Infrared Bodyfat Calculator

So here they are advertising at my gym for body composition analysis using an infrared machine of sorts....one of the trainers said it cost a couple of grand, the machine. I asked him, a pro bodybuilder, if it was any good...like accurate as related to the callipers. Unfortunately, I didn't get any clear answers....he's never tried it, he's got callipers that he uses for himself at "home"...but knows very little about this machine except that it is an expensive machine...very helpful

Soooo, my question is....has anyone heard of this machine and if so, what all do you know about it?? Is it as good as callipers for b.f reading? And are folk's readings usually higher or lower than callipered testings?

TIA

Infrared

Near Infrared Interactance (NIR or simply Infrared for short) uses the principle of light absorption and reflection to measure body composition. The measurement is taken by placing a fiber optic wand on the belly of the biceps muscle. The wand sends a beam of infrared light into the muscle where shifts in the reflections of the wavelengths are used to estimate total body fat percentage.

The Futrex machine is the most common of the Infrared devices. Data on height, weight, age, sex, frame size, and activity level are entered into the Futrex machine and the machine prints out the results. The advantages of this method are that it's fast, simple, and noninvasive. The disadvantages include the high cost of the machine ( a couple grand), and the questionable accuracy and reliability.

Source: Pages 46-47 of Burn the Fat

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

I actually got a chance to do this machine at the Luxor in Las Vegas. $50 and a few pages of color print-out later, I got the official results. Before I tell you, let me state that this was the quickest test ever. They put this device on the top of your dominant bicep. Right in the middle. I guess it's sending out a beam of light. 2 seconds later, it's over and the results are in. There's no feeling at all. Nothing.

20.1% body fat is what it reported. Which is average for a male.

At first I was bummed. My own caliper tests showed 15.7%. But that's only a single spot pinch test. And it's not the most accurate either.

I also don't do any cardio.

Things are gonna change.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know I actually got this test done. Quick, painless, one tiny little wand, on the bicep, done, and a print-out. I think it took more time to enter the stats into the device then it did to get the reading.

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

You are looking down the barrel of the obese gun. J/K.

And all the test consists of is checking the dominant bicep? How does it get an acurate reading if it only does one area?

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This is basically the picture of what it does. A small device. I heard it's not cheap. Punch in some numbers... 1 test site on the bicep. Done.

There's some technical papers on the Futrex site itself.

There's small personal model available.

Futrex Body Fat Machines

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