How to Measure Your Body Fat With Callipers

A good old method to measure body fat, not just weight, is a skinfold measurement. You purchase a skinfold caliper (it's usually inexpensive, the link below will lead you to the calliper that costs $39.95) and pinch your skin along with under-skin fat in several (7 to 20) designated areas, then produce a simple calculation as your caliper manual instructs. Why so many pinches? Because one can store his or her fat in quite different places: as you surely noticed, there are people having a tine waistline and broad hips, or that are heavy in the bottom and slim in the shoulders, and so on. By the way, the very fat distribution can tell about this particular person's health risks (you've heard of course of "apples and pears"), but this is
another story.

A healthy male's body should be approximately 12 percent to 18 percent fat.

In females, the number is slightly higher; approximately 14 percent to 20 percent fat.

This is probably the most accurate and affordable way:

FatTrack Computerized Body Fat Calipers

Building muscle is one thing, but building solid, lean, fat free muscle is quite another. You have to train right, you have to eat right, and you have to make sure you are supplementing correctly. But even with all this covered you need an accurate way to measure just how well your program is working. Sure the scale might be going up, but is the majority of weight you are gaining muscle?

Now there is a new state of the art way to monitor your lean mass and body fat levels accurately and conveniently. It's called FatTrack and it's absolutely awesome.

FatTrack is a computerized skinfold caliper that is ultra-accurate down to the millimeter. It uses a patent pending "Floating Code Thickness Measuring System" that detects the smallest change in measurement with unmatched accuracy.

FatTrack stores each measurement in memory and then calculates your body fat percentage instantly and accurately. There is no math to do, FatTrack does it all for you.

FatTrack can store data for up to three people and has an "undo" function so you can take multiple measurements until you get it perfect. FatTrack has a "self-calibration" feature that maintains a lifetime measuring accuracy. It also stores maximum and minimum thickness at each measuring site so you can monitor, with a Statistical Report, exactly what is happening with your body fat levels.

FatTrack comes with complete detailed instructions as well as tips on how make your measurements as accurate as possible. This is a "must-have" tool in your quest for optimum physical condition.

Body Calculators:

References:

1. Generalized equations for predicting body density of men. A.S. Jackson and M.L. Pollock. Br J Nutr, 40(3):497-504, Nov 1978.
2. Measurement of cardiorespiratory fitness and body composition in the clinical setting. M.L. Pollock, D.H. Schmidt, and A.S. Jackson. Compr Ther 6:12-27, 1980.
3. The anthropometric estimation of body density and lean body weight of male athletes. H.L. Forsyth and W.E. Sinning. Med Sci Sports 5(3):174-180, 1973
4. Estimation of body fat in young men. A.W. Sloan. J Appl Physiol, 23(3),:311-315, Sep 1967.
5. Body fat assessed from total body density and its estimation from skinfold thickness: measurements on 481 men and women aged from 16 to 72 years. J.V. Durnin and J. Womersley. Br J Nutr, 32(1):77-97, Jul 1974.

More Information

The information provided on DietandBody.com is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her health professional. This information is solely for informational purposes and does not constitute the practice of medicine. We encourage all visitors to see a licensed physician or nutritionist if they have any concerns regarding health issues related to diet, personal image and any other topics discussed on this site. Neither the owners or employees of DietandBody.com nor the author(s) of site content take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading this site. Always speak with your primary health care provider before engaging in any form of self treatment. Please see our Legal Statement for further information.

More Information

Online Support Groups

SupportGroups.com's goal is to provide support for those who are faced with life's challenges. Click on the following links to get the support you are looking for.

Text DIET to SMS short code 90210 on your mobile phone for Health Tips.

The Service is free, but your standard messaging & data rates apply. Text STOP to 90210 at any time to stop receiving alerts.

User login