Anyone use bodyfat scales?

Mine have gone very weird, or at least I hope they have.

Since I began training they have charted a steady course from 20% down to 16% with reasonable consistency.

In the last couple months however they have not budged, leading me to think that I am no longer losing fat.

Anyway the last two weeks my bodfat is going up!

According to my scales this morning I am now 18% fat :-\

My bodyweight has remained the same, I am exercising almost daily and eating healthily. I always take my readings on a Monday morning first thing when I wake up for consistency.

I don't believe for a second my bodyfat has increased in the laat two weeks whilst my weight hasn't.

I'm also visably in better shape than I have been for a long time, smaller waist, more muscles (well I mean I can now see something move when I flex my biceps or tense my pecs),

So I'm calling bullshit on the scales, I think their reading is wrong. But how do I now know what my real bodyfat is?

You can't really get an accurate reading from those, you need to get into one of those dunk tanks.

Ultimately though, it's just a number and not a good metric to use. Go for how you feel. You know your diet and exercise regimen why do you need a number to go along with it?

Yeah I guessed the number itself was never accurate, I just figured the changes recorded were. I didnt care if my initial say 20.5% reading was exactly right as long as the changes were plotted consistenly.

Now I don't think they are as there is no way my body composition has changed so drastically that the percentage of bodyfat has gone up to 18% in two weeks.

I think I shall try changing the batteries tonight and if that doesn't fix it I will just stop weighing myself.

Waste of time imo.

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Originally Posted by Bilbo

Yeah I guessed the number itself was never accurate, I just figured the changes recorded were. I didnt care if my initial say 20.5% reading was exactly right as long as the changes were plotted consistenly.

Now I don't think they are as there is no way my body composition has changed so drastically that the percentage of bodyfat has gone up to 18% in two weeks.

I think I shall try changing the batteries tonight and if that doesn't fix it I will just stop weighing myself.

Waste of time imo.

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It is a waste of time honestly. What you are doing is good work, doing all the right things with steady exercise and diet, you are getting good results that you notice. The only thing wrong in this equation is a piece of faulty electronics, ditch it.....problem solved.

supermodels would be my guess

bodyfat scales are generally shit.

They are inaccurate, the one I got says mine was about 10, at work when we were examined it was 15.

The ones that I use cost between £900-£1200 and even they can be off by up to 3%

Thats even assuming that you recreate identical conditions when doing the test as everything from room, your clothes, how active your metabolism is, stomach content and hydration etc will affect the impedance of the current the machine sends.

I've had readings of 3% which I know is BS... More like 7-8

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AdamGB

The ones that I use cost between £900-£1200 and even they can be off by up to 3%

Thats even assuming that you recreate identical conditions when doing the test as everything from room, your clothes, how active your metabolism is, stomach content and hydration etc will affect the impedance of the current the machine sends.

I've had readings of 3% which I know is BS... More like 7-8

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So they are a waste of time pretty much?

Is there a cheap way to get an official assessment? I guess it doesn't really matter anyway, the mirror is the best test.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bilbo

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AdamGB

The ones that I use cost between £900-£1200 and even they can be off by up to 3%

Thats even assuming that you recreate identical conditions when doing the test as everything from room, your clothes, how active your metabolism is, stomach content and hydration etc will affect the impedance of the current the machine sends.

I've had readings of 3% which I know is BS... More like 7-8

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So they are a waste of time pretty much?

Is there a cheap way to get an official assessment? I guess it doesn't really matter anyway, the mirror is the best test.

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Mate you're becoming obsessed. You weigh as much as a 10 year old girl, let it go ;D

haha fair play. ;D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AdamGB

The ones that I use cost between £900-£1200 and even they can be off by up to 3%

Thats even assuming that you recreate identical conditions when doing the test as everything from room, your clothes, how active your metabolism is, stomach content and hydration etc will affect the impedance of the current the machine sends.

I've had readings of 3% which I know is BS... More like 7-8

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You are a fit lad.

Any one care for a triple layer chocolate fudge cake with sprinkles on top? ;D

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Originally Posted by Ghost

Any one care for a triple layer chocolate fudge cake with sprinkles on top? ;D

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Ive just done a 4 mile walk home, in the middle of that I had an hours tennis coaching.

Im now undoing all that and more no doubt with a kebab ;D

Damn its good

I always thought abs were a good way to tell your bodyfat, unless im completely wrong. If you can see top row of your abs your about 12 percent bodyfat, if you have a complete sixpack your just below 10 percent bodyfat.