Are the digital BF % scales accurate?

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It's a regular scale too, you stand on it and it supposedly measures your BF also. I don't see how that can be accurate. Anyone use these?

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I have this one. It gets pretty dang good reviews, and I'm really happy with it. Probably as accurate as you are going to get. And the automatic sync with your phone/email is great. The big thing is that the accuracy needs to be in the "trend", not really in the exact number. Body fat measurement techniques fluctuate greatly with water levels, with vary greatly throughout the day. Especially if you are active.

Withings Body - Body Composition Wi-Fi Scale, Black

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01F3LJ2RW?th=1

I don't think it's that accurate, but it is good for measuring your trends. Focus less on the number itself and more on how the number changes every day. If it's going down you are losing fat.

I've been cutting since May 15 when my scale said my BF was 15.7%. This morning it said 14.1%. So in 4 weeks I have lost 1.6% body fat. Using a 7 day rolling average it says I am losing about 0.29% per week in body fat, sounds about right.

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I have a caliper coming. I don't know if it's a 7 site one though, it's just a cheap one I found in amazon.

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The "sites" are just the location you will use the caliper.

Honestly, unless you are trained in measuring with calipers, I don't know how accurate they are. I have never felt the readings have reflected my actual BF%.

EDIT: The readings have shown my BF% much lower than I think they are.

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YouTube on how to use a caliper. It's easy.

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That's the thing, it seems about as easy as you can get. then you pinch your skin 3 times and realize you have too much, have too little, are in a different spot from the last time.

Then on the 7 pt, you need someone else to do the majority of the pinches.

I'm going to give it a shot tonight with a 3 point test.

Tulane is still offering the DEXA scan as part of the Osteoporosis study. They'll even give you a $25 gift card for participating. I did this a year ago.

LINK

Yes the tulane thing is awesome and I did it last year with Bus and a few others from the board.

Also if you live in NOLA or Houston, there is a place called dexafit. You get a membership for something like 60 a year and you get 4 dexa scans for like 75 a pop which is pretty cheap. They have other payment teirs too.

4 dexa scans a year is all you need to get trends.

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DEXA scan as part of the Osteoporosis study

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This seems like an interesting thing to know about yourself, do they give you the results too, or does it just go into the study?

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I don't think it's that accurate, but it is good for measuring your trends. Focus less on the number itself and more on how the number changes every day. If it's going down you are losing fat.

I've been cutting since May 15 when my scale said my BF was 15.7%. This morning it said 14.1%. So in 4 weeks I have lost 1.6% body fat. Using a 7 day rolling average it says I am losing about 0.29% per week in body fat, sounds about right.

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Good advice.

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I have a caliper coming. I don't know if it's a 7 site one though, it's just a cheap one I found in amazon.

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Just google how to use it. It's not rocket science and a lot easier than you think. You can give or take about 2% on your final number. It'll give you an idea of where you're at and you can also keep track of your trends.

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This seems like an interesting thing to know about yourself, do they give you the results too, or does it just go into the study?

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You get a copy of the results. Interesting to know the density. All my numbers looked good. My friend went in for the free body fat score and ended up finding out he had really bad bone density, in the red on the graphs.