Body Fat testing and accuracy

[mr.e01]

I went to check my body fat on a pretty advanced scale where you are on your bare feet on the metal plates and it tells you the whole summary of your body comp. My body fat read 25% which was confusing to me as I thought I was lower. Does anyone know how accurate these machines are? I attached two pix from today with dift lighting to show where I am at...maybe it is on and I just have a high BF-hope to get some type of explanation as I know there are intelligent individuals on this board. Thanks

 

[Jello]

I have never used one of those scales so I don't know how accurate it is. I would go to GNC or any other health food store and buy calipers. They are cheap and probably more accurate. You don't look like 25% to me.

 

[NuTsOe]

try this www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html its seems pretty accurate....big ups to jig for posting this at the ug

 

[muscledoc1]

try this www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html its seems pretty accurate....big ups to jig for posting this at the ug

I like that one!!!-pretty cool(but not 100% accurate to be honest)-a caliper would do better.or that scale where you are inside a cage in water(forgot the name...).

 

[B1gJ1m]

Bro, thosw scales are not an accurate way to check your bodyfat and judging from your pics, you're well under 25%. Those particular scales can be easily influenced by hydration and the amount of water you may be holding. The best approach to accurately determine your bodyfat is body emersion, after that I have to agree with muscledoc1 and suggest calipers, they are readily available and quite accurate.

 

[BOOMSHAKER]

The only thing that comes close to almost 99% accurate is a body fat hydrostatic water tank test. But even here, the subject must be fully submerged and before he goes under must expell all the air out of his lungs and hold it for a certain amount of seconds. Everything else is just a crap shoot. Better off getting yourself a skin fold caliper. It comes pretty close.

 

[Jello]

The only thing that comes close to almost 99% accurate is a body fat hydrostatic water tank test. But even here, the subject must be fully submerged and before he goes under must expell all the air out of his lungs and hold it for a certain amount of seconds. Everything else is just a crap shoot. Better off getting yourself a skin fold caliper. It comes pretty close.

Thats part of the problem with the hydrostatic water test, not everyone can expell all air and hold long enough. You are right, calipers would be the best choice.

 

[mr.e01]

Thanks for the insight- I was pretty curious as to why I was so high, calipers usually got me at 10-14%, but did not use them in a while, but I felt this was way off and the equipment was high quality- I checked it a couple of times btw and it kept reading the same bf percentage- the scale looked similar to the pic fyi-

 

[Chrysler]

You are not 25% bodyfat. Those scales suck. A couple years ago I had one and at 230 it said I was 30% bodyfat. I dieted down to 200 and it said I was above 20% with ripped abs.

 

[oldfella]

You are not 25%. Those bioelectric impeadence machines will not give an accurate read out for those carrying more muscle mass than the average couch potato. You are closer to 15-12% range. Look alright too bro. Pretty decent shape on you. calipers will give you a more accurate reading and the immersion is the ultimate other than displacement, which is how immersion works. But there is another type used now which works on air pressure. Supposed to be the most accurate of all.

 

[thebrick]

Tell you the truth, I am not a huge fan of the calipers either. Depending on how you store your belly fat with visceral or subcutaneous fat. If its visceral, the calipers can't measure it. I say go by how you look unless you can do the immersion test.

 

[blackhole]

I went to check my body fat on a pretty advanced scale where you are on your bare feet on the metal plates and it tells you the whole summary of your body comp. My body fat read 25% which was confusing to me as I thought I was lower. Does anyone know how accurate these machines are? I attached two pix from today with dift lighting to show where I am at...maybe it is on and I just have a high BF-hope to get some type of explanation as I know there are intelligent individuals on this board. Thanks

bro i guarantee you are NOT 25% bodyfat, not even close. that device you tested on is not accurate at all.

 

[pesty4077]

Thanks for the insight- I was pretty curious as to why I was so high, calipers usually got me at 10-14%, but did not use them in a while, but I felt this was way off and the equipment was high quality- I checked it a couple of times btw and it kept reading the same bf percentage- the scale looked similar to the pic fyi-

That is the most inaccurate thing to test BF, You look around 14%, if you do get skin calipers, make sure you check more than 3-4 areas to be most accurate.

 

[Blenderate]

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[Paul Bunyan]

Yes, those scales suck. Calipers can be quite accurate in the hands of an experienced user. The most accurate way to measure body comp is a DEXA scan.

PB

 

[speedbacker]

Obviously the best way to measure body composition is a dexa scan, but if you had to go a different way I would highly recommend Biosignature Modulation. It is pretty accurate and can even somewhat diagnose why you are storing bodyfat in certain areas, i.e. deficient in certain hormones such as involving insulin,thyroid, testosterone, estrogen, cortisol, etc...

 

[mr.e01]

Thanks for the replies, and thanks Oldfella- I try to look the best I can cause I do love the whole lifestyle- This really helped get my head at ease, cause I was really confused and thought I was going nuts. I usually go by the mirror, but I like to get an accurate reading from time to time- I try to stay like 10- 14% so when I saw the 25% reading three times, I was a little baffled, I will try to pick up some calipers- any suggestions to which are the best?