Body-Fat Calipers

I have a Tanita bodt-fat scale that I’ve used periodically, but I’ve never quite truested the values I’ve been reading. I decided to get a set of calipers so I can do the pinch method to measure body fat percentage. I bought the Accu-Measure 3000 caliper which seems to the best option for people that inetned to measure themselves.

I got the calipers yesterday and I did some measurements this morning. I used the instructions that came with the calipers which involve just ONE skin fold measurement. I also used the following website which has various other formulas based on various numbers of measurements:

http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

I only did the Jackson/Pollock 3 and 4 caliper methods. I also weighed on my scale. Here are the results I got:

The average is 19.3%

I’ve read that the scale and the caliper methods are all based on statistical models so you never know how accurate they are for your particular body and they should really only be used for tracking trends. The only way to get a true body fat percentage is by water immersion.

The calipers themselves are made of plastic, but they seem sturdy enough. There is an indicator so you can tell when you’ve applied to the correct pressure.

I’ll try and track my body fat at least once a month, but I’ll probably just use all the above methods and take the average.

Posted by derek as Weight Loss at 12:24 PM PST

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