Resistance Bands Hip Bands Mini Bands Strength Bands. Wall Balls Slam Balls Medicine Balls Stability Balls. Foam Rollers Massage Balls Massage Sticks Stretching Equipment. Yoga Mats Pilates Yoga Accessories. Assault Bike Classic Parts Assault Runner Pro Parts Assault Bike Elite Parts Assault Runner Pro Parts Assault Runner Elite Parts Assault Rower Elite Parts.

Body Fat Caliper - Element Fitness Body Fat Caliper - Element Fitness. SKU: SKU: 1 review. Shipping calculated at checkout. Add to cart. Online Availabilty. Product Available Online. IN-STORE Availability. Call your Local Treadmill Factory for IN-STORE availability Markham.

Body Fat Caliper Since most fat on the body is located directly under the skin, a very efficient and practical way to measure your body fat percentage is through skin-fold measurement. Check out our Clearance section to find products at a sale or reduced price. TF Gift Cards.

The Treadmill Factory Gift Cards are a perfect gift for any fitness lover. You may want to invest in high-quality calipers, which will be more expensive. Cheap calipers may not exert the appropriate amount of constant pressure necessary to provide adequate tension control and reliable results.

Some highly recommended calipers include Harpenden Skinfold Calipers, Lafayette Skinfold Calipers, Lange Calipers, Slim Guide Skinfold Calipers, and Accu-Measure Body Fat Calipers. Part 2. Choose a test. Pinch tests measure skinfolds at three, four, seven, and even ten points on the body.

Taking measurements from more points does not ensure accuracy of the body fat percentage calculation. That depends on the precision used when taking the measurements and the formula used to calculate body fat.

Identify the points at which you'll take measurements. The key is to be consistent with the exact locations as well as pinch-type vertical vs.

In general, the right side of the body on a standing subject is used when obtaining measurements. Common areas to measure skinfolds include: [10] X Research source Triceps — Have the subject bend the elbow to 90 degrees and mark the point midway between the top of the shoulder and elbow.

Iliac crest — Have the subject hold their right arm across the body. Use a horizontal pinch to take this measurement right above the hip bone on the side of the body. Calf — With the foot resting on a chair or platform at approximately 90 degrees, take the measurement as a vertical fold on the inside of the calf at the point with the largest circumference.

A measurement here should be taken as a vertical fold directly under the center of the armpit and perpendicular to the nipple. Supraspinale — A measurement of the supraspinale area should be a diagonal fold at the intersection of a vertical line between the spinal front part of iliac crest, the protrusion of the hip bone and front part of the armpit and a horizontal line at the top of the iliac crest.

Pinch a fold of skin and pull. Making a "C" with your left thumb and index finger, grab as big of a skinfold as you can until it hurts, then pull outwards. It is important that you do not exclude any "pinchable" skin nor include any underlying muscle.

Hold the pair of calipers using your right hand with the thumb on the upper arm and index finger on the lower arm.

Place the jaw ends over the skinfold while continuing to pinch the skinfold with your left hand. Using your right thumb, press down where indicated on the caliper until you feel a slight click. This sound represents the correct measurement as the caliper jaws automatically stop at the width of your skinfold.

Repeat this step three times for each landmark to ensure reliability. If the measurements differ they should only differ by 1 — 2 mm [19] X Research source , obtain and record the average of the three measurements. Be sure to measure the center of the skinfold between your fingers.

Record measurements on paper. Be sure to record the average of all three measurements in an organized fashion to avoid confusion during calculation.

Its best to use a notebook and save all measurements as a log so you may compare them as time goes on. Enter the average measurements for each point into the formula you're using. After calculating your result, record it in your fitness journal or app. By using this service, some information may be shared with YouTube.

Monitor and measure body fat solely through skinfold measurements as opposed to calculating body fat percentage — it's much more reliable. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 1. It takes time and experience to become competent at using calipers to calculate body fat percentage.

Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 1. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 2. Submit a Tip All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Various models of body fat calipers recommend varying measurements sites. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 0. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 7.

You Might Also Like. How to. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. More References About This Article. Co-authored by:. Co-authors: Updated: February 11, There is absolutely no need to buy THE most expensive set… unless you want to!

If you are a Health and Fitness Professional body calipers are one of the best investments you can make. If your budget stretches to a professional set of calipers they will repay you many times over.

One of the biggest mistakes people on a weight management program make is gauging their progress by weight alone. If you are a Health and Fitness Professional… well, you probably already know the reasons why you must make body fat testing part of your fitness armoury. The Harpenden is the most accurate skinfold caliper made.

It has been the standard research caliper for many years. Virtually all the data and equations relating skinfold thickness to bodyfat are based on studies done with the Harpenden.

The Lafayette Skinfold Caliper is one of the most accurate and durable calipers available today. It was designed with the assistance of Dr. Andrew Jackson, co-author of the widely used Jackson-Pollock skinfold formulas.

This is the best selling of the higher priced body fat calipers. It has been manufactured since and is widely used in schools, colleges and fitness centers. The Lange is one of the lower cost professional calipers.

Recommended in Body-for-LIFE and endorsed by the World Natural Bodybuilding Federation. Much lower priced than any of the above body fat calipers yet will produce results that are almost as accurate. This is the only low cost caliper accurate enough to be used for professional measurements and is the most widely used professional caliper in the world.

This is quite a lengthy article, I know. Use body fat calipers to measure progress only. For greater accuracy, monitor changes with skinfold measurements rather than converting them into a body fat percentage and using that to judge progress.

Have an experienced examiner test you if possible. At the very least have the same person test you each time. If you are a Health and Fitness professional be meticulous about how you find skinfold sites. If you want to test yourself the only viable option at the moment are Accu-measure body fat calipers.

Do not , I repeat do not splash out on quality calipers if you only intend to test yourself. Take the reading within 4 seconds of applying the body fat calipers to the skinfold. A prolonged delay has been shown to significantly underestimate the actual skinfold value.

If the chance arises, compare the results you get to a hydrostatic weighing test. A similar method will probably be available in a lot of gyms in the near future. You may find they better fit your needs.

Jacky has a degree in Sports Science and is a Certified Sports and Conditioning Coach. He has also worked with clients around the world as a personal trainer.

He has been fortunate enough to work with a wide range of people from very different ends of the fitness spectrum. Through promoting positive health changes with diet and exercise, he has helped patients recover from aging-related and other otherwise debilitating diseases.

He spends most of his time these days writing fitness-related content of some form or another. Fitness Training Abdominal Training Athletics Training Body Composition Circuit Training Endurance Training Exercise Physiology Fitness Tests Flexibility Training Plyometric Training Strength Training Speed Training Sports Nutrition Sports Supplements Workout Routine Yoga Training Individual Sports Cycling Training Marathon Training Golf Training Ski Training Wrestling Training Martial Arts Training Gymnastics Training Boxing Training Extreme Sports Camping and Hiking Swimming Team Sports Soccer Training Badminton Training Baseball Training Basketball Training Cricket Training Football Training Hockey Training Lacrosse Training Rowing Training Rugby Training Table Tennis Training Tennis Training Volleyball Training.

For Health and Fitness Professionals… They are an essential tool that can offer you and your clients an effective measure of progress. More importantly… Can you do anything to make them more reliable?

What other options do you have for measuring body fat percentage?

Medical Cardio Equipment. Cardio Accessories. Home Gyms. Upper Body. Leverage Machines. Multi-Functional Trainers.

TRX Products. Premium Electric Bicycles. Premium Electric Scooters. Exercise Balls. Chin Up Bars. All Fitness Items [ ]. Life Coaching. Exercise Publications [ 26 ]. Kangen Water [ 0 ]. Leisure Products [ 30 ]. Ozone Therapy [ 6 ]. Red Light Therapy [ 10 ]. Saunas [ 15 ].

Commercial Refurbished. Residential Pre-Owned. Scroll down to take advantage of our floor model deals! Look in: Products Posts. MY CART 0 LOGIN. Toll-Free: Local:. Ask a Question.

Reviews: 0. Qty :. ADD TO CART. Share it. Body Fat Caliper Since most fat on the body is located directly under the skin, a very efficient and practical way to measure your body fat percentage is through skin-fold measurement.

Element Fitness. We ship anywhere in Canada, the USA and North America. A gym instructor? A personal trainer? And not only that…. Those test should be carried out in research settings highly controlled and meticulous. The skill is in precisely locating skinfold sites on the body….

No matter how fancy the diagrams are in the instruction manual a few centimetres, even millimetres out, compounds to make a significant difference. How can you overcome this problem? If you are being tested… Ask how much experience your examiner has had.

Even the most experienced scientific researchers take their time to measure with a ruler then mark with a felt pen each and every location. At the very least…. Always have the same examiner test you. Even under the strictest of conditions results vary considerably from tester to tester. What if you want to test yourself?

At the moment these are the only body fat calipers that reliably let you test yourself. They are extremely simple to use and a recent study has shown very positive results for accuracy.

Recommended in Body-for-LIFE and endorsed by the World Natural Bodybuilding Federation, Accumeasure are the only calipers you should buy for self-testing.

If you carry out body fat tests… Find out the precise locations of each skinfold site. For example, the abdomen skinfold site is 1 inch to the right of the belly button so….

If the triceps site is midway between the tip of the shoulder and elbow, use a ruler to measure exactly halfway. Then measure them again and then a third time.

Using the average of 3 readings will significantly increase your accuracy. Is there anything else you can do to make sure your body fat tests are as accurate and reliable as possible?

Not if price is anything to go by. Why such a big difference? To be accurate body fat calipers need to exert a certain amount of constant pressure 10 gm. Small inconsistencies compound into significant errors.

This may seem like an insignificant point but they all add up. Having said that…. There is absolutely no need to buy THE most expensive set… unless you want to!

If you are a Health and Fitness Professional body calipers are one of the best investments you can make. If your budget stretches to a professional set of calipers they will repay you many times over.

One of the biggest mistakes people on a weight management program make is gauging their progress by weight alone. If you are a Health and Fitness Professional… well, you probably already know the reasons why you must make body fat testing part of your fitness armoury. The Harpenden is the most accurate skinfold caliper made.

It has been the standard research caliper for many years. Virtually all the data and equations relating skinfold thickness to bodyfat are based on studies done with the Harpenden. The Lafayette Skinfold Caliper is one of the most accurate and durable calipers available today.

It was designed with the assistance of Dr. Andrew Jackson, co-author of the widely used Jackson-Pollock skinfold formulas.

This is the best selling of the higher priced body fat calipers. It has been manufactured since and is widely used in schools, colleges and fitness centers. The Lange is one of the lower cost professional calipers.

Recommended in Body-for-LIFE and endorsed by the World Natural Bodybuilding Federation. Much lower priced than any of the above body fat calipers yet will produce results that are almost as accurate. This is the only low cost caliper accurate enough to be used for professional measurements and is the most widely used professional caliper in the world.

This is quite a lengthy article, I know. Use body fat calipers to measure progress only. For greater accuracy, monitor changes with skinfold measurements rather than converting them into a body fat percentage and using that to judge progress. Have an experienced examiner test you if possible.

At the very least have the same person test you each time. If you are a Health and Fitness professional be meticulous about how you find skinfold sites. If you want to test yourself the only viable option at the moment are Accu-measure body fat calipers.

Do not , I repeat do not splash out on quality calipers if you only intend to test yourself. Take the reading within 4 seconds of applying the body fat calipers to the skinfold.

A prolonged delay has been shown to significantly underestimate the actual skinfold value. If the chance arises, compare the results you get to a hydrostatic weighing test.

A similar method will probably be available in a lot of gyms in the near future. You may find they better fit your needs. Jacky has a degree in Sports Science and is a Certified Sports and Conditioning Coach.

Accu-Measure calipers at Amazon. There are various types of calipers on the market, but most of them are designed to be used by a second person on the subject to be measured.

The Accu-Measure calipers are unusual in that they are designed for self testing, with a small slider on the scale that records the reading after the calipers have been released.

The calipers have a 'click' that indicates when you've applied the right pressure to get a reading. The simplest way of using calipers is to measure a particular spot on your body and monitor for changes. The Accu-Measure calipers recommend taking a single reading from the suprailliac, approximately one inch above the right hipbone, shown below.

This value is then looked up on a table to give a body fat percentage. A study [1] has shown that this technique is comparable to a professional 3 site skinfold test when compared with underwater weighing.

I've found that the suprailliac position less sensitive to changes in body fat than my abdominal skinfold thickness, as well as being tricky to ensure the same spot is measured each time.

I therefore use the calipers themselves to find a spot 2. Here are the steps. Measuring multiple locations is tricky on your own body, but you can get a number of sites. An expert can take your skinfold thickness at several sites and use these to estimate your body fat.

The accuracy of this technique is not much greater than self administered testing, so I would not recommend this approach.

Save your time and money for a BodPod or DEXA test. From Fellrnr. com, Running tips. Jump to: navigation , search. Navigation menu Views Page View source History. Personal tools. Hydrostatic weighing is an accurate way to assess your body fat. Similar to hydrostatic weighing, air displacement plethysmography ADP estimates your body fat percentage based on the density of your body 9.

However, ADP uses air instead of water. The relationship between the volume and pressure of air allows this device to predict the density of your body You sit inside an egg-shaped chamber for several minutes while the pressure of the air inside the chamber is altered.

To obtain accurate measurements, you need to wear skin-tight clothing or a bathing suit during testing. The Bod Pod is the main ADP device currently used. It predicts your body fat with air rather than water. BIA devices detect how your body responds to small electrical currents.

This is done by placing electrodes on your skin. Some electrodes send currents into your body, while others receive the signal after it has passed through your body tissues.

Electrical currents move through muscle easier than fat due to the higher water content of muscle BIA devices work by sending small electrical currents through your body to see how easily they travel through your tissues.

Many different devices are available, although advanced devices produce more accurate results. BIS and BIA devices look similar but use different technology.

BIS uses a much larger number of electrical currents than BIA, in addition to high and low frequencies, to mathematically predict your amount of body fluid BIS also analyzes the information differently, and some researchers believe that BIS is more accurate than BIA 14 , However, similar to BIA, BIS uses the body fluid information it gathers to predict your body composition based on equations The accuracy of both of these methods depends on how similar you are to the people for whom these equations were developed However, BIS uses more electrical currents and processes the information differently.

However, while BIA and BIS send currents through your whole body, EIM sends currents through smaller regions of your body These devices are placed on different parts of the body to estimate the body fat of those specific areas Because this device is placed directly on specific body regions, it has some similarities to skinfold calipers, although the technologies are very different.

EIM injects electrical currents into small body regions. Portable devices are placed directly on different body parts to estimate the body fat percentage at those locations.

More research is needed to establish the accuracy of this method. For some devices, you stand on a rotating platform for several minutes while the sensors detect your body shape. Other devices use sensors that rotate around your body.

In this way, 3-D body scanners are similar to circumference measurements. However, a greater amount of information is provided by a 3-D scanner The method uses information about your body shape to predict your body fat percentage.

More information is needed about the accuracy of these methods. Multi-compartment models are considered to be the most accurate method of body composition assessment 3 , These models split the body into three or more parts.

The most common assessments are called 3-compartment and 4-compartment models. These models require multiple tests to get estimates of body mass, body volume, body water and bone content For example, hydrostatic weighing or ADP can provide body volume, BIS or BIA can provide body water and DXA can measure bone content.

Information from each of these methods is combined to build a more complete picture of the body and obtain the most accurate body fat percentage 21 , However, they involve multiple tests and are not typically available to the general public.

Some methods, such as skinfold measurements, circumference calculations and portable BIA devices, are inexpensive and allow you to be measured in your own home as frequently as you like.

The devices can also be purchased online easily, such as on Amazon. Most of the methods with highest accuracies are not available to use in your own home. If you want a more accurate assessment and are willing to pay for it, you could pursue a method with good accuracy like hydrostatic weighing, ADP or DXA.

Ideally, you should do the test before you have anything to drink, especially for methods that rely on electrical signals like BIA, BIS and EIM. Assessing yourself the same way each time will reduce error rates and make it easier to tell if you are making progress.

However, you should always interpret your results from any method with caution. Even the best methods are not perfect and only give you an estimate of your true body fat. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Several dietary and lifestyle changes can help you burn body fat. Here are 12 great methods to promote long-term fat loss. It is a myth that a pound of body fat contains exactly 3, calories. This article explains the actual amount and what that means for weight loss.

This article takes a look at the science behind targeted fat loss, and checks if you can slim down specific areas of your body. If losing weight is your goal, this article covers 18 foods that may help support a healthy and sustainable weight loss journey, according to science.

Making a few small changes to your morning routine can help you lose weight and keep it off. This article tells you how.

Exercise burns calories, but many people claim it doesn't help you lose weight. This article explores whether exercise really helps with weight loss. Male body types are often divided into three types, determined by factors like limb proportions, weight, height, and body fat distribution.

You can easily estimate your basal metabolic rate using the Mifflin-St. Jeor equation — or by using our quick calculator. Here's how.