Caliper Test Accuracy?

[FrankRizzo]

Whatthegoddamnfuckinshithell??????????

I am a member at 24 hour shitness. I had one of the little natural pussies that work there give me a BF test. I wanted to know where I stand. I can see my top two abs, I have vascularity in my delts, bi's and of course, forearms. I can see striation in my quads and delts as well.

At any rate here was what my BF% was according to his test (Drumroll.........) :

24, yes TEWENTY FOUR fucking percent!!!!!!!!!!!

22 was the benchmark that marked "unhealthy". I am 6-3 and weighed in at 230.

I realize the bastard was trying to sell me his little meal plan, BUT still that test has me all flipped out. What do you guys think?

 

[anthrax]

1] calipers are not always accurate

2]Did she know how to use the calipers ?

 

[FrankRizzo]

The dude that used the calipers "seemed" to know what he was doing. When they pinch you is it supposed to hurt? Or was he gathering up as much skin as he could to skew the test and make me believe that I needed his little deal a meal plan that didn't provide enough daily protien to sustain my 40lb dog's muscle mass.

 

[muscle4u]

a suggestion

The answer to your question is that if a tester is good at taking the measurements, the caliper technique has shown between +/- 4% error. What I would do if I were in your shoes is to find go to your local college/university and ask if someone there could do it. Many times the exercise physiology department will do this and/or the underwater weighing technique for a minimal fee. The staff/faculty is usually going to be VERY good.

Another way you could test the accuracy is to do a search on the internet for body circumference body fat formulas. This way, you could take say your neck, chest, waist, and hip measurement put them into a formula, and compare them to the caliper numbers. Hope this helps.

 

[VRider]

I have no idea whether they did an accurate test, but here are a couple things to consider:

Caliper tests depend on the skill of the tester. They're usually more accruate than say, a Tanita scale, but still not that accurate. If done properly by the same person each time, they can show a reliable trend, even if the exact numbers aren't spot on. If this is the first time this person has measured you, I would get a "second opinion" and get tested by someone else. Once you have confidence in the tester, try to use that same person every time in the future. Finally, the most important measuring device is the mirror and the measuring tape, if you're seeing improvements there, BF% is less important.

P.S. Yes, the tester should pinch enough so that it hurts a little. Remember, they are trying to grab a skin-fold and pull it away from the muscle to get enough to measure. Good news/bad news, if you've got low bodyfat , the harder they have to pinch to get that fold! Ouch!