Looking back throughout my journals of the last 4 years or so my skinfold/caliper measurements seemed to generally be around the same total for a given waistline (for instance between chest+abdominal+thigh would be around 45mm total when i had a 32inch waist, for example). But in the last year or so that's changed and I'm not sure why. I understand that the springs in calipers can become worn out and overall they become less accurate but the precision should still be about the same.
So for example, last summer I had a 32in. waistline and total skinfolds added up to 46mm. This last week I had a 34.5in. waist and am very clearly fatter than I was over the summer, yet skinfolds added up to 45mm. Now i understand that over a long period of time, as in years, one's waist can grow by gaining muscle overall, but we're talking about 9 months here and I have maybe 5lb more muscle than I did then. As for accuracy of the calipers, I've had them for about 4 years so I'm sure they're about as accurate now after 4 years as they were after 3.5 years. Finally, it's not as if I get the same measurements all over. Chest I consistently get about 13mm, abdominal about 11-12mm and thigh about 20mm almost every time. So it does pick up differences and you'd think from more fat gain those areas would get thicker but its almost as if these areas just aren't changing, and I'm very consistent with how I take them.
Anybody know why this would be? I always considered calipers to be a better gauge than waistline because they'd be less influenced by food bulk, water retention, etc...so I'd like to be able to trust them but as mentioned they're telling me I'm as lean now as last summer which clearly isn't the case and it seems waistline is more accurate in this case, it's strange.
So for example, last summer I had a 32in. waistline and total skinfolds added up to 46mm. This last week I had a 34.5in. waist and am very clearly fatter than I was over the summer, yet skinfolds added up to 45mm. Now i understand that over a long period of time, as in years, one's waist can grow by gaining muscle overall, but we're talking about 9 months here and I have maybe 5lb more muscle than I did then. As for accuracy of the calipers, I've had them for about 4 years so I'm sure they're about as accurate now after 4 years as they were after 3.5 years. Finally, it's not as if I get the same measurements all over. Chest I consistently get about 13mm, abdominal about 11-12mm and thigh about 20mm almost every time. So it does pick up differences and you'd think from more fat gain those areas would get thicker but its almost as if these areas just aren't changing, and I'm very consistent with how I take them.
Anybody know why this would be? I always considered calipers to be a better gauge than waistline because they'd be less influenced by food bulk, water retention, etc...so I'd like to be able to trust them but as mentioned they're telling me I'm as lean now as last summer which clearly isn't the case and it seems waistline is more accurate in this case, it's strange.