I noticed that all of the hand held devices penalize you for age. When I enter age “30” for example I get a different reading (far more accurate) than when I enter in age 40.
I know this is an old thread, but I found it when looking for opinions on this scale. I will now return it.
Also, the Omron listed above is on sale for about $20 off the normal price, if anyone’s looking.
My Tanita BC-532 is Utterly Fricking Worthless (UFW) for measuring BF%.
I bought my Tanita in November and have since lost 14 pounds. I have weighed myself each day and chart all the numbers in Excel.
At the start, I weighed 205lbs with 21.4% BF regular mode, 13% athletic mode. Considering I had been working out consistently for two years, had a resting pulse rate @50, and put in over 12 hours a week of athletic activity, the Athletic Mode should have been the correct one. With abundant fat covering what might be abs, there was no way in hell I was 13%, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t 21% either. I wasn’t confident in the BF% numbers, but I was under the assumption that the Tanita would be good for tracking my progress.
Now I weigh 190 and the fat rolls have melted into visible abs. So, what’s my progress been according to Tanita? I’m 19.1% Normal Mode, 10.6% Athletic Mode. FFS! I’ve lost 14 lbs and I’m sure that was almost all fat. My lifts are way up, my diet has been super clean, I have added Deads/Squats in the same period and my core has exploded, so I’m sure that I’ve maintained or added lean mass!!!
NORMAL MODE
205 to 191 lbs, loss of 14 lbs
21.4% to 19.1% BF, loss of 2% BF???
So my UFW Tanita tells me I’ve lost 7.4 lbs fat and 6.6 lbs of lean mass…
ATHLETIC MODE
205 to 191 lbs, loss of 14 lbs
13% to 10.6% BF, loss of 2.4% BF???
So my UFW Tanita tells me I’ve lost 6.4 lbs fat and 7.6 lbs of lean mass…
Either mode, UFW…
Oh BTW, I bought the Accumeasure FatTrack II last month and it’s showing me now at 10-11%. At the end of the day, I don’t care so much what my BF% is. I was just trying to keep motivated and thought it would help me while cutting, instead it only frustrated me. The best test is the mirror.
The Tanita is a piece of shit. It will give you nothing resembling what a professional bodyfat test does. Test it out. Get a professional DEXA scan and jump on the Tanita. It will be markedly different. I promise. I don’t even think it’s a good reference point much less being accurate as it doesn’t take changes in hydration and fluid level into account.