body fat measurament( not right)

[esteveze]

Girls I have a question....
My sister started the gym today. And also had her BF measured.
The trainer did the following.
with calipers measure her right wrist and right ankle.
That was it....
She told my sister the her BF = 20.4%
I personally do not believe this.
here are my sister stats:
27 years old
232 lbs
5' 5"
Is this possible??? I think this is way off.
My sister wears a size 20 in clothes...there is no way she is at that BF.
Am I wrong???
Is this a right way of measuring BF??

 

[muskles]

I think your right, Esteveze.. about 9 months ago these were my stats after dieting (albeit half heartedly.. took me about a year to get the mindset / diet / routine under control)...

age :: 26
height :: 5'4"
weight :: 130lbs
bodyfat :: 26%

are you sure you didn't mean 132lbs.. not 232lbs?? if she's 132lbs, and stays fairly active or exercises semi-regularly, keeps her cals somewhat low.. it might not be that far off.

 

[FitFossil]

She said she wears a size 20 in clothes, so it must be 232.

Calipers on the wrist and ankle? That's a new one on me. I could maybe see using a tape measure but not calipers. Even so I still wouldn't see that as valid method of bodyfat measurement either. Caliper measurements are typically done on places like the tricep, back, hip, abs, quad. The more sites measured, the more accurate.

http://www.shapeup.org/bodylab/tools/skinfold.asp

I'd be interested in what else this trainer said.

 

[esteveze]

My sister weight 232lbs.
She is totally inactive. Just to tell you that she goes to a "quiropracter"(sorry do not know the spelling) because everything hurts.
The trainer told her to eat 5 meals a day. (that sound good)
But only had her doing abs(crunches) that is it, he told her that she could not exercise since she has not eaten anything.
I told my sister to basically not to stress her legs on the treadmill.
That she should do cardio (elliptical) since has no pounding on her knees, I also suggested her to do the bike.
In my opinion this women, who call herself Nutritionist/trainner is way off.
OHHH. also she told my sister that all that weight is water. that she has 173lbs (LBM) unbelievable.....WTF

 

[Gladiola]

Oh my goodness, reminds me of my sister-in-law's experience with a 'trainer' at her gym. Such snippets of wisdom as:

"Never workout more than 4 days a week or your body will be come swollen so you won't be able to see your results."

I would NEVER do a caliper reading with someone in a clothes size 20. She has too much fat on her body, that's not a question. Why subject her to any of that? If she & the trainer want to monitor her progress, go by weight, how her clothes fit, & more importantly - FITNESS!!

She should expect to gain 40-60% strength in the first few months. The trainer should record her 10 rep max & also cardio capacity & that will be PLENTY of info on which to track progress.

Heck, just doing ANYTHING in the gym more than 1X per week will be success compared to a sedentary lifestyle.

 

[muskles]

YIKES - Esteveze.. is your sister open to letting you help her find someone else?? i agree, they shouldn't even be doing a bodyfat test to her right now.

 

[velvett]

Get a new trainer.

I've never seen or heard of wrists or ankles measured in such a manner. The only thing close that I've done with a wrist or elbow is get a rough measure for bone size/ frame structure.

Sounds like she would be more upwards of 40% + body fat with a history of a sedentary type of lifesytle.






Side note: Two diet tips I've overheard this week:

1 - Don't start eating after you wake up, only eat when your are really really hungry and only eat half of whatever one meal you choose to eat.

2 - Eat what ever you want until 3pm but don't eat anything else after 3pm.


Sigh....

Ever get the urge to get up and shake the crap out of someone and ask the if they are out of their minds???

 

[SteelWeaver]

Ever get the urge to get up and shake the crap out of someone and ask the if they are out of their minds???

Regularly.

 

[magdelana]

Reminds me of the thread comparing a trainers competence and their appearance. There are a lot of idiots giving out diet and training lessons.

The last thing a very overwieght woman needs is someone to check her bf!!!!! This is very discoraging for her and absoulutely unneccessary.

Not that it matters really but her bf is probably about 40-45% based on the stats you have said, but as someone mentions i think the caliper is much more inaccurate on very obese people anyway. It would not be a great estimate really even if the woman doing the mesures had not been ignorant.

 

[fawnmarie]

Who has any fat on their wrists or ankles to clamp?

Even at my high weight of 210, I had nothing but skin on mine. And my bodyfat was probably about 46% at the time.

This trainer seems to be a complete fraud.

Here's a link to a bodyfat calculator using a measuring tape that works pretty good for me. I don't get a chance to get pinched, but I use this calculator to keep track of progress. May not be accurate enough for competitive BB's, but accurate enough for the average Joan interested in looking good.

http://kingspawn.home.att.net/BodyFat.htm

fawn