Skinfold measurement is based on the belief that approximately 50 of total body fat lies under the skin and involves measuring the thickness of the skinfolds at standardized sites. The skinfold caliper is a device which measures the thickness of a fold of your skin with its underlying layer of fat.
How To Calculate Your Bodyfat Percentage Using Skin Fold Calipers
Skinfold measurement body fat percentage. By doing this at the key locations can be a quite accurate representative of the total amount of fat that is on your body it is also possible to estimate the total percent of bodyfat on your body. The body fat caliper calculator is based on the skinfold method of determining body fat percentage. Two equations are required for this process one to estimate body density and one to estimate percent body fat from the body density. Skinfold measurement equations can help produce a relatively accurate estimate of body fat as long as the measurements are taken correctly. How do i take body fat caliper measurements. Measurement errors can range from 355 body fat 3.
Summary estimating body fat percentage with skinfold calipers is. Caliper procedures all calculator measurements should be made on the right side of the body caliper should be placed 1 cm away from thumb and finger perpendicular to skinfold and halfway between crest and base of fold pinch should be maintained while reading the caliper. Body fat mass is extracted from the above percentage with the use of weight. Below the form there are in depth instructions on how to take the skinfold test and also the formulas used. For results to be valid and reliable the skinfold measurements must be taken properly and they should be taken by the same technician from one measurement to the next. This technique of measurement is based on the densitometry technique underwater weighing and the prediction equations are population specific.
The skinfold method measures skinfold thickness at 3 to 9 different locations on the body depending on the method used then computes body density and with it the total body fat percentage. The test can be used on all populations including children although reliable readings may be difficult to obtain on obese people. Skinfold testing also known as calliper testing is a commonly used method to determine a clients body fat percentage. A skinfold test is used for monitoring changes in body composition over time and to estimate body fat. Body fat mass bf x weight 100 lean body mass is calculated as the difference between weight and body fat mass because it represents the portion of weight that is lean not made of fat. Here is an example of a 7 site skinfold assessment.
This body fat percentage 3 site skinfold test estimates the fat and lead body masses based on skinfold measurements taken with calipers. Example of a calculation.