Body Fat Scales

OliverFromPerth · Post by **OliverFromPerth** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 7:17 pm

Hey Everyone,

I've been doing some research on brands of Body Fat Scales. The best brand I can see is Tanita Innerscan. But they are pretty expensive.

I'm considering going all out and paying the couple of hundred dollars to get one. Or does anyone know of a cheaper brand worth considering?

Cheers,

Oliver

Post by **Ironman** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:07 am

I got one pretty cheap off ebay. It was a tanita. They aren't very accurate for most people though. The little hand held ones are cheaper and still not that great, but not as bad as the scales.

hoosegow · Post by **hoosegow** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:26 am

How off do you think they consistantly are? My lean mass tends to swing from about 189 to 220.

Ryan A · Post by **Ryan A** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:34 am

I had a handheld OMRON brand that reliably gave me results as I was trying to cut bodyfat. Didn't fluctuate more than a percent.

George G · Post by **George G** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:37 am

I have been using a handheld Omron for a couple of years.

I think it's a waste of time. I also have come to the conclusion that it's a waste of time to try to figure out your exact lean body mass.

There are many factors like hydration level that influence the reading of these BF scales/handhelds. I have been measuring under as similar conditions as I could (morning, after using the bathroom) and the readings still vary too much to be useful.

You may be in a fat loss phase and see your weight drop 5 pounds and the BF scale reading might stay the same, so you begin to think you are losing muscle. This messes with your head and sabotages your results.

What I do now and recommend is callipers and a measure tape (search for MyoTape). With calipers you can track your abdominal and suprailiac site (look it up) and measure your waist and anything else with the tape. Don't bother calculating the actual BF%, just use the millimeters reading from the callipers and inches from the tape to measure your progress.