Short of submerging oneself in water, that is.
I’ve googled a bit and it seems like there are arguments to be made both for calipers and for the electronic handheld sensors that run a current through your body and estimate the fat based on, I believe, how quickly the current travels from one electrode to another through your body. Does anyone know of any evidence or studies which give strong arguments for one of these methods being more accurate than the other? I assume that the calipers are more susceptible to human measurement error, and that the error in the electronic sensors tends to come from instrumental error. That being said, for the average person, which method is more accurate? Thanks!
I have a scale that measures body fat, but I think it is about worthless. It’s reading varies wildly depending on my hydration level. I mention it inthisthread. Others had similar experiences.
Maybe other versions or brands work better.
I participated in a study at the U of Chicago with fat analysis and they would use the method of putting you in a tank of water (you know the real way :))
Anyway I found the calipers or the eletronic things didn’t even COME CLOSE to being accurate.
But here is one thing that the study showed is that the inaccurate result was roughly consistant with the gains or loses.
For instance, let’s say I got measured with the tank and had 15% bodyfat and the electronic machine said I had 9%. If I gained weight and the tank method showed 21% bodyfat, the electronic machine would now register 15%.
So even though the initial result was wrong the losses or gains would be close to the real thing. So this means they can prove useful in measuring your progress but not the correct initial value.
A good way to see is look at your body. Love handles start to form at 11% bodyfat. If you have any love handles, it’s most likely at least 11%, as a rough guide