The pitfalls of body fat measurement part 3. Bmi roughly correlates with more accurate measures of body fat such as underwater weighing and measurements of skin thickness with calipers.
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The pitfalls of body fat measurement. Here are the 10 best ways to measure your body fat percentage. Below 185 is underweight from 25 to 299 is overweight and 30 or higher is obese. However the convienience of this method comes at a price of accuracy. This means to accurately detect a decrease in body fat in most people the body fat percentage needs to drop by a minimum of 4 5. The pitfalls of body fat measurement part 3. Disadvantages of bmi testing.
A bmi of 185 to 249 is considered normal. Even the best techniques have a 4 5 error rate when measuring change over time. In part 1 of this series you learned about how body fat testing is a prediction not a measurement. I also talked about the 2 compartment model its limitations and how hydrostatic weighing is reasonably accurate for groups but can have an error rate of as high as 6 in individuals. Bia devices go beyond just fat to provide a complete picture of someones health something you cant do with calipers. On average underwater weighing underpredicts meaning it gives you lower body fat percentages than a 4 compartment model body fat percentage by 01 to 12 although one study showed an overprediction in young women of 21.
That means they measure the bodys fat muscle and water levels. Bod pod last week i told you how body fat testing is a prediction not a measurement. Bioelectrical impedance bia bia is one of the quickest and easiest methods for predicting body fat. Bod pod the pitfalls of body fat measurement part 5. These medical bia devices give important metrics like visceral fat skeletal muscle mass muscle distribution bmr and more. Most fitness enthusiasts want to know their body fat percentage since its one of the four components of body compositionthe other three being body mass fat mass and fat free mass.
In part 2 you learned about underwater weighing and in part 3 you learned about the bod pod. Too much body fat results in obesity and increased waist circumference which could increase risk for cardiovascular disease. Dual energy x ray absorptiometry dexa. Overall thats pretty good. The lower your body fat percentage the higher percentage of lean muscle mass you have on your frame. Skinfolds the pitfalls of body fat measurement part 6.
Bmi does not differentiate between these. Your body weight includes a number of components such as muscle mass fat internal organs water and skeletal weight. Given the error rate for measuring change over time theres a good chance those numbers are way off. Now lets talk about bia.