Bodyfat Measurements
BODYFAT CALCULATIONS SERVICE IN THE ABS GYM
The first thing I became interested in as a personal trainer was body fat measurements and skinfolds. The reason being is they reveal so much about what is going on as a result of a new training programme or new nutritional approach.
Calculating body fat is one of the best methods of keeping track of your progress because not only are you measuring to check if you have lost weight, you are also calculating if you have gained lean body mass.
However, calculating body fat is NOT 100% accurate. NO method is unless you want to spend quite a bit on a bod pod / DEXA or hydrostatic weighing.
See images below! Decent % body fat lost.
But it is accurate ENOUGH. More accurate than most methods which I will outline further down the page.
This process has been made easier these days for us. I got a body fat app developed to help us in the ABS Gym and it has halved the time it takes to calculate body fat. For this reason, the price of the service has been reduced from €97 to €47.
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THE WAY NOT TO DO IT…
If anyone has ever done skinfolds on you before and used this nonsense (picture below) you need to get it done again. This is NOT accurate. The way it works is you press the calipers together until you hear a click. The pressure of the calipers pressing on the fat is too much and causes the plastic piece to click. Wherever the slider is, is the width of the skinfold.
Sounds really scientific eh?
ANOTHER STUPID METHOD
Body Impedance (pictured above left)
The body impedance scanner will basically measure the ‘conductivity’ or the resistance your body gives an electric current, taking into consideration your approximate mass and BMI.
Fat is an insulator and will resist current and this is the basis that this contraption works on. Sounds cool right? NO.
Scan yourself with one of these, then drink 2-3 litres of water and see what happens. Water is a conductor and will affect your results. Hydrations status, time of day – everything that is wrong with weighing yourself is also wrong with this method!
THE PROBLEM WITH WEIGHING YOURSELF
Let’s say you weigh yourself today. And after six weeks of clean nutrition and hard training, you weigh yourself and you’ve only lost 1kg (2.2lbs). You’re gutted, right?
Let’s look at the results from earlier. 1.1 kg lost on the scales in 6 weeks is not very good you say? Look at fat mass before and after. But that is almost 3 kg of fat (8lbs) lost and nearly 2kg of muscle gained.
Now it makes sense and the results are excellent! The numbers above are random but you get the idea! Moral of the story?