Checking your body fat %

[Yucca]

Afternoon all

Interested to know who checks/has had checked their body fat and muscle mass percentages? I have an Omron scale which is supposed to be quite accurate and uses Bioelectric Impedance Analysis. But such scales are often considered inaccurate.

I know Caliper testing is commonly used but the results are dependant on the skill set of the person doing th measuring. To be frank most of the PT's at the gym seem to know very little so I'm not sure I trust them for an accurate result.

DEXA Scan - Supposed to be the best and most reliable but its £100+ and can't find one in Birmingham so id have to treck to London etc. As its for me and my wife its a costly alternative.

MuscleSound This is advertised as the next best thing to DEXA and is £30. Available close to home also. But I am unsure how accurate this really is.

Keen to know what others do. Iv been using my Omron for years but would like an accurate reading now.

 

[Kris_90]

Out of curiosity, why do you want to know? I've read many articles, forum posts etc about cutting to 10-15% bodyfat then bulking to 20% etc but in reality people store fat very differently. For example my genetics seem to be **** poor When I'm at about 15% body fat I store the majority of it around my stomach i.e. it makes me look fatter than I actually am. Compare that to someone who has better genetics for storing fat i.e. a lot more evenly, they will look so much better at the same level of bodyfat.

Therefore what's the point in knowing what the actual % is?

 

[Somnambulist]

All methods have a degree of unreliability, even DEXA, which is decent, but really you just need to read something like this then see what you think you're closest too and add a couple of % and you'll be in the right ballpark. Also they measure fat mass and fat-free mass, which is a lot more than just muscle). If it's just for curiousity, fair enough but it's not that useful for anything else for the most part:

When calculating stuff like calories, knowing your bf% doesn't really change the results that much, and even then these calculations just give you a starting point and you adjust your intake according to real life scale/measurement changes.

Being high body fat = why does it really matter because you can see your bf% is too high
Weighing not a lot but not looking like you lift = does it matter how low your bf it at this point, because you're underweight and need more lean tissue mass
Completely diced, striated everything = you must be a bodybuilder in contest pep because being this low bf isn't healthy or sustainable
Average, want to get leaner = calorie deficit, take pics/measurements some some regularity, stop when you're happy with your leanness
Average, want to get bigger = calorie surplus, as above, stop when you feel you're starting to look fluffy