How do weight scales with body fat percentage calculation work?
Hello, I am in a competetion where the total of weight percentage loss and fat percentage loss determines the winner. Besides diet and exercise, is there anything specific I can do on the final days of the competetion to squeeze out an extra 0.5% in body fat percentage by tricking the scale? For example, if I drink a gallon of water before the weigh-in that will add pounds but could it decrease body fat percentage? The scale for body fat % is measured in increments by 0.5%, so just a slight variation can cause it to go from 10.0 to 9.5% for example. That small of a difference can be huge on the final tally.
Public Comments
- Most of the body fat scales I've seen use electrical impedance to measure body content. I don't know how to fool the scale, but the water theory sounds like it could work. Only thing is that if you push it too much, you risk water toxicity.
- I do know that for those type of scales to measure accurately, you have to be fully hydrated. They measure based on the assumption that your body is 70% water so if it isn't then your results can be skewed. Unfortunately, I don't know if over-hydration will cause it to go down or not.
