# Body fat calipers



## Tatyana (Jan 29, 2006)

Cheap calipers.

THe white plastic accumeasure ones are GREAT for most people, one site measurement.

http://www.healthmonthly.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13

These ones are a tenner.

Do not go down low enough for competitive BBers

Also cheap at 12.99

http://www.cheapuksupplements.co.uk/section.php?xSec=53


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## 3752 (Jan 7, 2005)

i use these T and they do go low enough they are ok but they don't nail it down exactly...i have just used mine and i am according to these 4.5%


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## Tatyana (Jan 29, 2006)

On the women's chart they only go to about 13.5% at the lowest Paul I am pretty sure.

You do mean the white platic ones with the click thing.

I am going to use them again as I am NOT around 10%. ARRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH think it might be about 20% right now.

Do you have a different chart than I do?

I have the ones from the calipers and one modified out of BFFM (burn the fat feed the muscle)

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T


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## Tatyana (Jan 29, 2006)

Pscarb said:


> i use these T and they do go low enough they are ok but they don't nail it down exactly...i have just used mine and i am according to these 4.5%


I don't think any home ones nail it down, need the immersion tanks.

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T


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## pookie69 (Apr 20, 2006)

Tatyana said:


> Cheap calipers.
> 
> Also cheap at 12.99
> 
> http://www.cheapuksupplements.co.uk/section.php?xSec=53


Those digital ones for £26-99 look pretty cool. For those of us who don't mind spending a lil more, would you recommend them? Although i'm sure it doesn't need to be stated, i am far from being a competitive BBer! 



Pscarb said:


> i am according to these 4.5%


Holy crap!

Wow


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## 3752 (Jan 7, 2005)

the digital ones are no more accurate than the basic ones to be honest mate...

4.5% is great but i have been dieting for nearly 15 weeks


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## Tatyana (Jan 29, 2006)

I have some electronic ones, quite expensive ones actually, but I find them annoying to use.

Electronic equipment seems to go a bit 'weird' around me and sort of breaks down so I do try to keep it as basic as possible.

The accumeasure white plastic jobbies have been trialled against the gold standard method which I believe in the immersion tank.

I like them as they are just one site, just above the superilliac crest (the hip bone) and you can do it yourself.

The 3 to 7 sites you can measure with the others means you need someone else who knows what they are doing to measure you, best to have the same person everytime for less error, require more skill.........................................................

If you like gadjets, like me, by all means go for it.

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T


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## andye (Jan 30, 2006)

ive just bought some.

im getting 17.5% of the tanita scales and 14-15 with the calipers.

which should i trust???


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## 3752 (Jan 7, 2005)

digital scales are way off on any body who has a decent amount of muscle as the track the speed an electrical current goes through your body they don't take in the fact that muscle can slow this down...also if you take the reading then drink a pint of water and redo the test you will find a big diffrence....


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## Tatyana (Jan 29, 2006)

Age makes a difference on the skinfold calculations because the reference population for the charts were sedentary, non-exercising people who lost muscle mass as they aged. The researchers found that an older person with, say, 80mm total skinfolds would have a higher percentage of fat than a twenty-year-old with 80mm at the same bodyweight, because the older person had less lean mass, and probably more intramuscular and visceral fat. (The charts are all derived from hydrostatic weighing, a range of body measurements and some calculations.)

As far as I know there are no norm charts for people who weight train, and therefore may have gained lean mass over the years. I know I definitely have more muscle at 44 than I had at 24, but even with my current lower skinfolds the norm charts will say I've a higher percentage of fat than I had then...

At the Y we used a general rule of subtracting 7% from the chart's figure for a trained woman and 8% for a trained man, or you can just use the standard non-age-adjusted figure. It's not going to be as accurate as an MRI scan, but it's more accurate than a chart for the sedentary!

The main thing is to look at your skinfold totals week by week - if they're going down, you're shedding fat.


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## chrisj22 (Mar 22, 2006)

I bought myself a pair 'T', thanks for letting us all know.

P.S. You do look rather foxy in your pic...


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## Tatyana (Jan 29, 2006)

Thank you Chris

Me off season with my new breasts!

Hey, can't be ripped all year round!

I really need to stop saying off season as I am on the bloody diet even if I don't look like a BBer again YET!

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T


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## chrisj22 (Mar 22, 2006)

Lol! you ahould see me then!! If that's the case I'm constantly 'off-season!'

I ordered the calipers Sunday night and now it's thursday??? Roughly how long so they take to arrive?


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## Delhi (Dec 8, 2005)

Needing help here folks,

I just bought a pair of calipers, and I am wondering how hard you squeeze while taking a measurement. At the moment I just measure the fold without squeezing it. Is this the correct method, or do I squeeze the calipers as much as I can (Without pain)?

Probs a dumb question, but when I get the answer I wont be so dumb.


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## Tatyana (Jan 29, 2006)

Which ones did you get Del? Some come with instructions. If it is the accumeasure plastic ones, I think I may have additional instructions somewhere.

I ordered new plastic ones on Friday night as I gave my old pair to a friend and mine have not arrived yet either

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T


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## Delhi (Dec 8, 2005)

It was a electronic set (just under £30), I think they might be accu-measure but I would need to check to be sure.

So far I have a reading of between 15% and 17.5%. But I am not sure if I am measuring correctly.


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## pookie69 (Apr 20, 2006)

OK - just got my FatTrack II Digital body fat calipers today

>>> 3 site measurements - chest, waist, thigh

>>> im getting readings from 11% all the way to 21% :S

>>> quite clearly i have no idea what im doing 

Erm, i've read the instructions about how to take skinfold measurements, but im still a lil confused. The pictures show guys and gals taking horizontal skinfolds at the waist for example, whereas the instructions say vertical - so like - huh?

Could someone please help me out a lil? Is there a site perhaps that better explains all this?

[perv]

AND OMG - Tatyana's avi's just keep getting hotter and hotter :|

>>> wish they were bigger though 



[/perv]


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## Tatyana (Jan 29, 2006)

pookie69 said:


> OK - just got my FatTrack II Digital body fat calipers today
> 
> >>> 3 site measurements - chest, waist, thigh
> 
> ...


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## mrmasive (Dec 30, 2005)

Tatyana said:


> Cheap calipers.
> 
> THe white plastic accumeasure ones are GREAT for most people, one site measurement.
> 
> http://www.healthmonthly.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13


I have these, they are ok and work well for the price imo.


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## supafly (Jan 23, 2005)

I've just got my AccuMeasures and used them. It says about 10-11%. But my cheapo electronic one from ebay (that takes your height and weight and you hold the metal pads) says 29%. WTF, that is way out.

So don't buy cheapo ones.


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## Tatyana (Jan 29, 2006)

Yes the BMI ones or biomass impedance, are usually rubbish.

Tanita makes some of the best though, AND you the best ones are those that you stand on and hold.

They are often based on calculations based on age, so if you are older but have been really fit all your life, or young but have always been a chub, they are going to be even WORSE.

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T


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## Tatyana (Jan 29, 2006)

I have been using these accumeasures for close to a YEAR now and I just noticed something about them!

I have been using them incorrectly!

There is this little sliding square bit you have to pull out. When you pinch and then press down till you hear the click, the little square thing will mark the measure! DOH!

Anyway, for me this morning it was happy days, as my measure was less than I thought.

Ok so I do have a question.

The charts are given in age ranges. However, as a bodybuilder, do you think that some of these charts then will be a bit inaccurate for the age?

There was a point last year that I did have to switch to electronic calipers as they did not track body fat below 13% for women (if you are 18 that is!  )

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T


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