I bought Body Fat callipers a couple weeks ago. I always get inconsistent readings. My biggest confusion is how much do I pinch?
I mean I have a gut, so does that mean I pinch the entire thing? like a good inch or do I pinch tiny with my tips of my fingers.

here is the caliper I use
http://bodybuilding.com/store/acc/fattrack.html

it seems to work fine, just I suck at it!

I know it's not that important but any help would be great and there's nowhere/one else I know that could help me.

bump!

My biggest confusion is how much do I pinch?
I suck at it!
Search

From hussman.org


How to use skinfold calipers, step-by-step

With your right hand, pinch the skin on the knucle of your left middle finger. Really. Look at it carefully - that's a skinfold. just 2 layers of skin over each other.

Alright, now turn your left hand over, and pinch the lower third of your middle finger (the fleshy part at the bottom). That's *not* a skinfold - there's too much tension in the skin to get a true layer-over-layer fold, so you're catching all sorts of tissue in-between.

Now go to your waist, in a straight line up from your right leg and above the tip of your hipbone, and grab as much as you can of that love-handle with your whole left hand. That's *not* a skinfold either - you're catching a lot of tissue in between, and you don't have a true layer-over-layer fold.

Finally, take left thumb, and either your forefinger or the first 2 fingers, and pinch that love handle again. Now pull it outward away from your body, and wiggle it between your fingers for a second. Still holding that fold firmly, take the jaws of your caliper and set them about a half-inch from your fingers, and close the calipers. Hold the calipers alongside your waist like you're reaching for your 6-gun, rather than at a 90 degree angle to your body. You now have a skin fold between the calipers, and even if you try that 3 or 4 times, you should still get roughly the same reading. You'll get a slightly different reading if you do the left side of your body rather than the right, but the difference should be pretty consistent. You've just taken your "suprailiac" reading.

Arg. Sounds pretty complicated to me. I'm happy to just let the professionals do it every so often and otherwise evaluate progress based on my training, the mirror, my clothes, and feedback from others.

Make sure when you pinch your gut, that you're not just taking a superficial reading of jut the skin itself, but you are truly getting your gut. 3 inches apart on the abdomen works for me. If you're above 20%bf, don't be suprised if the numbers are over 30mm- it's probably right.



I bought Body Fat callipers a couple weeks ago. I always get inconsistent readings. My biggest confusion is how much do I pinch?
I mean I have a gut, so does that mean I pinch the entire thing? like a good inch or do I pinch tiny with my tips of my fingers.

here is the caliper I use
http://bodybuilding.com/store/acc/fattrack.html

it seems to work fine, just I suck at it!

Make sure when you pinch your gut, that you're not just taking a superficial reading of jut the skin itself, but you are truly getting your gut. 3 inches apart on the abdomen works for me. If you're above 20%bf, don't be suprised if the numbers are over 30mm- it's probably right.


Where on the body do you take your readings?

Search

From hussman.org


How to use skinfold calipers, step-by-step

With your right hand, pinch the skin on the knucle of your left middle finger. Really. Look at it carefully - that's a skinfold. just 2 layers of skin over each other.

Alright, now turn your left hand over, and pinch the lower third of your middle finger (the fleshy part at the bottom). That's *not* a skinfold - there's too much tension in the skin to get a true layer-over-layer fold, so you're catching all sorts of tissue in-between.

Now go to your waist, in a straight line up from your right leg and above the tip of your hipbone, and grab as much as you can of that love-handle with your whole left hand. That's *not* a skinfold either - you're catching a lot of tissue in between, and you don't have a true layer-over-layer fold.

Finally, take left thumb, and either your forefinger or the first 2 fingers, and pinch that love handle again. Now pull it outward away from your body, and wiggle it between your fingers for a second. Still holding that fold firmly, take the jaws of your caliper and set them about a half-inch from your fingers, and close the calipers. Hold the calipers alongside your waist like you're reaching for your 6-gun, rather than at a 90 degree angle to your body. You now have a skin fold between the calipers, and even if you try that 3 or 4 times, you should still get roughly the same reading. You'll get a slightly different reading if you do the left side of your body rather than the right, but the difference should be pretty consistent. You've just taken your "suprailiac" reading.


where do you take the readings from on your body

The spots are basically your chest, gut, and thigh, but you should read the instructions to get the exact points.

I've got the same calipers, and it just takes some practice. When you take the readings, instead of pushing "select" to go to the next spot, push "next" to retake it. Retake each area several times until you get a consistent reading. Also make sure you do what the article that rtestes posted says and get only the skin.

The bf% that it calculates seems to be a bit low to me, but maybe I'm just not giving myself enough credit...

The spots are basically your chest, gut, and thigh, but you should read the instructions to get the exact points.

I've got the same calipers, and it just takes some practice. When you take the readings, instead of pushing "select" to go to the next spot, push "next" to retake it. Retake each area several times until you get a consistent reading. Also make sure you do what the article that rtestes posted says and get only the skin.

The bf% that it calculates seems to be a bit low to me, but maybe I'm just not giving myself enough credit...

Thanks jeremy