my age (38).

[Blairbob]

Best bet is a set of calipers unless you there is a BodPod somewhere nearby you pay to use.

[Fryk]

Or a DXA scan - again this is something you would need to look for. I don't know much about Bodpod, the DXA scan also gives a reading of bone mass density.

[griffdrc]

first the scale that gives you your bodyfat is terrible... bia in general is not good... most gyms will use this method because its easy and fast... its NOT accurate!

the most accurate way is hydrostatic weighing (gold standard), dexa and then skin fold... bod pod is still fairly new and i haven't got to work with it yet... however i would not buy any of these to use at home... first they are expensive (except skinfold)... second, they are only as good as the technician (not sure if its true for bod pod, but very true for hydrostatic weighing, dexa and skinfold)

as a side note... you can not do skin fold on yourself and not all calipers are created equal...

if you want accurate measurements... i would find an expert in your area to take the measurements... you really don't need to measure more than 1-2 times per month... general rule of thumb is to lose 1% of bodyweight per week... your body fat really shouldn't be making big swings up and down...

[Guest Ido Portal]

Actualy, until recently a very high quality caliper and a lot of experience were the best, affordable, portable body fat testing equipment, but, there is now a better method - the ultrasound gun.

Both more accurate, requires less experience and small and portable as calipers. The price is not that bad in comparison to a quality caliper. Of course, these are professional tools, for people who are working with clients.

I have been using Harpenden Calipers since 2001, but I think my next buy in this field will be the ultrasound device.

For more information:

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/45/4/717.pdf

Ido.

[Joshua Naterman]

Yea, those scales are crap. Anything that needs your age and height is literally plugging numbers into an equation, not actually measuring anything. I've never registered under 24% bodyfat qith the handheld devices OR the scales, but my abs are reasonably clear even now, at around 14% (estimated by me, completely subjective and unscientific, but I know what I looked like at 13% and this is a little worse )

There are a few other studies that confirm the increased accuracy of the UT devices versus calipers, even on athletes. Kick ass! I have yet to find a device for sale on the web though.

[Blairbob]

why can't you use calipers on yourself?

ultrasound?

[rubadub]

why can't you use calipers on yourself?

The difficulty is trying to reach each body point which some formulas ask for, e.g. your back, or tricep. Another factor is people oversqueezing calipers themselves. I have a "slimguide" calipers, it is has a spring so there is no fear of one person squeezing more than another one, nor people subconsciously squeezing it hard themselves to make them appear to have lost more fat!

I didn't bother with formulas after I found some variation in them, e.g. I might score 12-18% on the same day depending on formulas. To track gains I simply measure in various places and tot up all the mm numbers and compare them to the last time.

[griffdrc]

it is has a spring so there is no fear of one person squeezing more than another one, nor people subconsciously squeezing it hard themselves to make them appear to have lost more fat!

the problem with this type of caliper is that the thicker the fold the more it compresses the tissue (you could calculate the difference in force with hooke's law... i've heard its a significant difference)

[ASForum]

why can't you use calipers on yourself?

The difficulty is trying to reach each body point which some formulas ask for, e.g. your back, or tricep. Another factor is people oversqueezing calipers themselves. I have a "slimguide" calipers, it is has a spring so there is no fear of one person squeezing more than another one, nor people subconsciously squeezing it hard themselves to make them appear to have lost more fat!

I didn't bother with formulas after I found some variation in them, e.g. I might score 12-18% on the same day depending on formulas. To track gains I simply measure in various places and tot up all the mm numbers and compare them to the last time.

Seriously, I need something to measure mine. It need not be super accurate in some ways.. I need it to be able to SHOW VARIANCE... or DELTA i.e. Change in Body Fat over a span of time... So I know if my workout + my food was having a certain Body Composition effect.

e.g. Lets say it shows BF as 15%.. when in reality I might be at 18%... Thats fine as long as when I measure 6 / 8 weeks later I can see whatever SHIFT ...Up or Down 3 or 4% is atleast a RELIABLE.. CHANGE in BF.. for me to determine how my Workout+Diet etc worked..

Suggestions / thoughts?

[Joshua Naterman]

My understanding is that the superiliac site is the single most accurate place to measure for most people, and can be used as a single site measurement. According to some seemingly good research that is within 2% of bod-pod or DEXA. Closer to 1%. It seems that each MM is 1% BF or so. THey sell a cheap caliper and chart combo at the Vitamin Shoppe that is designed to hit this site specifically. That may be your cheapest solution.

Using that chart with the caliper that rubadub showed us is probably your best overall solution, but that cheapo solution should do you fine.

[ASForum]

My understanding is that the superiliac site is the single most accurate place to measure for most people, and can be used as a single site measurement. According to some seemingly good research that is within 2% of bod-pod or DEXA. Closer to 1%. It seems that each MM is 1% BF or so. THey sell a cheap caliper and chart combo at the Vitamin Shoppe that is designed to hit this site specifically. That may be your cheapest solution.

Using that chart with the caliper that rubadub showed us is probably your best overall solution, but that cheapo solution should do you fine.

Thanks Slizzard I'll try to look it up online.. If you have a link do share

PS: I asked you some Qs on the other thread w regard to Hypertrophy.. Do guide a bit. I've gained strength but lost mass.. Kinda funky.

PPS: This is all I could find on their website - http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/b ... id=6J-1001

[Joshua Naterman]

That is it I think. I opened up the package to read about it and it seems to be pretty decent.I personally like the spring design of Rubadub's, but for a single site test I don't know if you want to spend the money for one of those. 20 bucks is a pretty good price for an accurate way to measure your body fat levels. It's not perfect, but it's something you can use to assess your progress and that is what matters.

[ASForum]

That is it I think. I opened up the package to read about it and it seems to be pretty decent.I personally like the spring design of Rubadub's, but for a single site test I don't know if you want to spend the money for one of those. 20 bucks is a pretty good price for an accurate way to measure your body fat levels. It's not perfect, but it's something you can use to assess your progress and that is what matters.

Thanks Slizzard. You're the best. If / when I get back to the US next.. I'd love to look u up...

PS: How expensive would the Spring one be? Dont mind getting it as an investment if its not ridiculously priced.

[Blairbob]

To note...my friend who runs a CF gym says he could not get a good estimate with the BodPod due to his body hair. He isn't a bear-man but is somewhat hirsute. So now he has a water tank come out instead.

So you may have to bic it to do BodPod. They just couldn't get an accurate reading with the body hair after multiple tries. It screws with the air volume or something.

[rubadub]

PS: How expensive would the Spring one be? Dont mind getting it as an investment if its not ridiculously priced.

I got my one here several years ago.

they have 2 listed, I don't know what the difference is.

http://www.fwonline.com/sgsfc.htm

Several sellers have them on ebay too. The other cheap one I see recommended is the accu measure one, but it has no spring.

Plenty on ebay

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=accu+m ... m270.l1313

Though it has no spring there may be some way to attach an elastic band around it so you know the pressure is roughly the same each time, -though a good point was made about there being more pressure the more open it is. I must try opening mine holding it against a weighing scale, this would show what sort of increase there is.

[ASForum]

To note...my friend who runs a CF gym says he could not get a good estimate with the BodPod due to his body hair. He isn't a bear-man but is somewhat hirsute. So now he has a water tank come out instead.

So you may have to bic it to do BodPod. They just couldn't get an accurate reading with the body hair after multiple tries. It screws with the air volume or something.

Lol! I did get the Bodpod back in Houston. For 30$ it was a steal if one was to do it once in few months. But then I left Houston.

I wish the Bodpod guys published a list of public-ally accessible locations globally. Even this one I found was after a lot of Googling.

[Nicholas Sortino]

Accu-Measure

It is $20. It is fairly reliable, you can do it yourself and it is really easy. This probably the one slizz mentioned that is made for the suprailliac. I wouldn't really care about the percentages no matter what you are using. Even the most accurate methods are prone to some level of error. Just measure the millimeters and keep a record. If over time you get less, you are losing body fat. It's that easy.

Of course you can mess this up by continuing to squeeze after the the click, but that really only hurts you in the long run.