i wanted to get my body fat tested and i was wondering THE most effective way to get it down. I heard the water method is the most accurate, is this true? They offer the caliper method at my gym, but the trainers their are incompetent and the readings are always inconsistent. Where can i get accurate body fat testings done at? Are their clinics or companies that offer this service? Is it very expensive? Thanks!!
anybody?
Hydrostatic weighing is a pretty accurate method for measuring body fat. I fortunately know a few exercise physiology students and can get my BF% measured any time I want. Most of the time, the difference between hydrostatic and skin calipers is about 2%. For me at least. With skin calipers I’d be at 6% whereas I’d be 8% with underwater testing. Generally, I’d go with hydrostatic. Then again, you can get measured via DEXA. This is very accurate but also expensive. Unless you have a bro who happens to be a radiologist.
Then it’s MUCH less. What I would do is call a local university and ask to have your body fat measured via hydrostatic weighing. It’s usually $25-35.
The Fat Track digital body caliper will cost you $50. It is really accurate and you can do it whenever you want!
(Lean more in a past T-Mag “Stuff We Like”)
Is you live by a University most of them have the underwater weighing and charge like $5.
It doesn’t really matter as much whether
you get an “accurate” reading (very close
to the true value) as that you get a “precise” reading – a consistent one. If the same person takes your skinfold readings and is skilled at it, the precision should be within 1%. So you can track your results very well with this.
Where accuracy is of some value is if you’re
trying to estimate how much fat you have to
lose and it’s a very large amount. For example,
if you’re actually 30% bf but you’re informed
that you are 20% bf, you’ll underestimate
how big a job you have in losing fat. For
most practical purposes though, you just want
to track results, and skinfold is a convenient
and effective way to do this provided the
same skilled individual takes the readings, or if
there are 2 or more different people you’ve
verified that they all give the same results.
Cy, I’d like to do the water testing. What department would I ask for when I call the local University?
Ask for the exercise science department or some type of Health and Human Performance/Exercise and Recreation Building/Division. They’re likely to perform the testing at or very near the Recreation Center.
thanks everyone!!
I recently published some data showing that skinfolds can be very accurate when compared to underwater weighing. Ihe most accurate and easiest skinfold equations for body comp predictions are the Jackson and Pollock sum of three Skinfold equation for Men (EQ1) and the Jackson, Pollock and Ward sum of three Skinfold equation for women (EQ 2). See below.
EQ1: Body Density = 1.10938 – (0.0008267 X SUM3) + (0.0000016 X SUM32 ) – (0.0002574 X AGE)
SUM3 = chest + abdomen + thigh
EQ2: Body Density = 1.0994921 – (0.0009929 X SUM3) + (0.0000023 X SUM32 ) – (0.0001392 X AGE)
SUM3 = triceps + supra-iliac + thigh
Proper Skinfold Measurement Site
Chest: diagonal fold over leteral border of the pec midway between the armpit and nipple.
Abdomen: horizontal fold 1 inch from the belly button.
Triceps: midway between the top of the shoulder and the elbow on the backside of the arm. Skinfold is parallel to the long axis of the arm.
Supra-iliac: diagonal fold above the hip.
Thigh: front vertical fold midway between the hip and knee.
Once you have determined body density, that value is placed into another equation to predict body fat. Brozek and colleagues developed the equation that I use for men and women between the ages of 18 – 60 years of age.
Body Fat Percentage = [((4.57/ body density) – 4.142) X 100]
This equation is accurate for everyone except black males. Black males typically have greater lean body densities (bone, muscle, tendon) than men of other races, so you must use a different equation to accurately predict their body fat. I use the equation by Schutte and colleagues.
Body Fat Percentages for Black Males = [((4.374 / body density) – 3.928) X 100]