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Hey everyone.
I’m a woman who looks lean in person, and has no bulges, love handles, etc. I’ve had my fat tested as a nutrition shop with a scanner, and I’ve come up at 22%. I’m fine with that. I’ve also had it done at the gym on a scale which checks body fat, and wow! It said I was 28.8%. That just doesn’t seem right, given how I look naked.
Anyone have a similar story? Where did you go to get the most accurate reading ?
[QUOTE=GainsForTay;1551752501]Hey everyone.
I’m a woman who looks lean in person, and has no bulges, love handles, etc. I’ve had my fat tested as a butttion shop with a scanner, and I’ve come up at 22%. I’m fine with that. I’ve also had it done at the gym on a scale which checks body fat, and wow! It said I was 28.8%. That just doesn’t seem right, given how I look naked.
Anyone have a similar story? Where did you go to get the most accurate reading ?[/QUOTE]
Any test you can do has a large (usually very large) margin of error.
Knowing your bf% really isn't useful for anything and is a point of interest more than anything, so i wouldn't waste your time on such things.
does it even matter?
If you want less fat eat accordingly, if you want to maintain eat and train accordingly, if you want more muscle eat and train accordingly.
What would it matter if it says 5% or 50%.
[QUOTE=WolfRose7;1551770771]does it even matter?
If you want less fat eat accordingly, if you want to maintain eat and train accordingly, if you want more muscle eat and train accordingly.
What would it matter if it says 5% or 50%.[/QUOTE]
I need to live by this. I get so caught up in the numbers that are basically useless. I'll go from feeling confident thinking I'm making great progress happy with how I look, step on a scale and suddenly all is lost!
It's one thing to have the knowledge that the numbers don't matter it's how you look and feel that matters but another to actually be able to think that way. It's a strange thing.
[QUOTE=gcarey3678;1551773421]I need to live by this. I get so caught up in the numbers that are basically useless. I'll go from feeling confident thinking I'm making great progress happy with how I look, step on a scale and suddenly all is lost!
It's one thing to have the knowledge that the numbers don't matter it's how you look and feel that matters but another to actually be able to think that way. It's a strange thing.[/QUOTE]
IMO a healthy medium is the best approach. Aka:
Use numbers and measurements as a tool for eliciting results. And by that, i just mean scale weight and calories. (And gym logs). EG: Average scale weight gone up 4lbs in the last 2 weeks? Too many calories being consumed, make adjustment. Bench press been stalled for a month? Make adjustment.
Taking weigh ins in isolation is utterly daft. BF% is also so hard to accurately nail down that its all but meaningless, other than obvious stuff like: Rolls of fat? Stop bulking. Visible abs/no energy/eating 1100 calories a day? Stop cutting.
[QUOTE=GainsForTay;1551752501]Hey everyone.
I’m a woman who looks lean in person, and has no bulges, love handles, etc. I’ve had my fat tested as a nutrition shop with a scanner, and I’ve come up at 22%. I’m fine with that. I’ve also had it done at the gym on a scale which checks body fat, and wow! It said I was 28.8%. That just doesn’t seem right, given how I look naked.
Anyone have a similar story? Where did you go to get the most accurate reading ?[/QUOTE]
The scales and hand held body composition technology can vary a lot based off hydration levels. The way the scales work is it sends an electrode through the body and measures the speed at which it can come back. The electrodes move quicker through water and muscle because water is a conductor of electricity and muscle is made of a lot of water. So if you came in dehydrated, the machine may have over estimated your body fat percentage. A more accurate cheap way to test is skin folds (providing the individual administering the test is well practiced at the skill). You can get into things such as hydrostatic weighing, but it becomes expensive to get those tests done. Body fat percentage is near impossible to come up with an exact accurate number unless done in a cadaver lab (which is not possible while you are living). As an exercise science student I was lucky enough to get mine tested for free in my classes, but our school offered tests to the public for about $80.00. You can look up places that test skin fold or possibly find a personal trainer who could do that test on you for a minimal price.
In all my years I've never bothered with body fat testing. The mirror and progress pics tell me everything I need to know.
Numbers don't mean anything, especially since NONE of them are dead accurate.
Start with the first part and go through all of them
[url]https://weightology.net/the-pitfalls-of-body-fat-measurement-part-1/[/url]