Body Fat Scales/Accuracy ?

[reivog]

Hello Gang

Does anyone know how acurate these Body Fat Scales are.

The kind that give you your weight and also calculate your BF% by sending a small shock through your system.

The set i have is "Tanita Body Fat Monitor/Scale. "

The reason i ask is this.

Thursday - 177lb - 14%
Friday - 179lb - 13%
Sat - 180lb - 15%
Sun - 182lb - 15%
Mon - 180lb - 17% !!!!
Today - 182 - 17% !!!!

Now i am running D-Bol/Sust so the weight increase is expected...But the BF%! There is no way i could have put on as much as 4% in this short space of time. I am eating relativly clean (as clean as can be expected well on juice) and working out well.

Also the other puzzeling thing is that since thursday i am looking more ripped as it is. Abs are starting to really show up well. and chest/arms are looking good. Also feeling my stomach, i can feel there is less fat/more water there.

Could it be the Water ret that is effecting the outcome of these scales?

Thanks in advance

Paul

 

[freakazoid]

they are of no use to bodybuilders,they are inaccurate because of the water you will retain while on a cycle.

 

[reivog]

Phew!

Thank God you said that mate

You would not belive how far my heart dropped when i looked at it and it said i was up to 17%

It was not a nice feeling!

Thanks

 

[rj420]

yep

they are way off because they use standard averages by taking your height, weight, and then a basic measurement with electrical system. It said that I was 25% bf, when I was actually around 14-15%

 

[Baby Gorilla]

They don't work....

The error factor on them is better than calipers (or sometimes as good), but they don't work on bodybuilders. They are designed for average people with some compensation for those more athletic than others. That's why I never bought one.

Serious athelets confuse the little microchip.

 

[reivog]

Reply

Thanks for the info mate

Got a good reply for this over at MuscleTalk too.

Here is the link if you wish to see what they said

http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22557

Im thinking about writing them all a letter and including the statements that have been given..

Although i doubt i can include the steriod referances!

Cheers

 

[Dr.M]

They are not considered that accurate, for some people though they are somewhat accurate - in general nothing beats the old fashioned calipers.

 

[MrQuestion]

Inaccurate.

Unless you are really anal about measuring your bodyfat at the same time of day, same level of hydration, glycogen levels, food in stomach, etc.....then you 'might' get a bit of accuracy. But even then, it will spit out numbers not correlated to your actual bodyfat percentage. At one time I used to think it was a great way to track bodyfat loss regardless of what the numbers stated, but even that won't work. Possibly if you are anal with testing? Perhaps.

Get some Slimguide's and measure your ab fat and anywhere else that you might hold some fat and is easy to reach. Like chest measurement and ab measurement. It's what I usually use and am using to track bodyfat loss now that Im testing Par's test product (for stubborn fat)

 

[getgo]

I use a hand-held model by Sharp. I always measure my bf at the same time every day ie. first thing in the morning. I think this time is the best as variables such as food intake, water consumption etc do not affect the readings.

There still are small variations ~ 1- 1.5% points but if you use it regularly, it gives a pretty accurate picture of the trend of your bf changes. Frankly, I couldn't do without it!