accurate bf testing
- Thread starter firehorse
- Start date
My family Doctor has a DEXA system, and this is what I base my BF % from when I post it. Its basically an X-Ray: Here is a link:
Best wishes to you!
Chillen
Actually....I heard the water-tank is not as accurate as they contend. It doesn't know your bone-density and other stuff.
My nutritionist says the DEXA is da schizza....it accounts for bone-density and other various factors. He says the only thing more accurate is disection and that sounds too painful, plus the technology isn't quite there yet.
Yeah but it doesnt need to know your bone density does it. Its measuring fat only, obviously fat rises in water so its quite accurate indeed
It does in fact do a BMD, Matt. When I get my BF tested, it also analyzes my BMD (Bone Mass Density). I get one report on BF and another report on BMD.
We cant get it perfect, but it can come very close, and DEXA I do trust.
ROCK ON!
Chillen
In mathetmatical terms...
DEXA > dunk-tank
The Dexa is significantly more accurate, my nutritionist cringes at the d-tank (Doesn't make him right, but he's made of career doing this stuff).
Sorry Matt...but you're still one of my favorite guys here!
DEXA > dunk-tank
The Dexa is significantly more accurate, my nutritionist cringes at the d-tank (Doesn't make him right, but he's made of career doing this stuff).
Sorry Matt...but you're still one of my favorite guys here!
firehorse I can't really answer your question directly but I am going to ramble on the subject a little anyway...
$250 for a one-time session wherein someone explains to me that I'm a fatty (which I already know )? No thanks. I prefer my Accufitness FatTrack Pro (digital skinfold calipers). I can't get it to give me consistent results because I suck/have hardly tried at it, and that's the only thing that really even makes skinfold calipers noticeably less accurate than hydrostatic or DEXA, particularly for especially lean individuals, but it was $120 for unlimited uses. You can also get the cheaper version for about $30 and use that. Or pay someone who knows what they're doing to do it for you. Or whatever.
For a while I was all concerned about this but it eventually occurred to me that it doesn't really matter. I don't care if my body fat is 4% or 40% as long as I look something like this:
I can't recall whether or not I should know if you're male or female, but here's something you might find interesting.
$250 for a one-time session wherein someone explains to me that I'm a fatty (which I already know
)? No thanks. I prefer my Accufitness FatTrack Pro (digital skinfold calipers). I can't get it to give me consistent results because I suck/have hardly tried at it, and that's the only thing that really even makes skinfold calipers noticeably less accurate than hydrostatic or DEXA, particularly for especially lean individuals, but it was $120 for unlimited uses. You can also get the cheaper version for about $30 and use that. Or pay someone who knows what they're doing to do it for you. Or whatever.For a while I was all concerned about this but it eventually occurred to me that it doesn't really matter. I don't care if my body fat is 4% or 40% as long as I look something like this:
I can't recall whether or not I should know if you're male or female, but here's something you might find interesting.
When you say " significantly more accurate ", any idea what the order of magnitude of " significantly " might be ?
For example, in terms of accuracy, any rough idea of what the % margin of error is for DEXA and what the % margin of error is for hydrostatic weighing ?
Is there an easy way to SELF test your BF%? I really don't have any desire to shell out to get measured with unnecessarily accurate scans and I also don't trust The Desk Chick to be able to reliably do the cheap test they offer at the gym. So far my test has been pretty simple. Can I see my abs?
[ ]Yes
[X] No
If no, keep focusing on losing fat. If yes, start building muscle. However, the scale isn't feeling too reliable lately - my pants fit looser but I haven't lost weight yet I also know I've eaten more (and worse) food. Is there a good way to self-test with a cheap analog body fat caliper that I could add to my weekly weigh in?
[ ]Yes
[X] No
If no, keep focusing on losing fat. If yes, start building muscle. However, the scale isn't feeling too reliable lately - my pants fit looser but I haven't lost weight yet I also know I've eaten more (and worse) food. Is there a good way to self-test with a cheap analog body fat caliper that I could add to my weekly weigh in?
You can use this on-line calculator to ' ballpark ' your body fat %.........
27.9%!? Oh noooes.
P.S. Body circumference (the above) is probably the least accurate method of all. I've got this link to a site detailing the construction and use of some inexpensive home made floaters at the pool to do your own sort of hydrostatic weighing. It's really quite interesting. Highly accurate, but only in a relative sense. You can tell if you've gone up or down to less than a <0.1% degree of difference but not necessarily where you are, objectively speaking.