body fat test

I'm so excited...I have just found out I can get access to my University gym for £13 a month!! So I've splash out (well, for the price of a normal gym membership that is), biten the bullet and booked to undergo the works:

body fat analysis

fitness assessment

and then set up a 1-2-1 fitness plan! 

Has anyone had the body fat test done?

Were the results shocking? Or presently surprising? 

I guess some of it is good science, but I can see myself, I hold fat on my tum, upper thighs and upper arms. That's not hard.

But I will be interested to hear my body fat %. 

I have no idea what it might be.

I'm also looking forward to seeing what the trainer can suggest to mix up my dull running routine as well : )

Yeah I did bf% thing. Pretty much what I expected. The devices that you hold in your hand or step on can be off by as much as 5-10%, really depends on your hydration and whatenot. There is also this bodypod thing, that is a bit more involved but it's within 2%. That being said I got pretty much the same number doing it both ways.

UD

I've had my body fat tested both with calipers and the machine you hold out in front of you. They differed by about 3%, with calipers coming out at the lower number. I was highly surprised at both since I thought I would have more fat than it said although I don't think either are my exact number. But it gives a good general ballpark range. Like umney said, the machines can differ quite a bit.

Karenl81 - did you use the results to give you something to aim for?  Or was it more a pleasant confirmation?

After feeling decidedly fat and frumpy on the treadmill next to a 6ft very slim blonde girl, I'm hoping the results spurr me on even more! he he

turner ~ Not really. I honestly was expecting the numbers to be a lot higher than they were so I was pleasantly surprised. I am more spurred on to lose a little by knowing that I could have a flatter belly by losing 5lbs and also next time I am weighed by my trainer, it will be a number I can be proud of, rather than him saying "Wow you really don't look like you weigh THAT much!" LOL (yeah that did happen, my main reason to lose a few pounds).

Know too that the slim blonde girl next to you may not be that healthy anyhow. I tend to check out the gorgeous girls at my gym as well and wish I could have their bodies but since I live in Los Angeles, more often than not that girl is starving herself and working out 24/7 and that is definitely not my goal! I just try to focus on that but push myself a little more because of body envy.

Good luck!

I own a scale that measures body fat.  It has two small metal strips that you put each foot on and it measures it electronically.  I also have a set of skin fold calipers to confirm my body fat numbers with the scale.  With a good set of batteries, my scale will vary about 1%.  I have been very pleased with it.

I track my weight and fitness progress four ways.  One is the scale.  If used by itself, it is one of the worst ways to judge progress in my opinion.  Secondly is a tape measure, third is measuring body fat and fourth is mirror mirror on the wall.  If you have a good resistance training exercise program (lifting weights, gymnastics, calisthenics, etc) then measuring your body fat percentage is paramount to your mental health.  The reason I say it that way is you will drive yourself nuts if you work out, put on muscle weight and not even shed so much as one pound!  Sure your clothes fit fantastic, people say you look great but you think you are a looser because your scale says you didn't do anything!

My goal is to get down to 170 pounds (77.3kg), that is where my BMI will be under 25.  I track my body fat closely now because I do not want it going under 10% because I will then start cutting into the fat that stores vitamins and the fat my body uses for hormone production.  If I don't see 170 because my body fat is too low I won't be disappointed.

I started with a BF% of over 30, now it is down to 22%.  I have lost 45 pounds (20kg).  When the scale says that I haven't lost any weight but my body fat percentage is lower, or the tape measure says that I have put on inches in the right spot and taken off inches around my gut, that motivates me to keep going no matter what the scale says!

First off - I believe the answer to the question is really that per cent body fat is a very important health factor.  Your BF% or %BF should be in a fairly narrow range -- roughly 10% to 20%.  Getting below about 7% is dangerous but most people don't have to worry about that because it generally takes a lot of sacrifice to get there.  Once you get above 20% to 25% (roughly speaking) you start increasing your risk of bad things like heart attack and stroke.  So %BF is an important number but a difficult one to get a hold of. 

All methods of getting the number are estimates.  The most accurate method is dunking -- water displacement, which is expensive.  The next most accurate is the skin fold but there is an art to doing it right.  Electrical resistance can be accurate but there are a number of assumptions that go into producing a result.  For one thing, commercially available scales use formulas that are highly dependent on age.  I can get whatever %BF I want from my scale merely by adjusting my age.  There are some scales which have the option of using a fitness level to adjust the calculated result.  But a) you have to guess at your fitness level and b) if you are using %BF as an indicatior of your fitness level then you shouldn't be using fitness level as input to the calculation.

A lot of people, medical professionals included, have to body mass index (BMI) as an alternative to %BF because BMI can be easily and reliably calculated.  However, BMI has no direct correlation to your health unless your body happens to fit the model used to derive the BMI formula.  Many of us don't fit that shoe.  For me BMI is meaningless.  On the other hand, I can use a %BF formula derived for U.S. military simply by adding hip, waist and neck measurements to height and weight.  Based on detailed study that formula produces results that are within 3% of the actual %BF (based on immersion ??).  But again there is a certain amount of art to getting the correct hip, waist and neck measurements.

I would go with the measurements at the gym, which will probably be done with calipers by someone with at least a modicum of training.  Then I would get a scale with a %BF readout to monitor for changes.  But I would definitely use %BF as an indicator of healthy weight.  When your %BF is in a healthy range, your weight will be in a healthy range.

Original Post by jc343:

First off - I believe the answer to the question is really that per cent body fat is a very important health factor.  Your BF% or %BF should be in a fairly narrow range -- roughly 10% to 20%.  Getting below about 7% is dangerous but most people don't have to worry about that because it generally takes a lot of sacrifice to get there.  Once you get above 20% to 25% (roughly speaking) you start increasing your risk of bad things like heart attack and stroke.  So %BF is an important number but a difficult one to get a hold of. 

All methods of getting the number are estimates.  The most accurate method is dunking -- water displacement, which is expensive.  The next most accurate is the skin fold but there is an art to doing it right.  Electrical resistance can be accurate but there are a number of assumptions that go into producing a result.  For one thing, commercially available scales use formulas that are highly dependent on age.  I can get whatever %BF I want from my scale merely by adjusting my age.  There are some scales which have the option of using a fitness level to adjust the calculated result.  But a) you have to guess at your fitness level and b) if you are using %BF as an indicatior of your fitness level then you shouldn't be using fitness level as input to the calculation.

A lot of people, medical professionals included, have to body mass index (BMI) as an alternative to %BF because BMI can be easily and reliably calculated.  However, BMI has no direct correlation to your health unless your body happens to fit the model used to derive the BMI formula.  Many of us don't fit that shoe.  For me BMI is meaningless.  On the other hand, I can use a %BF formula derived for U.S. military simply by adding hip, waist and neck measurements to height and weight.  Based on detailed study that formula produces results that are within 3% of the actual %BF (based on immersion ??).  But again there is a certain amount of art to getting the correct hip, waist and neck measurements.

I would go with the measurements at the gym, which will probably be done with calipers by someone with at least a modicum of training.  Then I would get a scale with a %BF readout to monitor for changes.  But I would definitely use %BF as an indicator of healthy weight.  When your %BF is in a healthy range, your weight will be in a healthy range.

Wait, what? For a female, her body fat should NOT be anywhere near 10 percent. 10-12 percent for women is essential fat, meaning if they have any less their health would be seriously compromised.  16 to 20 is athlete range, and 20 to 25 percent is perfectly normal and healthy! It is definitely NOT going to cause a heart attack or stroke.

To the OP - my gym does body fat tests also, but I have never had one. My husband did though, and it was lower than what he expected. There is a margin of error even with a professional using calipers, but generally it's pretty accurate. It might be helpful to go back periodically and have it retested (by the same person). That way you can know how much progress you're making!