Gym scale vs home scale.

BMC1979 · 02-05-2008, 09:12 AM

Ok, now I can accept a small difference between these two but the problem is there's a LARGE discrepency between the two. I weighed myself at home before I headed to the gym and it read around 272. I then proceeded to workout and weighed myself afterwards and teh gym scale read 254!! WTF! Now I can understand have a small difference with shedding some water, etc. but it's always like this. I've even weighed myself at home and BEFORE I workout and it's the same thing. I don't get it. For tracking purposes, which one should I take as being correct. The one at home is a normal, home scale with a dial and the gym one is like one you'd see in a doctor's office with the slides up top. Should I just average the two out? Thanks.

vinisterz · 02-05-2008, 09:15 AM

IMO, the gym scale with the slides is more accurate

in10city · 02-05-2008, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m@k@veli

Ok, now I can accept a small difference between these two but the problem is there's a LARGE discrepency between the two. I weighed myself at home before I headed to the gym and it read around 272. I then proceeded to workout and weighed myself afterwards and teh gym scale read 254!! WTF! Now I can understand have a small difference with shedding some water, etc. but it's always like this. I've even weighed myself at home and BEFORE I workout and it's the same thing. I don't get it. For tracking purposes, which one should I take as being correct. The one at home is a normal, home scale with a dial and the gym one is like one you'd see in a doctor's office with the slides up top. Should I just average the two out? Thanks.

Unless you have another digital scale to compare with, there is a good chance that the gym scale is off - since a little bit of friction of corrosion on the balance mechanism can throw the reading WAY off - especially if it's in a damp area.

Even your dial one can be off for the same reason.

BMC1979 · 02-05-2008, 09:35 AM

Well I would think the gym one would be more accurate but who knows. My home one is in my bathroom and admittedly, has had some things dropped on it (my towel bar kept falling off the wall on top of it) so I thought that might have thrown it off. As far as the corrosion thing goes for the gym scale, I never thought about it. It's away from the showers but I guess if you think of how many people probably use it in a week it'd eventually become unreliable. The sticker on it says it was last calibrated in September and the next one is supposed to be this March.

My wife and I were thinking of buying a new digital scale. Maybe that's what I'll do and just use that.

Icedtea · 02-05-2008, 09:57 AM

why not just set a couple plates on the gym scale and see what it spits out?

shadout00 · 02-05-2008, 10:10 AM

The old school gym scales with the sliders have been replaced by many clubs because there is a plate inside that can literally "tip the scale". If the plate is loose and the scale is old there is a good chance that old school scale is f'ed up.

Digitals are being used and are replacing the old ones. I would stick with a digital scale.

bladehines · 02-05-2008, 10:14 AM

i use one scale only.... the gym one. if it's off oh well. i weigh my self the same time every week and i eat roughly the exact same thing every day. so if it says i weigh more or less i know i am gaining or losing.

so far it has yet to say i have lost any... 20 pounds so far gained in 5 1/2 months or so

SYNBAD · 02-05-2008, 10:22 AM

I find the dial scales to start screwing up once you put more than 250 pounds on them. Especially if you have had it for awhile. Buy a digital one and only use it for now on.

For example:
As a wrestling coach we have to weigh in at all meets and we will pre weigh our kids at our gym first and you wouldn't believe the difference between all the different school scales. And those are all suppose to be calibrated and spot on. We actually know the difference between all scales now and know which way we need to have our kids get their weight.

Saturnal · 02-05-2008, 10:25 AM

Don't average the 2, just pick one and track the CHANGE from week to week. The actual number doesn't really matter does it? Whether your 250 or 270...who cares. When you reach your goals, you'll know it by looking at a mirror, not the number on the scale.

PadreC · 02-05-2008, 11:13 AM

Exactly just make sure it keeps moving in the downward direction.

viper711 · 02-05-2008, 11:22 AM

as it's been said, change is a good thing, the precise numbers don't really mean much.

BMC1979 · 02-05-2008, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saturnal

Don't average the 2, just pick one and track the CHANGE from week to week. The actual number doesn't really matter does it? Whether your 250 or 270...who cares. When you reach your goals, you'll know it by looking at a mirror, not the number on the scale.

True enough...still would be nice to know which way I'm leaning though. I don't feel like I'm 270ish (and I've been that and higher) but at the same time I don't know if mid 250's feels right. This is why the scale is a bad thing. For now I'll just pick one and go from there. Thanks for all the input everyone.

PadreC · 02-06-2008, 04:36 AM

go to bed bath and beyond- act like you want to buy a new scale and see how much you weigh.

problem solved

BigBoyAdd · 02-06-2008, 04:48 AM

GYM: 202.8lb
HOME: 198.4lb

Now thats a differance. I have been using the gyms scale as I think there more true, but that said I've just placed a 5KG weight on the scales and it weighed them bang on, hmmmmmm.

Mex2theMax · 02-06-2008, 04:51 PM

happens to me too. the gym scale always gives me lower numbers... so i've convinced myself that it may be wrong

hassaanu · 02-06-2008, 06:43 PM

Like someone suggested, put a 25 or 50 pound plate on it and see what it reads, if its accurate or not.

LiFtHaTiRoN · 02-06-2008, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m@k@veli

Ok, now I can accept a small difference between these two but the problem is there's a LARGE discrepency between the two. I weighed myself at home before I headed to the gym and it read around 272. I then proceeded to workout and weighed myself afterwards and teh gym scale read 254!! WTF! Now I can understand have a small difference with shedding some water, etc. but it's always like this. I've even weighed myself at home and BEFORE I workout and it's the same thing. I don't get it. For tracking purposes, which one should I take as being correct. The one at home is a normal, home scale with a dial and the gym one is like one you'd see in a doctor's office with the slides up top. Should I just average the two out? Thanks.

I know what you are talking about. I weighed my self at the YMCA (I dont go there normally, but I was there lifting with a friend) and the scale said I weighed 155lbs. The scale there also said it had recently been calibrated ( a week ago). I think gyms sometimes put their scales low.

jeepinjoe · 02-06-2008, 07:50 PM

You think they would set them high so people would be more motivated to work harder.

binx_19 · 02-06-2008, 07:53 PM

home 177.4
gym 179-180

pretty close for me, but i would say since i weigh myself with clothes off at home the gym is probably the same as the scale

Illstatemuscle · 02-06-2008, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m@k@veli

Ok, now I can accept a small difference between these two but the problem is there's a LARGE discrepency between the two. I weighed myself at home before I headed to the gym and it read around 272. I then proceeded to workout and weighed myself afterwards and teh gym scale read 254!! WTF! Now I can understand have a small difference with shedding some water, etc. but it's always like this. I've even weighed myself at home and BEFORE I workout and it's the same thing. I don't get it. For tracking purposes, which one should I take as being correct. The one at home is a normal, home scale with a dial and the gym one is like one you'd see in a doctor's office with the slides up top. Should I just average the two out? Thanks.

Put a test weight on both. See which one is right.
I would think more people would have their hands on the gym scale than on your bathroom scale, and some of those people may recalibrate the scale thinkings it's off a little.

Angel-of-iron · 02-06-2008, 11:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Illstatemuscle

Put a test weight on both. See which one is right.
I would think more people would have their hands on the gym scale than on your bathroom scale, and some of those people may recalibrate the scale thinkings it's off a little.

If it's a slider scale at the gym this probably isn't the case, it takes a screwdriver and some patience to perfectly calibrate one of those.

You're paying to go to the gym ask then when they calibrated it last, or borrow a screwdriver, set 50 lbs on there and go for it. The screw is on the upper left

shaft_longwood · 02-07-2008, 01:29 AM

My home scale is lower then the gym one by about 2-3 lbs. Pretty close.

BMC1979 · 02-07-2008, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angel-of-iron

If it's a slider scale at the gym this probably isn't the case, it takes a screwdriver and some patience to perfectly calibrate one of those.

You're paying to go to the gym ask then when they calibrated it last, or borrow a screwdriver, set 50 lbs on there and go for it. The screw is on the upper left

The sticker says it was last calibrated in September and the next one is supposed to be in March. Quite honestly, I'm thinking the one at the gym is off. I'm sure with the amount that it gets used that it wouldn't take much for it to not read right. That and the fact that people never put the sliders back to 0...man I hate that for some reason.

My wife is going to buy a new scale today (the current one has a crack on the face as I've said it's had a towel bar dropped on it a couple times) so I will start going with that. Plus, it'll give me an idea, hopefully, of how out the gym scale is, if at all.

N.W.M. · 02-07-2008, 08:53 AM

Scales at gym's are usually more accurate but I would weigh myself on one rather than switching between both.

Rexy · 02-07-2008, 08:53 AM

I find about a 10lb difference between home scale and gym scale, and the reason I weigh so much more at the gym is because I weigh myself after my workout (After consuming 2.5L of water) if you do the same, then this is why there is a discrepency

phoenixr2 · 02-07-2008, 09:36 AM

as others have said. I just pick one scale and stick with it. (for my goals) as long as its going down, I know I am doing alright

. you could go to your doc and have them weigh you. they usually seem to keep theirs in calibration pretty accurately.

Behemoko · 02-07-2008, 09:39 AM

I weighed myself at another house, and she had just gone to the doctor and said her scale weighed the same as the doctors which made me kinda' happy because on average it weighs me 8 pounds lighter. But, that also pisses me off because I want my scale to be accurate. Mine is the one I use to track my weight over time, so it is what I compare to, but I really do wish it weighed the same as the doctors at least.. (unless mine is right and theirs is wrong of course, lol.)

illpunches · 02-07-2008, 10:12 AM

I dont trust digital scales personally. I'd stick to the one at the gym. I have a digi at the house and it always says I'm 10 pounds lighter on it. My suggestion...test out a 3rd scale...that one should have the result one of the other 2 had and then pick that one as the one you use to see your weight.

My parent's digi has me 10 pounds lighter, but the gym scale and one I bought from walmart have me at the same weight so I picked the one that's more constant.