Body Fat Testing is the best way to get feedback and measure progress towards your fitness goals. Discover how to measure your Body Fat accurately and calculate your Body Fat Percentage.
In the Setting Exercise Goals section I mentioned how regular Body Weight measurement helps adjust calories and assess your current fitness program. But Body Weight is only half the truth. Use your Body Fat measurement in conjunction with the mirror findings for an accurate assessment of your fitness program.
When you check your Body Fat you will know your lean muscle : fat ratio which helps you determine whether your weight gain or weight loss was real fat loss and muscle gain or water adjustments.
Since the gold standard method of Hydrostatic Testing is tedious and not available to majority I will explain how to measure your body fat using a simple Skin Calipers.
P.S. - If your gym has a personal trainer then he/she will do this test for you. If you need to regularly test your body fat then invest ina skin calipers and read the steps below for an easy testing.
Skinfold Measurement
Here we use the test to determine the two compartments of your body namely muscle and fat. The skinfold measurement technique is proven to be reliable and most valid for measuring body fat.
The usual sites used to test skinfold measurements are Iliac Crest, Triceps fold, Abdomen, mid-axillary fold and sub-scapular fold. For sake of simplicity I will use the Iliac Crest site.
Principle - The caliper method uses a pincer device that measures the thickness of a double layer of finger-pinched skin and subcutaneous fat.
Equipment Required
Site - The Iliac Crest. Locate this point as the highest point on the hip bone in front of your body.
Steps
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Locate the test point - Locate the most bony point on your right hip with your left hand while holding the calipers in the right hand. Change hands if you are left-handed.
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Now grasp the skin firmly with your left thumb and index finger to form a fold of skin and subcutaneous tissue.
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At his point simply clamp the calipers onto the middle of the skinfold using your right hand. At this point, when you clamp you should hear a click sound indicating the value on the calipers.
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Now release the calipers grip and make a note of the reading at the point where the black line on the slide rule is pointing. The reading will be in millimeters.
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Since you have your skinfold thickness measured in millimeters, go back to the chart that comes along with your Accu Measure calipers . The corresponding value gives you your Body Fat in percentage.
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