Comments on: 5 Ways to Measure Body Fat Percentage http://www.builtlean.com/2010/07/13/5-ways-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/ Lose Fat & Get Lean Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:36:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Marc Perry http://www.builtlean.com/2010/07/13/5-ways-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/comment-page-1/#comment-43946 Marc Perry Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:38:10 +0000 http://www.builtlean.com/?p=1275#comment-43946 @brotherchris - thanks for sharing those results. That's very helpful. I prefer measuring fat directly with calipers as long as the measurements can be consistent with successive trials. @brotherchris – thanks for sharing those results. That’s very helpful. I prefer measuring fat directly with calipers as long as the measurements can be consistent with successive trials.

]]> By: brotherchris http://www.builtlean.com/2010/07/13/5-ways-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/comment-page-1/#comment-43930 brotherchris Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:28:08 +0000 http://www.builtlean.com/?p=1275#comment-43930 All measures taken within a half hour Ozeri scale - 43.3% Omron handheld - 39.5% Accumeasure single point - 30.7 (self measured) Jackson/Pollock 4 points - 30.83 (my son helped measure) I am a pretty big guy 5'9" and 278 lbs. I'm very active but still have a lot of fat. I've found that the Omron will fluctuate almost 3% in a single 24 hour period. The Ozeri is pretty much worthless to me - It supposedly measures water, fat, muscle, and bone weight. It shows me as having less than 4 lbs of bone - not likely. The accumeasure and Jackson Pollock are fairly consistent with each other and from day to day. I don't know if they are accurate about actual percentage but they are more reliable for historical comparison of myself over time. The electronic devices only frustrate me with such wild readings. All measures taken within a half hour
Ozeri scale – 43.3%
Omron handheld – 39.5%
Accumeasure single point – 30.7 (self measured)
Jackson/Pollock 4 points – 30.83 (my son helped measure)
I am a pretty big guy 5’9″ and 278 lbs. I’m very active but still have a lot of fat. I’ve found that the Omron will fluctuate almost 3% in a single 24 hour period. The Ozeri is pretty much worthless to me – It supposedly measures water, fat, muscle, and bone weight. It shows me as having less than 4 lbs of bone – not likely.

The accumeasure and Jackson Pollock are fairly consistent with each other and from day to day. I don’t know if they are accurate about actual percentage but they are more reliable for historical comparison of myself over time. The electronic devices only frustrate me with such wild readings.

]]> By: Marc Perry http://www.builtlean.com/2010/07/13/5-ways-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/comment-page-1/#comment-41446 Marc Perry Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:28:26 +0000 http://www.builtlean.com/?p=1275#comment-41446 @lisa - It does help. Thanks for sharing! @lisa – It does help. Thanks for sharing!

]]> By: lisa http://www.builtlean.com/2010/07/13/5-ways-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/comment-page-1/#comment-41379 lisa Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:43:06 +0000 http://www.builtlean.com/?p=1275#comment-41379 I used the body fat analyzer on my scale for years - measured 26%. When I really got serious about running and lifting on a routine basis, my body fat percent barely budged even though I visually noticed results. I went to my chiropractor who had a different setup with a computer and lots of leads. He said it was the current gold standard (last year). It measured 16.4% BF! Moral of the story - scales are no where near accurate. Hope this helps! I used the body fat analyzer on my scale for years – measured 26%. When I really got serious about running and lifting on a routine basis, my body fat percent barely budged even though I visually noticed results. I went to my chiropractor who had a different setup with a computer and lots of leads. He said it was the current gold standard (last year). It measured 16.4% BF! Moral of the story – scales are no where near accurate. Hope this helps!

]]> By: Marc Perry http://www.builtlean.com/2010/07/13/5-ways-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/comment-page-1/#comment-30642 Marc Perry Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:07:11 +0000 http://www.builtlean.com/?p=1275#comment-30642 @xnihilo - what you are experiencing is believe it or not completely normal. I don't even consider BIA to a be a viable option, unless you have too much body fat where calipers don't work. For example, I'm MAX 8% body fat, probably 7% (I have very little fat on my body) and a BIA scale calculated my at 16%. I would go with calipers hands down because you are physically pinching the fat on your body and measuring the skin folds, which is far more accurate in general, especially if done by a skilled professional. The calculators online I would definitely not pay attention to as well. If you are reasonably fit and have some muscle, at 157lb and 23% body fat, your LBM is 120lb. That sounds reasonable to me. Even 115lb LBM would put you at 26% body fat, which is within a normal range. Don't get annoyed/frustrated/confused with these body fat measurement. Check out this article for some more info: http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentage-chart/. @xnihilo – what you are experiencing is believe it or not completely normal. I don’t even consider BIA to a be a viable option, unless you have too much body fat where calipers don’t work. For example, I’m MAX 8% body fat, probably 7% (I have very little fat on my body) and a BIA scale calculated my at 16%. I would go with calipers hands down because you are physically pinching the fat on your body and measuring the skin folds, which is far more accurate in general, especially if done by a skilled professional. The calculators online I would definitely not pay attention to as well. If you are reasonably fit and have some muscle, at 157lb and 23% body fat, your LBM is 120lb. That sounds reasonable to me. Even 115lb LBM would put you at 26% body fat, which is within a normal range. Don’t get annoyed/frustrated/confused with these body fat measurement. Check out this article for some more info: http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentage-chart/.

]]> By: xnihilo http://www.builtlean.com/2010/07/13/5-ways-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/comment-page-1/#comment-30494 xnihilo Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:15:32 +0000 http://www.builtlean.com/?p=1275#comment-30494 I'm a 5'7" 156lb 42 year old woman and I'm completely confused! Using a body fat caliper on suprailiac fat places me at 22.8% bodyfat. Ok great, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. Now I step on the BIA scales and it puts me at 37% body fat!! And that supposedly is low because I have metal implants in my back which according the the Tanita website will give a slightly lower reading to body fat percentage. What a porker. Soooo, then I go to an "input your measurements/weight/height" website calculator online...and come up with....31%. Hmmm. So I have somewhere between, I assume, 22.8% and 37% body fat. Either "lean" on one end of the spectrum, or "overfat" on the other. I'm feeling a little schizophrenic. Is this kind of variation normal for different body fat measurement methods? I understand that no method is completely accurate, but this is kind of ridiculous! I’m a 5’7″ 156lb 42 year old woman and I’m completely confused! Using a body fat caliper on suprailiac fat places me at 22.8% bodyfat. Ok great, I’m feeling pretty good about myself. Now I step on the BIA scales and it puts me at 37% body fat!! And that supposedly is low because I have metal implants in my back which according the the Tanita website will give a slightly lower reading to body fat percentage. What a porker. Soooo, then I go to an “input your measurements/weight/height” website calculator online…and come up with….31%. Hmmm. So I have somewhere between, I assume, 22.8% and 37% body fat. Either “lean” on one end of the spectrum, or “overfat” on the other. I’m feeling a little schizophrenic. Is this kind of variation normal for different body fat measurement methods? I understand that no method is completely accurate, but this is kind of ridiculous!

]]> By: Marc Perry http://www.builtlean.com/2010/07/13/5-ways-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/comment-page-1/#comment-17655 Marc Perry Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:31:33 +0000 http://www.builtlean.com/?p=1275#comment-17655 @Toni - thanks for your comment! @Toni – thanks for your comment!

]]> By: Toni http://www.builtlean.com/2010/07/13/5-ways-to-measure-body-fat-percentage/comment-page-1/#comment-17639 Toni Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:57:41 +0000 http://www.builtlean.com/?p=1275#comment-17639 I'm still shocked that my body fat percentage puts me in the "athletic/lean" category. I'm at 17%. Most of my life, I was a sporadic exerciser (at best) and a couch potato (at worst). Highest body fat percentage was around 30%. I got snapped into reality when my mom died of lung cancer back in '07 because she took terrible care of herself. Nothing like your own immortality to make you put the remote down and grab a pair of dumbbells. BTW, I'll weigh in on the whole "is that your stomach/" comment too. Impressive but I like the fact that you're not totally bulging with muscles. Most women would agree with me, I think. Even with muscles, too much of a good thing is not attractive. Just my two cents. Thanks for the informative article too. I’m still shocked that my body fat percentage puts me in the “athletic/lean” category. I’m at 17%. Most of my life, I was a sporadic exerciser (at best) and a couch potato (at worst). Highest body fat percentage was around 30%. I got snapped into reality when my mom died of lung cancer back in ’07 because she took terrible care of herself. Nothing like your own immortality to make you put the remote down and grab a pair of dumbbells. BTW, I’ll weigh in on the whole “is that your stomach/” comment too. Impressive but I like the fact that you’re not totally bulging with muscles. Most women would agree with me, I think. Even with muscles, too much of a good thing is not attractive. Just my two cents. Thanks for the informative article too.

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