Just noticed that my gym put in a a scale that measures BF. The brand name is Tarbita or something like that. Not very accurate? Did it 3 times and my weight and BR% was different. Weight ranged from 146 - 148 and BF 13 - 14%. Strange. Will have to try it butt naked when there is no one at the gym. ha!
They are about as accurate as a love tester machine.
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Humbly disagree with caveats.
I think they are inaccurate and really what matters is the mirror. But, I do think they can be useful for tracking trends.
I have a scale, a hand held, a Skulpt, and calipers. They all seem to be consistent, but inaccurate. I was testing about 15-16% on both scale and hand held when I did my Skulpt, which had me about 18%. About that time I had my trainer, a DPT, caliper me and he had me at 18% as well.
If you compared my pic to the body fat pics, I would have been about 15%. One of the issues is the algorithm used based on age. Iām 54, was 53 when I had the caliper test. If I was 49, I would have been 15%. If I was 39, I would have been about 13%. I think that is one of the big issues with the BIA testing, the algorithm that makes adjustments based on age. Literally, if I was tested one day before my 50th birthday, I am 15%. One day after, Iām 18%.
Measure, and use the mirror.
Concur with trend tracking ability, but maintain original stance on accuracy comment. I like the mirror and scale myself. If I was super hardcore, I would use a tape too, but I also see issues with that regarding measuring the same spot consistently.
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