Best way to measure BF%?

[RottenWillow]

The look of that BodPod machine frightens me! My clausterphobia will get the better of me.

And I've never been clear on whether or not a person needs to be nude for the hydrostatic dunking.

 

[spatts]

NO, not nude...just airtight clothing. Like a one piece suit or something like that. There's definitely a learning curve to getting a good hydro reading. You have to find your best method for getting all the air out of you. I blow out as long and hard as I can, then duck under the water (you're sitting in a swing with a scale on it like a big piece of produce). I get my face between my knees, feet tucked back under me, and wrap my arms around my lower leg, then I blow out more....and more....and more....even if it's just a tiny little bubble of air in your cheeks....get it out. Then I hold for 5-8 seconds. I try to do everything slowly and smooth so the reading doesn't take to long once I get in position (the scale isn't bouncing). Then the tester hits the posts on the tank a few times with a metal thingie to let me know he's got the reading, and I come back up. I get the same reading 8 times in a row most visits.

If you have long hair, take something like a basic hair band to keep it off your face. There's nothing like coming up out of the water totally breathless, only to inhale your own hair.

 

[RottenWillow]

I get my face between my knees, feet tucked back under me, and wrap my arms around my lower leg, then I blow out more....and more....and more....

wow Spatts you sound like a fun girl! I'll have to try those moves on my bf tonight.


But speaking of long hair, mine is long and its very thick. Is there any way the volume of hair could compromise the reading?

 

[spatts]

You have NO idea....

AHEM


Yeah, I have long thick hair too, and as long as you get all the air out of it, it's ok. We have a bathroom with a shower at our facility, and we're supposed to totally saturate our suit and hair before getting in the tank.

 

[wilson6]

If the thought of a Bod Pod freaks you out, wait until you get underwater for the very first time, blow every last bit of air out until your abs cramp, then have to sit there for 10 secs feeling like you're going to pass out and drown.

Bod Pod will be nothing.

W6

 

[Daisy_Girl]

If the thought of a Bod Pod freaks you out, wait until you get underwater for the very first time, blow every last bit of air out until your abs cramp, then have to sit there for 10 secs feeling like you're going to pass out and drown.

I did Hydro once in college...never again. What W6 said, that is exactly how you feel. I am slightly claustrophobic and I'll take that over feeling like I am going to drown any day! While many can do Hydro with ease, I am definately NOT one of them.

 

[ergogenics_guru]

speaking as a student in HK (human kinetics) -- we were in the lab last week doing caliper site measurements...

if you're getting your BF measured at a university or college, make sure the person doing it knows what they're doing!!

the girl doing mine, didn't know what the hell she was doing and my BF% was in the 20s!