Questions on body fat calipers...
Questions on body fat calipers...
Hi.
I purchased some calipers online. These ones:
Anyway, they confuse me a bit. First off all, when the calipers are pushed all the way together (like using them on air instead of fat), it still reads about 9 mm at the bottom, not 0. How is that supposed to be accurate?
And the next question regarding reading it properly I can't explain, so I'll just use a picture to simplify everything.
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9017/calipersll8.jpg
Depending on how I read it my body fat can vary by from 8 to 13%! I'm really confused.
Thanks guys.
I guess those 9 mm are the 1.5% inaccuracy :p
You could always just subtract them from all of your measurements.
you are reading it wrong
1 Attachment(s) Here is the response in image
Basically use the slider. Slide it all the way to right and then pinch the skin and press the 'Press' sign with thumb till it clicks. Use the reading from the slider.
Find the body fat calculator at http://www.linear-software.com/online.html
I didn't even notice the little slider thing. Thanks, that helps.
Haha...took me a few tries to find the slider as well...
Good luck with the measurements. Do it consistently, 2-3x per day for the first week or two. It takes a little while to get a hang of it.
You also might try drawing dots with a magic marker on your "designated measurement spots" on your body (unless you're headed to the beach soon...). I've done that one too. Felt like an idiot looking at myself in the mirror but, after a few days, my consistency improved.
Another idea for improved accuracy: use the "favorite freckle" method. Pick a body mark that you can consistently use as a reference point. It doesn't really matter if it's "100% accurate" compared to the pics they send or the videos here. The idea is to measure change.
Final thought: take the fat% numbers with a grain of salt. Everyone carries fat slightly differently. It will come off in some spots before others, roughly in the same order that it was put on. Don't compare yourself to standardized results or others on this forum. You don't know how they measured, so don't sweat it if someone brags about 1% body fat loss per week and you only get 0.5%. Measure against yourself - and yourself alone.
In fact, because of this, I think mostly about the actual measurements (in mm) instead of a fat %. This helps me visualize my progress in a more concrete manner, and seeing (and pinching) the results week-by-week is nice. Although it sometimes takes 2-3 weeks to convince yourself that change is actually happening ;-)
Dave
I'll remember that, thanks.
Hi.
I purchased some calipers online. These ones:
Anyway, they confuse me a bit. First off all, when the calipers are pushed all the way together (like using them on air instead of fat), it still reads about 9 mm at the bottom, not 0. How is that supposed to be accurate?
And the next question regarding reading it properly I can't explain, so I'll just use a picture to simplify everything.
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9017/calipersll8.jpg
Depending on how I read it my body fat can vary by from 8 to 13%! I'm really confused.
Thanks guys.
Answer:
I guess those 9 mm are the 1.5% inaccuracy :p
You could always just subtract them from all of your measurements.
Answer:
you are reading it wrong
1 Attachment(s) Here is the response in image
Basically use the slider. Slide it all the way to right and then pinch the skin and press the 'Press' sign with thumb till it clicks. Use the reading from the slider.
Find the body fat calculator at http://www.linear-software.com/online.html
Answer:
I didn't even notice the little slider thing. Thanks, that helps.
Answer:
Haha...took me a few tries to find the slider as well...
Good luck with the measurements. Do it consistently, 2-3x per day for the first week or two. It takes a little while to get a hang of it.
You also might try drawing dots with a magic marker on your "designated measurement spots" on your body (unless you're headed to the beach soon...). I've done that one too. Felt like an idiot looking at myself in the mirror but, after a few days, my consistency improved.
Another idea for improved accuracy: use the "favorite freckle" method. Pick a body mark that you can consistently use as a reference point. It doesn't really matter if it's "100% accurate" compared to the pics they send or the videos here. The idea is to measure change.
Final thought: take the fat% numbers with a grain of salt. Everyone carries fat slightly differently. It will come off in some spots before others, roughly in the same order that it was put on. Don't compare yourself to standardized results or others on this forum. You don't know how they measured, so don't sweat it if someone brags about 1% body fat loss per week and you only get 0.5%. Measure against yourself - and yourself alone.
In fact, because of this, I think mostly about the actual measurements (in mm) instead of a fat %. This helps me visualize my progress in a more concrete manner, and seeing (and pinching) the results week-by-week is nice. Although it sometimes takes 2-3 weeks to convince yourself that change is actually happening ;-)
Dave
Answer:
I'll remember that, thanks.