How to measure body fat percentage with the best digital body fat scales
Measuring your body fat is important if you have personal health goals or simply want more information about your health. However, what can be complicated is how to go about the measurement process. With an excess amount of information available and many ways to measure, it can be difficult to know exactly what your best options are, and which options are the most accurate. Essentially, there are three basic ways of measurement that tend to be the easiest and the most accurate.
For over 50 years now, a tool called “body calipers” have been used to measure body fat. To measure your body fat, you’ll first want to purchase a pair of body calipers for a few dollars (basically, body calipers can be used to measure the abundance of the amount of fat you have underneath your skin in specific locations on your body). If you’re a woman, you will want to choose locations on your body like your triceps, just above your hip bone and your lower stomach. As a male, you will want to choose locations like your chest, thighs, and triceps. To measure these areas, simply take excess skin in these locations and measure it with the skin calipers. Then, follow the basic chart (that is usually included with the calipers) to see your measurements.
Based on what the US Army has created, you can also measure your body fat through a specific body circumference method. For this, you will simply need a tape measure, a calculator and some basic information about yourself such as your age, height and various measurements of different locations on your body. Different organizations like the US Army, US Navy and even the YMCA have different measurement charts, so be sure to look up the one you’re most comfortable with and use it, as well as your tape measure to find your percentages.
Lastly, a BIA or Bioelectrical Impendence Analysis is also an excellent choice for measuring your body fat, especially if you belong to a gym! Most gyms and exercise centers have this machine available to its users and you can even purchase one for your own home! Essentially, you stand in a certain location on the machine and while you’re standing very still and (usually) touching or holding a certain part of the machine, the device sends small electrical currents through your skin. Of course, you can actually feel anything, and it only takes a few minutes for the BIA machine to send the currents through your body tissue. Once the test is finished the machine will output a basic summary of your body composition, including your overall body fat percentage. This summary can be printed out immediately and you can compare how your composition changes over time. You can also purchase one for home use from bodyfatanalyzer.org.
In just three easy to follow ways, you can now measure your body fat percentage! All of these methods are easy to access, straightforward and generally, won’t take much of your time! Be sure to choose the method you’re most comfortable with and remember: consistency is key! Always measure under the same conditions and consider that no method is absolutely exact. Best of luck!