Body Fat Calipers
New ways of determining progress related to weight loss and health programs are coming up every day. A loss of weight is no longer considered the be all and end all of any exercise, fitness or fat loss program. Rather, for quite some time now, body fat measurements have been considered to be the best way of charting physical improvement. The three most popular ways of measuring body fat are through hydrostatic weighing, home body fat scales and using body fat calipers and skin fold tests.
While home body fat scales are convenient and quick to use, they may give the least accurate results among all three measurement methods. Hydrostatic weighing provides the most accurate measurements. However, there aren’t a lot of places where you can get it done. Skin fold body fat calipers are cheap, easy to use and provide quite accurate indications of body fat levels. Skin fold measurements can also be converted into percentages.
Body fat calipers let one measure different skin fold thicknesses, at specific places in the body which also give a percentage value. However, it is important to use them correctly in order to have accurate measurements. Accu Measure and Fat Track are the only companies that make digital body fat calipers for self testing. These body fat calipers are quite efficient and cost effective. Accu Measure body fat calipers are accurate and easy to use. The measurements come within 1.1% of actual hydrostatic weighing measurements. An Accu Measure body fat caliper can be purchased online for somewhere between $10-$15, based on the kind of deal that you find.
The Fat track Gold digital body fat caliper is regarded as the best electronic body fat caliper available in the market today. It is easy to use and calculates and displays your body fat percentage at the touch of a button. It is recommended by most professionals and a number of health and fitness publications. A Fat Track Gold Digital body Caliper can be purchased for about $35.Both these self testing calipers come with detailed instructions on how to use them as well as more than enough literature on all you need to know about body fat measurements. The caliper kit also includes many other accessories. These calipers can also be used for pediatric body fat measurement.
A body fat level of 21-31 % in females and 14-25% approx is acceptable for people with routine life styles, while 21-25% and 14-18% respectively is considered to be healthy. The higher the fat level in your body, the more susceptible you are to weight-related illnesses like heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, osteoarthritis, and some cancers. Apart from this, a high fat level makes your body prone to gaining even more fat.
