My Bodyfat. . . WHAT THE FUCK???

[TooPowerful4u]

I am a personal trainer at Workout World, and i had one of my coworkers take my bodyfat today. He has a degree and lots of experience so i trust him. He did a 4 point skinfold with calipers. Biceps, triceps, back, and obliques. Im gonna get pix up soon, but until then... is it fuckin POSSIBLE that i have 22% bodyfat at 5'8 208lbs, very visible abs and serratus, visible seperation in quads, somewhat visible seperation in arms, and and visible seperation in my upper back and shoulders also????? He clipped me at 60mm. WTF? Im so confused.

 

[xcelbeyond]

I wouldn't bother worrying about it. When done by someone who's good, skinfold will only provide a means to track progress, not provide actual BF levels. He's probably not as good (consistant) as you think he is.

Have him check you in 2 or 3 days. If you're the same then let us know . I'll bet you'll be substantially different (less OR more), which proves my point.

xcel

 

[JonnyO]

LOL, fatass!!!

dito what xcel said.

 

[TooPowerful4u]

LOL, fatass!!!

haha eat me

il try it excel, we did it twice today, came out at 21 and 23, thats fuckin almost obese lol. I have abs n cuts all over, hahaha, could the fact that i mite still be holdin a lot of water, and my blood pressure is high have anything to do with it?

 

[xcelbeyond]

21 to 23 is a 10 percent difference - in one day!?!?! See what I mean.

If you're holding a lot of water it could affect it - I remember you were having some rebound issues.

The high BP is from you worrying about these results (shouldn't matter at all)

xcel

 

[patrick]

well the lower your bf is, the looser your skin will be. Especially on your back en triceps. This allows to pull back more skin and results in more mm and thus a higher bf%.
And the mirror counts doesnt it?

 

[MikeS]

The looseness of the skin (lower bf) does not mean the measurement will become thicker.
If you have all the cuts as you described, no WAY you are 20%+.
In fact you should be below 10% from what you describe.
Water retention will make a difference, but then you wouldnt have those cuts you say you have either.
Find someone who has a real nice caliper, and is a master trainer/certification teacher.

 

[TooPowerful4u]

They arent like competition deep cuts, but you can DEFINATLY see them all. Not one of those shadow mirror tricks either, other people can see all of them too. I definatly watched him tho, and he got 60mm. Iv never heard anything like this before.

 

[Armageddon]

Chances are that he's off. He should take 3 measurements at each site and and take the average. Being as lean as you say you are and depending on the sites he used. Your biceps should be under 4 and your tris fairly close. The other spots are also suspect. But the important thing like xcel said is just use it as a gauge and make sure there going doing everytime.

 

[TooPowerful4u]

I did take 3 measurements and took the average. I dunno, heres a dumb theory, but iv never seen someone taking my bodyfat grab such a large area. Is he supposed to grab a big wide handful and get as much as possible?

 

[knucklehed]

Body fat testing is mostly bs

If you are looking for the truth. Good luck!
I am contest ready. best guess is about 5% give or take.
By Bod-pod I come out near 11%. E
lectrical impedence puts me at 8.8%.
Skin fold testing puts me under 5%.
Look in the mirror at the reality. The mirror is all that matters. The further your stats are from the general population the less accurate the tests are. I am 5'9" 204lbs. Obese by body-mass-index. I have cross striations on many areas of my body, even my ass when I am dry.
The tests just aren't designed for bodybuilders

KH

 

[trunksy]

error rate of bodyfat testing

You might try bod-pod, hydrostatic weighing("dunk tank") or Dual Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA). These methods are accepted to be more accurate than skin-fold caliper or bioelectric impedence which can both vary by up to an error factor of +/- 8%.

 

[TooPowerful4u]

Yea but where can i get a hydrostatic or DEXA test done in central jersey area? I dont know of any around here in monmouth county.

 

[trunksy]

Yea but where can i get a hydrostatic or DEXA test done in central jersey area? I dont know of any around here in monmouth county.

There's actually a mobile hydrostatic testing van that comes to my gym every couple months out here in California and Arizona but I have no idea if there is anything like that in NJ. You might try asking your gym if they know any places that do it. Otherwise, a quick Internet search revealed:

Take advantage of VO2 Max Testing @ Adelphi University
Administered and analyzed by Dr. Bob Otto
Services:
VO2 Max & Aerobic Threshold $200
with Running Efficiency Test +$50
Hydrostatic Weighing (bodyfat analysis) $75
Contact Dr. Otto at (516) 877-4276

**broken link removed**

Most radiology departments at hospitals will have the DEXA test done since it's usually used to test osteoperosis(bone density) rather than bodyfat.

 

[TooPowerful4u]

Ok, so i was wrong. He has been training for a long time, but is new to the bodyfat testing thing. We have a machine that does it differently at our gym, but it is down so he used calipers, which he isnt great with. I had it tested by 3 trainers at my other gym. They all read in the 8% range haha. Whew. False alarm