Impedance body scans

[roarke]

I happened to have access to two different body composition scans in the past month, and I have a smart scale at home.
The three different readings for body fat percentage were
28.4%, 33.2%, 37.1%
I know impedance scans are notoriously inaccurate, but an 8.7% range seems crazy.
FYI I’m 5’6 147 pounds bmi 23.8, weight train 3x/week and cardio every day. It’s all a little frustrating to come back just under obese bf%

 

[steve12]

@roarke Impedence scanners are only good for tracking progress. Try to get a DEXA Scan or whole body MRI if you are rich.

DEXA has me at about 16% bf, my smartwatch has me at a little less. But the $10K InBody machine at the gym had me at 10%.

You can search Google for charts of people at various body fat percentages. That might be the most accurate judge next to DEXA.

 

[roarke]

@steve12 I had a dexa last year in July and intend to have them yearly
My last dexa put me at 40%
But since then I’ve lost 18 pounds (for me >10% if my total body weight) and committed to 3x weekly weight training when I was doing none.
I hope I’ve done better than 3% improvement in a year.
I’m 55 female and I look good in clothes, size 6
It’s a little disappointing to come back as obese or close to it

 

[steve12]

@roarke The good thing about annual DEXA is that you'll see how much muscle you've gained in addition to how much fat you've lost. At my last DEXA scan I was 3 lbs heavier because I lost 5 lbs of fat but gained 7.5 lbs of muscle. So you've probably done way better than 3%.

I'd be interested to know if you bone density has gone up as well since you've started training.

Good luck!

 

[miminonoko]

@roarke Also consider your lean muscle mass and bone density! Both super important and mine have both increased since I have started weight training over the past 3 years (I am now 55 too)

 

[asdgho]

@roarke WWW.InBody.com

Impedance can fluxuate about 10%. If you follow the prep-steps you will have better info. Like stated earlier, it’s a better metric for progress.

 

[roarke]

@asdgho The middle bf% was the inbody

 

[bfg33]

@roarke Getting a BodPod or DEXA scan has been on my to-do list for some time.

 

[sanj79]

@roarke I’ve got a question and a comment:

Are you a biological male or female?

The BMI is stupid! I’ll explain why in a whole other post.

 

[roarke]

@sanj79 Im female
My BMI is 23.8, so healthy weight
I’m basing obesity on 40% bf

 

[sanj79]

@roarke So you’re not obese and as far as I know(or concerned) 20-30 bf on a woman is normal.

 

[roarke]

@sanj79 Thanks. I’m being a bit hyperbolic in that I just got the Tru Scan at my gym yesterday that came back 37% which was really disappointing

 

[aureliasoleil]

@roarke Instead of focusing too much on the numbers, consider tracking your progress with measurements, how your clothes fit, and how you feel overall. Consistency with your workouts and diet will lead to progress over time, regardless of what the scales say!

 

[cristofar]

@roarke Somebody gave me (75F) a cheap Sunbeam bio impedance scale several years ago. It said I was 40% fat, and I freaked out, and went on a fat loss diet. My doctor said « No way are you 40% fat,« but I figured I still needed to lose fat, so it was a good motivator.

By the time I got around to having a DEXA scan, my little Sunbeam said I was down to 31% fat. The DEXA said 24% fat overall (I do have osteopenia, so with age, percentages can be a bit deceiving). Then I discovered that wetting my feet before weighing greatly improved the accuracy of my scale to within 2 percentage points!

If your home scale is grossly overestimating your BF%, see what happens when you wet your feet.

 

[roarke]

@cristofar This is a good tip!
Funny thing though, my scale is underestimating by about 7%