ok somebody needs to clear something up with me. I use the same bodyfat calculation machine at my gym every time i go, but my bodyfat seems to fluxuate so much, one day its 26.3% couple days later 25.4%, today it was 27%, is this normal? or at these little things not very reliable? the only thing that is steady is the amount of weight in pounds of fat i have, its always gone down, never up. anyone got any info to help me out?
[quote]muscleted18 wrote:
ok somebody needs to clear something up with me. I use the same bodyfat calculation machine at my gym every time i go, but my bodyfat seems to fluxuate so much, one day its 26.3% couple days later 25.4%, today it was 27%, is this normal? or at these little things not very reliable? the only thing that is steady is the amount of weight in pounds of fat i have, its always gone down, never up. anyone got any info to help me out?[/quote]
not relaible at all. get tested with calipers at least.
I’m guessing its one of those electronic things… if so there are alot of things that can throw it off and they arent very accurate anyway.
i prefer the scale and mirror, if the weight is going the right direction and I’m happy with what I see in the mirror I’m doing things right.
Electronic bodyfat weighing scales are very unkind to anybody involved in heavy lifting.
They work on a similar principle to Body Mass Index (BMI), which is for normal non trained individuals.
I’m 5’11", 180lbs and on the BMI, I’m around 26, where 20-25 is considered healthy and I’m considered overweight - I’m most definitely not.
Serious powerlifters are very often classified as dangerously obese on the BMI.
So if you are a trained individual with decent muscle, this bodyfat measurement is just wrong.
I think there’s a tendency on T-Nation for people to understate their bodyfat percentage but you’re probably not more than twenty per cent.
Get yourself done properly with a callipers.
yah same question i have here, i’ve read part 1 and 2 of body comp for beginners…
anyways, i decided i’d go with the scale method for convenience…
I had thought since each method is merely a benchmark (that if i’m consistant, its just a measurement for progress…not accuracy)
so good enough i thought, but now after using it for over a month, i see clear changes to my body, yet i’m struggling to go under 23%!!!
Just wondernig has anyone using a scale ever made it down lower than say…18-20%???
The scales are ok IF YOU MEASURE YOURSELF UNDER EXACTLY THE SAME CONDITIONS EVERY TIME. I.e. same time of day, same hydration level, etc.
They will then give you a halfway decent rate of change, even if the actual number is inaccurate.
Probably the best way to do this is first thing in the morning after you have gotten a normal night’s sleep. Skip the mornings where you stayed out drinking all night, or only got four hours sleep because of that damn project at work, etc.
Oh, and yes, I have gotten in the ~10.5 range on my scale. But those were on mornings where the results were questionable because of the previous nights activities. Normal readings I have gotten down into the 11’s.
One way to do this is to play with the settings until you get something closer to reality. For example, I’m 39 years old, but I have the scale set at 30. And, even though I’m fairly active (I lift hard, of course), I have it set at activity level “1”. These give me lower readings.
It still reads higher than my Fat Tracker II digital caliper, but at least it’s a lot closer.