anyone know a accurate way to measure body fat?
ok i went to 3 different site for calculating bodyfat ok one of the sites said 20% another 50% and a 3rd 11 % does anuyone know a real way to measure body fat
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- Water Displacement Method The most accurate way to measure body fat percentage is with the water displacement method. This is done by completely submerging you in a tank of water and measuring the overall displacement. Because fat is less dense than muscle and bones, it is relatively straight forward to estimate percentage of body fat. However, this is often expensive and time consuming to perform, and cannot be performed in the home. Skin Fold Calipers Skin fold calipers are readily available in the market place and can be used to provide an estimate of body fat percentage. This method is often used when you visit a fitness center, but can be easily used at home. You use the calipers to measure a pinch of the skin at particular areas around the body. This provides us with an estimate of the thickness of subcutaneous (below the skin) fat. These measures are then placed in a formula to derive the percentage of body fat. You will get some variation in the results depending on who is administering the test. However, if the same person takes the measure in the same way each time, then your results should be directionally relevant. Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, or BIA The next method is by using Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, or BIA. BIA is used by some fitness centers, but less accurate (but directionally relevant) methods are available on many home scales at an affordable price. Generally speaking, in the home method, a person stands with bare feet on two conductors located on the top of the scale. A small electrical charge is sent through the body. Since the amount of electrical resistance is different between fat, muscle and bone, the amount of resistance between the two conductors provides an estimate of body fat percentage. Formulas Finally, there are several formulaic methods that are readily available. The United States Naval method is perhaps the most accurate and is directionally correct. This method has a slight variation for men and women, and takes into account neck girth, height and weight for both men and women. The formula for women also includeds hip circumference.
- Well first off.. the actual percentage doesn't matter so long as you use the same method to measure it each time. Secondly, I've used this site.... http://www.linear-software.com/online.html The difficulty is consistent measuring with either calipers or tape. More recently I purchased a set of scales that estimate body fat by sending a mild electric pulse through your body... it may not be completely accurate but it is at least a consistent measure.
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