Do you think this Bod Pod testing is accurate?

I posted this in the woman's forum with out any response so I thought that I would ask here.

I went yesterday to have my body fat tested using bod pod. There is a place close to our house and it was inexpensive($75 dollars for 2 sessions) and I just have not been able to get the scale to move, so I wanted to know how lean I really was. My thinking being, maybe I am really not going to drop anymore weight b/c it would be muscle.

Well, I was fully prepared for results any where from 25-20% Body Fat. I was totally shocked when the results came out at 10.6% I watched them calabrate the machine prior to the testing and they actually inputed my info twice running 2 seperate "testing sessions" b/c the opperator didn't think it sounded right. EVERYTHING I have read makes me think "no way this is correct" Woman at their leanest are somewhere around 15% bf

What are your thoughts???

Do I call them and ask about the accuracy of the machine??? (in general the machine is +/- 2%)
Ask them to test me again??
Don't worry about it and chalk it up to "just a number"?

Or it could just be you are actually in the very low teens BF and have a (please take this the right way) distorted view of yourself.....just sayin'

In either case, given that the scale is not budging that should be a hint right there, and perhaps its time to *hint* step away from the scale *hint* and just be awesome????

Well..........I'd say it might be pretty darn close.

Comparing your ave shot to your pics from last november it looks like you stripped some more fat since then and back then in the front shots your abs are fairly visible though not strikingly defined even when relaxed. For me that would put you at a guess somewhere around 15% back then. For you to ring in at 10 +- 2% now doesn't seem that far off at all.

All I can say is that I'm incredibly jealous . . . I went in for a BodPod test a few months ago pretty confident that I was around 17%. I came out at 24%! :mad: :D

You look like you are pretty low bf% . . . and the BodPod is supposed to be pretty accurate. So I would tend to think it's correct. You look great!

All indications from my own experience are that they are one of the more accurate devices. Congrats, because even if it is a little off, there is no doubt you're in a small and accomplished class of women.

I've been in the BodPod three times now. The first time I was 14.5% body fat and I was happy with that. It seemed about right. The second time was 10 weeks later. I had lost seven pounds of body weight and the BodPod came out at 8.0% body fat with a lean body mass increase of seven pounds!!! Even the tester knew that result was way out of wack. Later that day they put me in a different machine (they determined the other machine was giving everyone bad results and needed to go back to the factory for calibration) and I came out at 13.9% body fat. That seemed more in line.

What I've learned is that the BodPod makes a lot of assumptions to come up with your body fat percentage. The biggest variable is lung capacity. Without a long calibration process, they can only estimate lung capacity. To use a BodPod, they have to enter your sex, age, and even race.... which means they make a lot of guesstimates to come up with your body fat.

Because it makes all of these estimations, the BodPod has proven not to be very accurate for people outside of the normal range. Low body fat people will come out even lower than they are.... The BodPod wouldn't register a reading on my ultra lean friend. They tried 3 times but the BodPod wouldn't come up with a reading. Sounds to me that you are much leaner than the average woman and the BodPod is coming up with a result that may be a little optimistic.

In the end, the BodPod is just another tool of questionable reliability and usefulness. I guess it is useful as an eye opener to people that have fooled themselves into thinking they are low body fat.. You know the ones..... the "Look at me, I'm 225 pounds and 10% body fat." guys. While in reality they are about 20%. I love to see the look of disbelief when they get out of the BodPod....

The mirror never lies and it is FREE.

BTW MrsKlayfish, you're looking mighty fine! Don't care what the BodPod is saying your body fat percentage is.

I've had mine done twice; 14.2 first time, 12.6 more recently. Looking at your pics you're more muscular than I am and a bit leaner.
I think it's either right or very close.
I can't believe you were thinking 20%...
Do you have a mirror in your house???? You look amazing, great definition.

Just take mm readings at your trouble spots. Pick a "pinch" reading that you want and go with that. I like having about "7mm" all over. It is easy to be tricked into believing you are leaner if you don't hold fat in the typical spots anymore.


There is no account for fat around organs either.

Ya, I use the bodpod every three months. Those are the most accurate. They take more than one reading, and even three or more if your results are bouncing around to find your median read. I can see an outline of your abs in your pics from last year. That will not happen over 15% bf, so assuming you have been trying to loose fat, then the reading is likely dead on! Congrats, and I would love to see some new pictures posted. I bet that six pack is really starting to show.

If u r still having periods then the numbers might be off. I experienced amenorrhea at about 15 percent bf (via dunk tank).

[QUOTE=MrsKlayfish;509166263] I was totally shocked when the results came out at 10.6% [/QUOTE]
Looking at your avi, that reading might not be too far off. Regardless of what the 'number' might be, [i]you are [b]really[/b] lean.[/i] Good work!

[QUOTE]
Don't worry about it and chalk it up to "just a number"?[/QUOTE]
That's entirely your choice.

[QUOTE=BuckSpin;509173873]Or it could just be you are actually in the very low teens BF and have a (please take this the right way) distorted view of yourself.....just sayin'

In either case, given that the scale is not budging that should be a hint right there, and perhaps its time to *hint* step away from the scale *hint* and just be awesome????[/QUOTE]

Todd, I know you hit it right on the head. As a former 235lb 19 year old, that body image still sticks with me. I totally want to be the petite fit woman, while my body type is totally stocky solid mass - I see the same body type in my kids. I just didn't think / imagine I was that lean - I still have tons of "extra skin" from my former unfit self.

[QUOTE=ejthomp;509200363]What I've learned is that the BodPod makes a lot of assumptions to come up with your body fat percentage. The biggest variable is lung capacity. Without a long calibration process, they can only estimate lung capacity. To use a BodPod, they have to enter your sex, age, and even race.... which means they make a lot of guesstimates to come up with your body fat. [/QUOTE]

This is so true^^^^

[QUOTE=ejthomp;509200363]Because it makes all of these estimations, the BodPod has proven not to be very accurate for people outside of the normal range. Low body fat people will come out even lower than they are.... The BodPod wouldn't register a reading on my ultra lean friend. They tried 3 times but the BodPod wouldn't come up with a reading. Sounds to me that you are much leaner than the average woman and the BodPod is coming up with a result that may be a little optimistic.[/QUOTE]

That's interesting, I will keep it in mind. They did use both scales - the general population and the "lean scale" to compare.

[QUOTE=dungeonmistress;509412043]If u r still having periods then the numbers might be off. I experienced amenorrhea at about 15 percent bf (via dunk tank).[/QUOTE]

Yeah, that was my first thought also; although I just read in a post from Kimm4 that she has never had issues with her cycle, even at ther leanest ~ 6% BF. Just like everything else, it varies :(

[QUOTE=ironwill2008;509422253]Looking at your avi, that reading might not be too far off. Regardless of what the 'number' might be, [i]you are [b]really[/b] lean.[/i] Good work![/QUOTE]

^^^ Thanks for the praise!

My %BF is probably around 25% (being optimistic here), yours is not. I'd take the pod's number and be happy.