A To The Point Guide For Body Fat Testing
A scale does not provide an accurate snap shot of your progress. If all you are doing is looking at a scale, please stop. You need to measure your body composition if you truly want to know whether or not your approach is working.
Having said that, you should know that not all methods for testing body composition are equally effective.
So here is a quick guide to body fat testing:
1. Fat fold tests. Performed with skin calipers, fat fold tests are relatively accurate when done by an experienced professional. The key here is to make sure that the same person takes your measurements every single time. And also keep in mind that I have seen even the most highly skilled testers come up with skewed measurements.
2. Hydrostatic testing. Fat and lean tissues have different densities. And this test measures the density of your body to determine how much fast and muscle you have. Unfortunately, the preparation and the number of variables involved that can go wrong make this method not so attractive to the average person.
3. Conductivity. You have seen the machines that perform this test all over the place. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to use. They send an electrical current through your body to determine just how much body fat you are holding. Unfortunately, they are extremely inaccurate.
4. DEXA. Also known as dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, this technique sends a couple harmless x-rays through your body to measure levels of lean tissue. It is very accurate and requires little, if any preparation. The only drawback here is cost.
Of the methods described in this article, I would recommend staying away from electrical tests, they are simply too inaccurate. Other than that, the main factor affecting accuracy will be the skill of the technician performing the measurements. So use the same reliable person over and over again.
