First of all, I’d like to say great articles on Body Comp Parts 1 and 2. But you already know that.
I recently bought a Tanita Ultimate scale and it showed my bf to be 19%. I had my bf tested a couple of months before that by a personal trainer at my gym (free) and I had a bf of 8.5% (handheld) and 9.9% (standing).
Why is my sacle showing such a high bf%? I know I have gotten leaner since my test with the personal trainer and I can see my abs so I know I can’t be 19%. I know that there can be a huge variation if you compare different methods but both the PT and mine are bioimpedance machines and both are by Tanita! Also, I have tested several times on different days and on different times of the day and it still yielded the same results.
Does this have anything to do with the athlete mode? My machine doesn’t have this mode and I’m thinking of exchanging it for a one with an athlete mode. What does the athlete mode account for?
Does water add to your LBM or FFM or both?
You mentioned testing after a shower in your article. Does that increase or decrease hydration?
Sorry for the lenghty post. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated as always. Thanks!
I weekly monitior my bodyfat and lean body weight using both the Tanita scale and skin fold measurements (seven point). There has always been about a 8 to 10 % difference. So I guess that my bodyfat level is about mid-point between the two measurements. I don’t let it excite me as long as it is headed in the right direction. And if not I review the last week to determine the cause and modify my program accordingly. Best of Luck.
Thank you for the kind words. Here are the answers to your questions.
Question 1&2 - It is probably the lack of an athlete mode. Remember that this machine is measuring your impedance (not your body fat directly) and then plugging in your impedance, age, height, body weight and sex into an algorithm that spits out your body fat percentage. You obviously fit the athlete population better than the general public, which is why you are seeing such a high discrepancy.
Question 3 - Lean body mass (LBM) and fat free mass (FFM) are the same thing, just said in two different terms. Although there is some water in fat, most of your water will be added and assumed to be a part of your FFM compartment.
Question 4 - Measuring after a shower will help to stabilize body temperature, skin temperature and skin hydration. That is the only potential advantage to measuring after a shower. I measure every morning after going to the bathroom because that is most convenient for me. In the end, convenience has to be key.
This method of measurement can be thrown off + r - 5 to 8% depending on body hydration of sodium (electrolyte) levels. Stick to a good set of calipers, once you master the technique and use it the SAME everytime, you don’t need to worry about these other factors affecting your reading.
I meant to just type FM. I actually know what FFM and LBM stand for. I have occasional brain cramps. I think it is due to the low of carbs on the T-dawg diet. Today I couldn’t even remember “Saleen” when I was discribing my college friend’s Mustang to a colleague and I now can’t remember the other thing I forgot the name for earlier today as well. I think it was a movie or something. Oh well…
About the athlete mode, is it just more sensitive to lower bf% as opposed to the normal mode for people with higher bf%?
I’m thinking that 19%/2 = 9.5% which is where I’m around which means it’s twice as sensitive which could be a could be a good thing so I can monitor 0.5% changes if I just divide the readings by 2. Or does the math not work that way?
Funny thing about the shower. The reason I asked is one would assume higher hydration after a shower due to the skin absorbing some water but I find that I look leaner after a shower.
Thanks again for your input. It was much appreciated.
As Jason said. They don’t really work for people who’re big and ripped. It’s just a design problem. Just ignore it and stick with the measurements people have done with calipers.
The point of the athlete mode is to compare your results to the results of similar people.
For instance, John Berardi's resting metabolic rate calculation in Massive Eating 1 would be an innapropriate approximation for any sedentary person. The equation is designed to approximate the RMR of athletes and only athletes.
It is the same with the athlete mode on the Tanita scale. It not only takes into account, your impedance, height, weight, sex and age, but also your training status. From my experience, most lean hard-training T-men and women will get the best results from using a scale with the athlete mode.
It is not that this mode is more sensitive to lower body fat percentages, it is just that it is calibrated differently and uses a different algorithm to calculate your body composition.
As a final note, I believe that calipers are the best way to go with most people, but I rarely use them anymore. I am so happy with my Tanita scale (and it's convenience) that I use it as my primary body comp tracking tool. 2 min in the morning is all it takes and the data is fascinating. And finally, my body comp percentage does not vary more than 1% over a week (unless it is the day after a serious eating binge or a really hot, dehydrating day). And even on these days, the variation is less than 2% and once I get my diet and hydration back together, the number fall right in line.