My BF%, pics included...confused

[spinningblade]

I've always felt that I was around 20% body fat...but I've been measured twice, by two different people, and come between 13-15% body fat according to their calipers. I would like to know what yall think according to the pics...

 

[Deleted member 33117]

20% sounds a lot closer. There is no way you are 13% in those pictures. Who took your your measurements with calipers and are they qualified?

 

[ohashi]

Probably the 3-point. You are definitely not even close to 13%.

 

[Deleted member 33117]

Ditto what BBF said...........

although you are not grossly overweight, you are definitely around 24% from what I would say. I've seen a lot of people have quite a bit of experience to judge from, for what that's worth.

Bodyfat readings are hard to get accurate anyhow, and you have two people who are completely off.

~SC~

True enough. I have been test at 8% by one person, then 14.5% in the same week by another. Both were certified trainers using fairly expensive calipers. A 6.5% bf difference between two individuals with practice gives a fairly good idea of how inaccurate this can be.

 

[~SC~]

Ditto what BBF said...........

although you are not grossly overweight, you are definitely around 24% from what I would say. I've seen a lot of people have quite a bit of experience to judge from, for what that's worth.

Bodyfat readings are hard to get accurate anyhow, and you have two people who are completely off.

~SC~

 

[Sydneyboy]

Why does everyone worry about bodyfat percentages? As others have stated it seems very hard to get an accurate reading. I personally think that bodypart measurements are a much better way to gauge progress and also the way you look in a mirror. You have to make yourself happy with the body that you have!( in saying that though there are people who will never be happy even though others might think they look fantastic).

 

[OfimNedu]

You're 20% or higher. A big part of BF with a caliper is that it is largely dependant on skin type. For instance, I have extremely tight skin. Even at 13 or 14% my skin is so taut that you can't pinch a damn thing without bruising the hell out of me. Consequently I was getting readings of 8-10% when I was def. not that lean. On the other hand a colleague of mine was extremely lean, former gymnast, probably in the 4-5% range and had very loose skin. He often tested 3-4% higher than he should have.

 

[spinningblade]

Two of the athletic directors at the school are the ones who took the measurments, 3point with digital calipers (chest, abdomen and thigh.) When they said their readings, I just said "uh, that can't be right" which is why they tested again. I wonder if they measured anyone correctly. I've been losing weight slowly for the past four months, down from 235 to 200 right now (in the pics.) What's gonna be funny is at the end of the semester when we do the readings again, if they do them correctly, I'll be leaner and record a higher reading on the calipers. I knew I had a higher BF% than what the calipers read, I just wonder how many people have been mislead.

 

[F117A Active Stealth]

You're 200lbs? How tall are you?

 

[spinningblade]

5'10 or 5'11