# calipers - self bodyfat testing?



## nikegurl (May 6, 2002)

anyone use calipers on themselves?

i know the result won't be all that accurate but is it a worthwhile tool?  my tanita scale is pointless.  i'll vary by 3-4% points in just minutes. 

i want to be able to monitor and not sure if the mirror is enough.  maybe it is.

my gym has one guy who does it and he knows nothing.  he thinks he knows everything which makes it that much worse.  i cringe when i hear the things he tells people.  he looks good but has no knowledge at all.  sometimes i think i should get him to do my bf anyway.  but i really don't want to hear his mouth while he does it...seriously he's terrible.  totally conceited and ignorant.

any point in getting affordable calipers to use myself?  maybe just tape measure for my waist and watching the mirror is enough.  i just want to be sure as i continue with my diet that it's working and be able to monitor changes.


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## cornfed (May 6, 2002)

just watch, NG.  Or find someone who is consistent w/ their measurements.  Consistency's (Precision) good for monitoring progress, whether accurate or not.  Just don't get those Accu-measure calipers.  Pure crap.  Always show lower than reality by 4-8%, in my experience.  If you have a large University nearby, one w/ a sports program, they can usually do submersion tests, which are dang accurate.  B4/after pics are gr8 for monitoring if all else fails.


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## ponyboy (May 6, 2002)

Agreed...I have done caliper testing before but I always make sure to tell the people involved that the actual percentage it gives them won't be overly accurate.  I focus on using it as a measuring tool so that they are reducing the actual amount of mm that are measured.  Kind of like reducing inches.  

It drives me nuts when people do that kind of thing and tell people that it is accurate.  Most people don't even know the proper sites for all of the different types of tests, etc.  If you're going to do it on yourself just make sure you look up the proper site locations.  Use it as a measurement and then strive to improve for next time!


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## Arnold (May 6, 2002)

this article may be of help


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## julinia (May 6, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by nikegurl *_
> 
> my gym has one guy who does it and he knows nothing.  he thinks he knows everything which makes it that much worse.  i cringe when i hear the things he tells people.  he looks good but has no knowledge at all.  sometimes i think i should get him to do my bf anyway.  but i really don't want to hear his mouth while he does it...seriously he's terrible.  totally conceited and ignorant.



Must be universal because there is one of those at my gym who always tries to get me to be his client  but I can tell just by listening to him that he makes his money off of his look more than his knowledge. What is it with some people? Just because they are employees of the gym doesn't mean they know it all...part of the reason I like this board so many people with good, practical advice.


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## cornfed (May 6, 2002)

LOL, for the longest time 1 trainer had me convinced that I was 9.43% BF!   I was like 14%


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## Lightman009 (May 6, 2002)

Hydrostatic weighing is the only way to go.


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## Josh (May 6, 2002)

I use my own caliper to measure my own bodyfat.  Its accuracy as a method aside, I am always in doubt whether I am really pinching my skinfold correctly.  When I first got that caliper, I was told that pinching out the skinfold should be easy and automatic, because the skin and the underlying fat will be easily separated out from the muscle underneath.  But after using this tool for a while, somehow I feel it is not that simple, that I seem to have pinch out more than just the skin and the underlying layer of fat.  For one thing, I am only 151 lbs and height about 170 cm, but my fat level (according to my self measurements) is 23-27+%, which seems to be too high for a thin person like me.  Another thing, when I pinch out some areas (for instance, stomach, tricep) I feel like pinching more than just skin + fat, but then when I try to pinch less than that I seem not able to separate anything.

Can anyone suggest how to more correctly pinch out the skin for measurement with skinfold and caliper method?  -- Josh


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## Tank316 (May 7, 2002)

mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the leanest of them all.get my drift.calipers give you somewhat of an idea where your bodyfat is at, but its not accurate, its better to have someone do the test rather then yourself. and yes, hydrostsatic is the best, but try to find a place that does it ,maybe a college or university might do it, possibly hospitals.


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## w8lifter (May 7, 2002)

While I agree w/ everyone else...use the skinfolds as a measure of progress instead of focusing on the actual % bodyfat, and I don't see how anyone can take their own readings properly...here is a useful site for info on skinfold testing that Dr. Pain gave me.


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## lina (May 7, 2002)

I agree, the mirror is best.  If you're happy the way you look than that's enuf but if you are on a special program and you want to know if it's working (i.e. loosing too much muscle, not enuf fat, etc.) then you'll have to find a way to track your progress yourself.  Unless you are the dean of an University close by and can dunk yourself on a whims notice, you need to find a way to track.

I track both by tape measure and calipers.  Calipers I usually take 3 measurements and average them out.  I then plug into the online site and usually both ways come up with same measurements.  But the key is once you've started using one method, keep the same one during your program so that at least you can track *the change* in bodyfat.  You're actual bf% is not so critical because no matter what method or online site you use, you'll get different results.  What matters is that you can consistently track the relative change (we hope decrease in bf% ofcourse) over time.

This is the site I use:http://www.linear-software.com/online.html


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## Arnold (May 7, 2002)

> _*Originally posted by Lightman009 *_
> Hydrostatic weighing is the only way to go.



for a accurate bf% yes, but to just measure progress calipers will work.


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