Sup /fit/. What's the best body fat monitor out there???
autopsy
calipers. find a set that's well-known for good measurements. that's the closest you're going to get without wasting a bunch of money on underwater testing.
>>87981Too expensive. :PpPpPpPpPp>>88003Lol I don't have rolls.I was thinking of something like this:http://www.amazon.com/Omron-HBF-500-Composition-Monitor-Scale/dp/B000KK02X0/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1208998171&sr=8-3
I have the exact one in OPs picture. Not the best, but it does what I need it to.
>>88163Scales are worthless for a myriad of reasons I won't go into here. Get calipurs. You don't have to be fat to use them -- in fact, the thinner you are the more accurate they are. Look up Accu-Measure calipurs if you want a low price option that is supposed to give you pretty accurate results.
>>88163You don't have to.
since giving people these tests is part of my job, i suggest getting an omron, since it's the most accurate thing other than water submersion.there are too many variables involved when using calipers, so skip em.
Calipers. costs $20
>>89038overpriced
>>89039True. I got them for free almost (had to pay shipping) it was a giveaway.
Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry
>>88163I have that exact scale. It always reads my body fat % too high (it usually reads me from 30-33% bf; got my bf% checked by a professional and it's actually 27%).
I think the electronic ones are okay, despite being very inaccurate - mine does consistently give the same reading. After a week of heavy exercises the reading does go down. So even if what it shows is way off, at least you know you are making progress.tl;dr electronic ones are crap but good to track progress
quality of bf% measuring tools:biopsy/autopsy > body scans > calipers > BEI scales > naked eye guess
In fact my electronic scales record my stats and then dump them on to a USB stick. I wrote an Excel macro to convert 4 important stats to graphs automatically.
>>89822That's pretty tight.How do these electronic scales work?
As I understand it, they pass a tiny electrical current through your body. Different things like fat, muscle and water have different electrical impedance. Oh, here you gohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioelectrical_impedance_analysis
>>89829Pretty neat! thanks
>>89822what's the purpose of measuring body water? I'm an idiot..
Get the "fat track II" calipers.I bought both the fat track calipers and a Omron hbf-500. For the first week or so they both were inconsistent. But after I got a good method down for the calipers I can get a consistent 3% repeat accuracy. The hbf-500 gives a 8% repeat accuracy for me on a good day.I can look in the mirror and guess my %fat better then the hbf-500.My 2 cents.There a a bunch of caliper howto videos on youtube btw.
Current scale method is too unreliable
>>89023I'm sure omrons overestimate somewhat: I'm skinny as a twig, almost no flab, but it keeps telling me I have something like 29% body fat.