Best device/way to measure body fat?

Machines?
Methods?
 
What are the practical ways?

Method:::::http://www.topendsports.com/testing/tests/skinfolds.htm
 
 
machines: my nutritionist uses a little clamp, that is green and has a scale attached to it, i have no idea what its called.  And i searched onthe web and couldnt find it.  Sorry
 
 
 

-Mike



Height:6'2
Weight:254
bf%-13.2
Age:17
Bench: 360
Squat: 475
Deadlift: 515
leg press: 965
**UPDATED:10/2/2005**

FYI: A peach a day, keeps the doctor away!

are the skin pinches expensive?
 
not that accurate i assume...

doubt it, $15 max(im guessing, they dont seem to expensive)

-Mike



Height:6'2
Weight:254
bf%-13.2
Age:17
Bench: 360
Squat: 475
Deadlift: 515
leg press: 965
**UPDATED:10/2/2005**

FYI: A peach a day, keeps the doctor away!

Thry are called fat calipers and you can get them online. I found a gym in my town that will do it for $5 but most places charge at least $20.
Tanya

i just bought one of those scales that tells your weight and bf% by sending an electrical current through your body. i bought it for about $30, but you can buy ones that tell your weight,bf%, water weight, and how many calaries you should be consuming a day for about $70.  Also it seems to be pretty dead on accurate.

The truth is… there’s several ways to do this.
 

• Underwater Weighing
  
• Bio-Electrical Impedance Analysis
  
• BIA Body Fat Scales and Hang Grip Tests
  
• InfraredCircumference & Anthropometric
  
• Other More Complicated MethodsSkin fold Measurements like “The Pinch Test” 

The simplest and cheapest method is the skin fold test.  You can purchase a set of calipers for about $20 and do this test in the privacy of your own home.  The accuracy of this test is almost as accurate as the methods above and it costs you nothing. 
 
For individuals in the 15-35% range it’s deemed as accurate.  For lean individuals it is probably the most accurate and for people over 35% body fat, other methods are more accurate.

What it all boils down to is this…
 
Regardless of the accuracy of the test, it’s fast, it’s simple and it’s cheap.  And the only reason you measure your body fat is to determine progress.  A simple set of calipers will get the job done.  And you can do it over and over for no cost.  You can’t say that about the other options some of which are not very accurate at all.

-Excerpt from the Top 12 Report

Marc C. David - NGA CPT
Author of NoBull Bodybuilding
www.nobullbodybuilding.com

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i'm too stupid to use the website you suggested.

i picked one up for $8 new and not on sale.

Those of you who followed my first six-month bodybuilding extravaganza know by now that I have never fully trusted my body fat stats. I began tracking body fat last July 30, using the FatTrack II digital skin fold caliper. Though the results were consistent, even I have a hard time believing they were accurate. Let's face it, the only people who ever achieve 3% body fat are competitive bodybuilders at the height of contest season, and even then, they have to practically dehydrate themselves to pull that off. If I was really carrying only 3% body fat, I expect I would be in hypothermic shock most of the time, LOL.

The problem started with my inherent mistrust of anything claiming to be a self-contained solution. So, right off the bat, I ditched the results that the FatTracker II was calculating and just relied on it for the actual skin fold measurements, which I plugged into my own equations. Well, it turns out, there are about as many different equations for calculating body fat from skin fold measurements as there are devices to take the measurements with. I assumed that a calculation which uses more measurement sites would be more accurate, so I went with the Jackson & Pollack 7-Site formula for athletes. I won't bore you with the advanced trigonometry lesson that this formula entails; suffice to say, the result was the blatantly impossible 3% value that I have been tracking for the last 6 months.

Turns out, the FatTracker II actually uses the Jackson & Pollack 3-site equation, which (surprise, surprise) works out to something like 9% body fat with the exact same measurements used in the 7-site version. To make matters worse, the FatTracker II is a piece of crap for taking measurements in the first place, because there's no way to know how much pressure to apply.

Enter eBay -the only way I'm getting my hands on one of those medical grade ANALOG skin fold calipers you see used in the gyms -you know, the ones that are designed to manage the pressure FOR you? I scored a Lange Caliper for $100 used, and I'll let you know how it works out.

From now on, I'm going with the 3-site formula, just to eliminate the brain damage.

Yes, that's me in my avatar, and NO, I don't look like that today. That was taken back in Jan '07, and I lost most of that progress when I slacked off last year. I'm on my way back, tho, and I'm using that photo for inspiration.

Veggeep...after I rolled off my chair laughing...I had to go measure my bady fat!
 
I want to offer up a less expensive but nice tool that runs just over $20 and provides the tension for you. 
Most places sell it for over $30, I am sharing the best price I have found to date for this caliper.
Skinfold Calipers <--- link to place on amazon where it is cheapest
 
On the topic of Body fat measurement...
The methods YOU can use to test your bodyfat yourself are unreliable on a one time basis. 
They are better used to track changes over time on an ongoing basis. 
Test every 1-3 weeks at the same time of day...and use the same scale to take your weight. 

Here is a calculator that allows you to use skinfold calipers (3 or 7 point test) or tape measure
http://www.linear-software.com/online.html


This web page has illustrations. 
All measurement on right side is normal. 
Measurements should be taken from the same place on the body, always at the same time of day... 

Just a note...3 fold can be done alone and I prefer multi site tests...the other tests require an aid to take the measure from the back. 
 
I compared many BF testing methods to see how they work with my body.
You can see there is a variance between methods. 
I can take any of the tests over and over and I get the same result.
I have been taking BF measuremnts for decades, so I am quite use to it.
 
Here are those test results ...
16.34% -Tape measure 3 location
14.5% - Tape measure 2 location
13.2% - Skin Fold 1 Location
19.4%  - Skin Fold 2 Location
9.4% - Skin Fold 3 Location
15.1%  - Skin Fold 4 Location
15.9% - Skin Fold 4 Location (actually an aggragate of multiple tests of: 4 folds-15.1%, 1 fold-13.2%, 2 folds-19.4%)
11.27% - Skin Fold 7 Location
16.6% - Bio-electrical Impedance
 
Wild isn't it.  But they are all based on various assumptions...so that is why it is better as a tool for tracking over time.  Pick a method, get good at it, and stick with it.

Here is a calculator that allows you to use skinfold calipers (3 or 7 point test) or tape measure
http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

As always, Dan, much grass!  This is one of the best-organized sites I've seen yet!

I actually used to have that exact caliper about four years ago, but it spent most of its dejected life banished to the bottom of my sock drawer, while I languished in procrastination.  The last time I moved, it ended up in the trash   Guess I thought I was never going to get serious about bodybuilding again, he he he...

Yes, that's me in my avatar, and NO, I don't look like that today. That was taken back in Jan '07, and I lost most of that progress when I slacked off last year. I'm on my way back, tho, and I'm using that photo for inspiration.

Guess I thought I was never going to get serious about bodybuilding again, he he he...

 
And now look what you've gone and done!

My Journal Gain Muscle - http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/fb.ashx?m=111173 Lose Fat - http://www.discussbodybuilding.com/fb.ashx?m=111175

has any1 tried the Omron Body Fat Analyzer. they have one at my gym and it seems alright but ive never tried it a few times in a row to see if its consistent. i tried a digital caliper but it was really annoying cause there was no way to know how hard i had to put pressure on on each measurement spot. is there anyway to get this to be more accurate?

Duke of the Emancipation Detoxification

DEXA Imaging (a type of x-ray) $50,000

BodPod $20,000

BioAnalogics Impedance $1500

With the above technology, you can determine not only fat and lean, but body water. A person can increase 3 pounds of lean without it being muscle (e.g., water and glycogen)... something fat calipers never can do. And if a person carries a bit too much water subcutaneously, fat calipers will pick it up and suggest it is fat because of a greater mm thickness.