Hydrostatic weighing is an incredibly accurate technique for measuring body composition. Skinfold calipers measure the thickness of your subcutaneous fat the fat underneath the skin at certain body locations.
Body Fat Percentage Wikipedia
Body fat measurement techniques. Each of the methods has advantages and disadvantages. Body circumference measurements and body fat scales that use bioelectrical impedance are both methods you can do on your own. Triceps pectoral abdominal supriliac and thigh. You can also find tape. Measuring body fat there are many different methods for measuring body fat but some are more accurate than others. The technique uses tried and true variables that feature a low percentage of error.
Sites that are measured are. A basic way to measure body fat percentage is by using a soft tape measure like the kind youd use for sewing to record measurements of different parts of the body. Measurements are taken at either 3 or 7 different sites on the body. Hydrostatic weighing and other high tech machines are expensive and almost impossible for a layperson to access. Measuring body fat is a common fitness test at health clubs which may offer this service to entice. The bod pod taps into adp technology air displacement plethysmography if you want to get fancy which uses air displacement to measure body volume and calculates lean and fat mass.
Body fat measurement a review of different methods by joe cannon ms cscs nsca cpt todays dietitian vol. For that reason many experts refer to hydrostatic weighing as the gold standard for measuring body composition. Skin calipers are the most accessible method in determining body fat percentage. Nmr is a surrogate for liver biopsies to detect fat content in liver. A technician uses the device by pinching a layer of skin to get any underlying fat. Nmr is a noninvasive technique and the standard noninvasive technique for measurement of intrahepatic lipid and intramyocellular lipid imcl and extramyocellular lipid emcl in muscle fibers.
There are also hand held devices and scales which measure body fat but these are often inaccurate. Its also commonly used in research settings. While not as accurate as skinfold measurements taken by a trained. 66 get your body fat tested and get a free personal training session i recently saw this posting at my gym. Tomographic imaging techniques such as computed tomography ct and magnetic resonance imaging mri are available which involve in vivomeasurements of different fat depots and fat infiltration in organs and are considered to be the gold standard for body composition analysis56.
Gallery of Body Fat Measurement Techniques
