How Bad Are Body Fat Scales?

B

benelson101

0
i used the stand up-hands on the bars weight/height/body fat scales tonight.

i know they're not accurate for BF but i wanted to check my weight, i only do it occasionally.

however, the bloody thing has UPPED my body fat since last time i checked. last time i was 16%, this time over 20%. WTF!

Someone please reassure me that these things are rubbish and are to be ignored. ive been working out regular, weights and cardio, eating properly but with the occasional falling off the wagon but not over 4% worth surely!

you should do it fully clothed and with shoes but i was in shorts. even so i was only in shorts last time so there should be some comparison available.

I have shifted to 12 stone from 11 1/2 though. All muscle!!! (i hope)

ta
ben
 
Try the tape measure method here - The measurment method and the 3 point caliper method came out almost the same for me.

3 site caliper method (mm)..............Tape measurement method (inches)
Chest.............20...........................................Height..............70.5
Abdominal.....20...........................................Neck.................15.5
Thigh.............10............................................Abdominal........34

BF% - 16.21...................................................BF% - 16.3





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Calipers are more effective than an electrical impedence system, but in the realm of electrical impedence, the hand-held devices, like the Omron BF-306 is better since it is more consistant, with the caveat that it still suffers the same margin of error as a BF scale and is more expensive than calipers.
 
I use Tanita bodyfat scales and, whilst I know they aren't 100% accurate, they are a good measure of progress (ie. is my BF% going up or down)

The key thing is to make sure that all conditions are as similar as possible each time you take a reading. For example, I take my readings at 7am on Saturday mornings, after I have 'relieved' myself and before I have any breakfast or do any excercise. This way, I am happy that my readings are comparable to one another and are probably within 2% +/- of my true BF%

BF% readings first thing in the morning tend to be higher than later in the day so, I'm hoping my readings are a worse case scenario.
 
with those BF scales, if you eat and drink fluids consistently, and always check BF at the same time of day under the same conditions, it'll at least be consistent with itself, so you can track trends.

if you are really dehydrated, it'll read crazy numbers.
 
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