Want to know how to measure body fat? A scale is not enough! Measuring body fat is one way that I use to measure progress. I lost over 35 lbs of fat over a 6 month period and some times, the scale stayed the same from week to week. However, I didn’t get discouraged because I was measuring body fat ! Using a fat caliper, and an online calculator, you can calculate body fat.
You may be losing fat and gaining muscle but the scale will show you the same weight!! Knowing your bodyfat gives you a more accurate picture of your fitness level. Using this caliper, you can check your own fat at home! It’s not only cheap, it’s very accurate! Sure, it takes a little while to learn how to use a bodyfat caliper but if you use it consistently (for me, once a week), you’ll learn to be consistent.
Now are you wondering if a body fat scale is an better replacement? I have one and have used it for over 18 months, every week, comparing it to what the body fat caliper was showing me. I can tell you that the body fat scales that use electrical impedance to calculate body fat fluctuate A LOT. They are very susceptible to room temperature, body temperature, whether you exercised recently or ate recently. It would fluctuate up and down several percentage points in a 24 hour period. I’ve found that measuring body fat with a caliper to be much more reliable and consistent.
We recorded a video showing step-by-step how to measure body fat.
This is important for tracking your results with P90X, Insanity, TurboFire, Power 90, etc! Preserve the muscle, lose the fat!
This is the fat caliper I use and seen in the video:
As a bonus, it also includes a measuring tape so you can track the progress in “inches” as your body changes. Know how big your arms, chest, waist, thighs, hips, calves and neck are!
AccuMeasure MyoTape MT05 and AM-3000 Fitness 3000 Personal Body Fat Tester Kit
Price: $9.65
(184 customer reviews)
6 used & new available from $9.10
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have you ever used the jackson/polluck 3 site method, and how do you feel about its accuracy? also how tall are you just for a comparison.
Matt – it’s funny you mention that because we just used that method yesterday when doing Kate’s. As you may know, the 3 site method doesn’t use the abdominal area. The problem is, most people carry the most fat in that spot so keeping it out may not give the most accurate reading. However, in Kate’s case, she has a lot of stretch marks there so it’s hard to pinch the “fat”. So we used both methods and our reading came out within 1-2% of each other. Short answer, I think it’s good and definitely usable, but the 4 site method is better.
Oh, I’m 5″10 and by the way, at the time of this video, I was at 9.4% body fat w/ the 4-site method. Now I’m at about 7.5% body fat with the 4-site method. Thanks!
im confused in the 3 site method i use it is chest abdominal and thigh?
For men.. you’re right.. but for women, it’s the supra, thigh and tricep (basically same as the 4 site method, minus the abdominals). I’ve never tried the 3 site method for myself but all of them listed on that page are scientific methods. Next time I measure mine, I’ll try it and let you know how it compares… is there a reason why you’re not doing the 4-site method?
yes i have a very hard time doing the tricep reading
I have a hard time measuring it on David too…it’s definitely NOT where he stores his fat. It’s pretty much all skin.