So, I finally got one of those Tanita scales BC549 last weekend in LP and of course I have been weighting myself twice a day… Before the race my body fat was %5.4 and since then it when down to %5.0.
I’m just curious have any of you seen numbers under %5.0?
Note: My intention isn’t to get leaner or start a comparaison thread. Some data will not go under a certain number like the metabolism which is top to 12. There’s nothing mentionning a limit for BF%, tried to foul the scale by add more inches to my height to see if the number would change but it stayed the same.
For what it’s worth, I find mine to be fairly accurate. Routinely register between 7 and 8%. I had a test taken at the doctor’s office the other day with the calipers (I know, still not the most accurate) and came out at 8%.
I used to coach an athlete that during a training camp had the scale give an error because he was so lean. We force fed him back to 4%
Anyway, those scales are pretty useless, unless your goal is to induce in you or others a possible eating disorder. Get rid of it ASAP.
Paulo:
Why do you say they are useless? I really am curious b/c I am considering buying one, but, have quetioned the possible accuracy. I guess I am not so concerned about how “true” it is as much as I am concerned that it is consistent. I also like the idea of showing hydration level for day-to-day monitoring.
They’re not useless. They’re pretty good at measuring your level of hydration!
I can’t tell if you are messing with me. It sounds like you have had experience with these with the athletes you are training. I am wondering what the “flaws” are in the unit and whether they are worth the money. The new model had metal grips for your hands that is supposed to send the current through your body more accurately. However, it costs $300.
I used to coach an athlete that during a training camp had the scale give an error because he was so lean. We force fed him back to 4%
Anyway, those scales are pretty useless, unless your goal is to induce in you or others a possible eating disorder. Get rid of it ASAP.
Hi Paulo,
I’m well aware that they aren’t accurate… At the IMLP expo I had a body fat of 7.1% and then got to my hotel room and it drop to 5.4%…well walk a mile and almost drop 2%, that amazing!!!
I will also add to your quote of inaccuracy, that one of my friend did a test on three different scales down there and none gave the same BF%… They weight was pretty accurate.
I would never recommended someone to use this scale for dieting/lose body fat… It’s simply a gagdet. I had my body fat measure taken with calipers a few years ago and it was 6.3%, then again this method isn’t accurate. I presume that I must have a body fat in the range of 6-8%…so the scale isn’t too off reality, but I never rely on it.
The question why the heck did I got $100 scale instead of $15 at wall-mart…?
1- The cheap one I have home broke
2- I like the look
3- Recall of the past numbers
4- guess I don’t have much arguments… I had the money
They’re not useless. They’re pretty good at measuring your level of hydration!
Bingo!
They don’t measure body fat, they measure the amount of water in you, and you some regression equations to calc BF%. If you clinch up you can change number also.
I’ll throw my hand in for someone who would whole-heartedly recommend buying a tanita to track leaning out, but not to get true results of your bfat %. These scales are only mildly accurate (have done underwater weighing and professional calipering as well for comparison), however, if the conditions are controlled, they are very precise, that is will give consistent readings. If you dont believe this, test yourself 10 times in a row.
How this can be used to your advantage is by making it a routine. I wake up every morning, strip, get rid of some water weight (urinate), and weigh… this will show you accurately day-to-day how you are progressing. Equally important to this is the effect knowing you will be tanita’d in the morning has on your dietary choices throughout the day. If you are an Excel-junkie like I am, you can also take the daily numbers, add some data trends and guess where you might be at a future point in time (pm me if you want a screenshot haha).
btw, i have the 90 dollar version, if i do have one complaint, its that they make so many different models that it dilutes the perception of quality in my mind.
good luck with it,
Scott
those scales are pretty useless, unless your goal is to induce in you or others a possible eating disorder.
thank you, Paulo. These things are so depressing!
my parents have a fancier version than I do and I got that thing to fluctuate between 40% and 19% in the course of one day…go figure…
so depressing these things…on mine, I am in the friggin overweight range of 27ish while my hubbie who doesn’t even train ever is at 6%
:(
I have had one for 5 or 6 years. Paulo’s comments regarding hydration are accurate, and provide a good use for the scale. Read the instructions and they will tell you that the measurement is quite sensitive to hydration. I have found this to be very true. If I track my daily (morning) readings, they are very stable. If I quit drinking coffee, there is a step change down by about 1.5% as a result of better hydration. I use this feature the morning after long rides to help determine if I re-hydrated adequately. So to get good measurements you need to take your measurements are roughly the same time everyday, preferably first thing in the morning.
As for the actual BF measurement, I don’t care about accuracy, but about repeatability. Mine is very repeatable, to within about 0.3%. (They make different models, with different resolutions. Mine resolves to 0.1%). I find it very usefull for making sure I am getting sufficient calories to fuel and rebuild, while not overeating and just putting on pounds.
Short version - It does measure hydration, it is repeatable, and given consistent hydration when you take measurements it can be used to know if you are building muscle, getting fat, etc.
My scale reads 16%. I did a body pod (highly exact) and it has me half that. Users have told me that while find that while they are off they tend to be consistently off. So if you use it to chart progress its kind of useful. I don;t know if others have had that experience. I got mine to encourage my eating disorder. Its not working, but I do find that the scale is a good place to stack old pizza boxes, without it the grease can ruin the hard wood floor.
Also the scale itself seems to work even if the body fat part doesn’t, so at least its a nice digital scale.
Before the race my body fat was %5.4 and since then it when down to %5.0.
