I have been using these two here.


just wondering what you guys use.
Maybe i missed it but i dont remember seeing what John uses ?


http://svtchris.no-ip.com/fit/measure.jpg

I splurged about a week ago and ordered a Tanita bodyfat weigh scale and actually just received it today. It's easy to use and seems like it will be an easy way to grab my weight and bodyfat every morning:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000094ZGJ

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000094ZGJ.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

I haven't compared it to the caliper method, but on my first try it gave me 19.4% bodyfat which is what I was expecting...two years ago in a gym I had a full workup with calipers and they said I was 24% at 190 lbs. Now I'm 178 so I was hoping to be below 20%...

The funny thing is that it takes your height, age, sex, and activity level and stores it in a profile - then when it takes your measurement it gives you a underfat(-), healthy(0), overfat(+), and obese(++) rating on the screen. I squeaked by with a "0" but it seems like a simplistic way to tell you this.

Also, it takes that info and calculates the number of calories a day you can eat and maintain that weight. I'm 6', 178 and it said I could eat 3,400 calories to maintain, and less than that to lose. Seemed a bit high as I seem to need to eat less than 2,000 a day to lose weight...

The bodyfat measurement is very sensitive to your hydration level so you should be in the same hydration "state" every time you measure it. Also - there's a big warning that you shouldn't use it if you have a pacemaker or electronic device because it sends and electrical pulse through your body! Runs off of 4 AA batteries...

Steve

I use 2 methods. First, I have a Tanita Bodyfat Scale. It works pretty good...its good for measuring relative changes. However, it reads high in the morning and lower right out of the shower and in the evenings due to the affect of hydration.

The second method I use is the site www.mybodycomp.com

You can sign up for a free account where you input all your measurements. Then they automatically calculate your bodyfat and daily calorie burn, etc. Even provides a graphical display of your bodyweight distribution.

The Tanita scale really sucks in my opinion. I went from 25% first thing in the morning yesterday to 18% at night...

I use the www.mybodycomp.com as well!

cool, im going to sign up there now..

Thanks, the digital i have says 16.9% BF

and online comp say 15.66% ill settle in the middle

online results (http://svtchris.no-ip.com/Fit/BF-MYBODYCOMP/BF1-22-04.htm)

i got my body fat calculated today, using calipers
i got 22% bf, which is lower than i expected! definite motivation boost! gotta keep working at it though, goal is 14-18%.... for now

I use calipers which are easy to underestimate your bf%. Sometimes I use www.ability.org.uk/bodyfat.htm just for comparison's sake. Surprisingly, it's pretty accurate (for my bf%, anyway).

I use the Tanita scale but I've come to the conclusion that my daily measurements are basically useless. I can only really get a good A->B comparison on the morning after my rest day. The accuracy and repeatability of the scale is very poor.

The calipers also have built-in repeatability issues but are likely to give more accurate results even in the hands of a n00b (like myself).

The Doctor is your best bet to get a truly accurate reading, especially if they use the hydrostatic measurement. The professional quality resistance test is better than an at home Tanita scale.

I did notice in the evening I had a 19.5% bodyfat on the Tanita scale, but then this morning - when I feel "thin" - my bodyfat was 20.5%. I guess as long as you do it under the same conditions each day you can chart the relative changes. That bodycomp site is pretty cool too!

Steve

I've recently got some Slimguide calipers and use this (http://www.rustyiron.net/formmal7.htm) 7 point measuring method.

I'm new to this and these calipers seemed like a cheap and accurate way to measure as your actually measuring the skinfold.

I'm confused as to how digital scales can determine bodyfat accurately being that they can't actually measure fatpad thickness. It seems to me that they'd only be as accurate as on-line calculators that determine BF from just your weight and waist size!!??

Can anyone enlighten me?

Your body has a total resistance value. If you pass a known small current through the body you can measure that resistance. Having more fat on the body changes the resistance readings. The scale takes into account your height and your sex and calculates the percentage.

The value can be skewed by several factors. Therefore the device has a LOT of error and the accuracy is poor as a result. Don't get me wrong, it is a decent A to B comparison tool but only under ideal conditions and even then you should take several readings.

Has anybody tried handheld BF% machines? They are supposed to work the same as the scales only better. I've never heard from somebody who used one though.

i beleive john did what is probably the best thing to do, he used calipers, bf measurers and body tape measurements, took the 3 results and averaged them.

I'm using some tanita scales as well as body part measurements and recording both. I'm more interested in the change rather than the value right now, so as long as they're consistant i don't mind if they aren't entirely accurate.

svtchriss, how do you like that digital calliper?

I'm in the middle of saving for a scale that also counts body fat %. Next week's pay should do the trick ;).

About 3/4's the way down on John's Faq page (http://www.johnstonefitness.com/html/faq.html) he says he uses....

1. Online/Tape Measurement = http://www.healthcentral.com/cooltools/CT_Fitness/bodyfat1.cfm

2. AccuFitness Calipers

3. Taylor BIA (Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis) body fat scale


And as Jingo said, he then averages the 3.....

I'd like to get a BF scale (don't have any scale right now) - I understand that it's not going to be 100% accurate, but I'd like it to track relative changes.

To those who have the Tanita scales...what's the deal with the Athlete mode? Useful/not? I've been working out (w/varying intensity levels) since 1996...should I make sure I get the one with the Athlete mode? If not, is it going to spit out some # like 40% that'll send me into a tailspin?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Kirby

I use an Omron HBF-306. I don't have a pic of it, but its the kind that you enter all your statistics into and then you hold it in both palms. I don't think its all that accurate but the manufacturer claims a 2% margin of error.

Here's my take on the Tanita:
It's true that the scale is highly dependant on hydration levels, so the best way to use it is trend composition. In other words, pick a time where your hydration levels are fairly consistent from day to day and take a reading at that time, every day. I have found that the trends are quite realistic. For me, in the morning I am consistently de-hydrated like most people. I take a trip to the bathroom then jump on the scale (no water or food before the measurement)....from day to day, I see a pretty gentle trend that hopefully goes down!

I have some supporting data that kinda shows my trends produced by the tanita (notice the slack off in fall of 2003...yikes!):
http://home.austin.rr.com/neatohuh/body.jpg

I also compared the 20% reading the morning I went to get a professional analysis with calipers, impedance through hands, impedance through feet, and DEXA x-ray scan....The methods ranged from 16% to 29%....again, trending with one method is really the only thing I find useful.

Tanita users...

Athlete mode? Use it? I'm no couch potato...wondering what will happen if I save $$$ and get one w/o that option...

Thanks!

Kirby

For me, the athlete mode is way off. In the kinesiology dept at UT, they have a graph that shows an average delta of -8% BF when using the athlete mode compared to normal adult mode. This was darn consistent across hundreds of folks. When using more sophisticated techniques....the normal mode more accurately represented most people. I figure you need to be in the 8-9% BF range to use it.....however I don't quite understand the formula they use (something to do with hydration levels).


-chris

For me, the athlete mode is way off. In the kinesiology dept at UT, they have a graph that shows an average delta of -8% BF when using the athlete mode compared to normal adult mode. This was darn consistent across hundreds of folks. When using more sophisticated techniques....the normal mode more accurately represented most people. I figure you need to be in the 8-9% BF range to use it.....however I don't quite understand the formula they use (something to do with hydration levels).


-chris

Thank you so much for this information! amazon.com has the Tanita BF 555 in their Friday Sale today! :confused: Yeah...I'm going to get it. Woo-hoo!

Kirby

I have a Tanita, not the athlete one but the normal one. It is pretty far off as far as BF is concerned. I have read that it is about 5-7 points higher than your actual BF. Mine reads around 21% most of the time with fluctuations of course. Does anyone know of any pictures of people at various bodyfats so we could compare? I think I am closer to 17-18%. My calipers say 12-14 so who knows. I know I am definately not that low. I have a mini gut so I guess 18%. I know Christian from T-Mag says he was 18% in this picture- without sucking it in I am probably pretty close to that :(

http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/256beast.jsp

I just pay somebody local to do a 9 point measure, get the bf% from him, and also fire the actual measurements at each point off to my nutritionalist to varify the bf%. $10 per visit, but dead accurate.

svtchriss, how do you like that digital calliper?

I have the same caliper, and it is pretty inaccurate. It puts me between 2 and 3% BF consistently, and, of course, that is not my actual BF% - I'm between 8 and 9%.

I use Slimguides and then input the 10 mesurements I take into a spreadsheet I found here. This spreadsheet has 8 BF% formulas and it will give you the average.

http://maelstrom.seos.uvic.ca/people/zahariev/misc/bf_men.html

I also use the myotape and healthcentral's BF% calculator that someone linked above.

I then take the average of these 2 numbers.