new scale
I'm looking to upgrade my old bathroom scale. I'm thinking about fine tuning body comp in the upcoming months. I visited Tanita Scale website - lots of choices
. I've heard good/bad things about the BMI measurement ability. What features do you guys find useful? Any model recommendations?
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Comments
General consensus is that the BF% for these scales is not at all accurate. It's based on the conductivity of your body, which is greatly influenced by your hydration state. Since ours is all over the place, it's not accurate. Years ago, when I would use one, I'd see my BF% go from 8% to 6% to 12% in the same day, based on how hydrated I was.
Scale, mirror and belt loops...that's my method.
Couple of years ago I bought Carole one of these because she always complained about the variablity of typical scales....... cost me about $150 but saved me lots of headaches..... One of the best purchases I've made. It is a Detecto 2 beam scale.
The Tanita scales CAN be very accurate - IF you get the right one and IF you use it correctly.
Rich is correct that they estimate fat% by measuring "impedance" - which is a measurement of the resistance to an electrical charge passing through your body. Because muscle contains more water than fat, and because fat and muscle have "known" percentages of water, you can use equations to estimate body composition based on impedance. The problem - as Rich points out - is that being dehydrated can really screw up the accuracy of the prediction equations. I did a project a few years ago where we looked at lightweight rowers (who cut weight like wrestlers) - and the more dehydrated they were, the "fatter" they appeared (using over 20 different prediction equations).
That said, I use a Tanita scale (TBF-300A) in some of our "field" studies (where we have to calculate BF% and BMR at a remote location without access to the DEXA or BodPod or Hydrostatic Weighing) and this model is reasonably accurate (a couple percent different from the "gold standard" methods with adequate hydration status). The problem with the TBF-300A is that is costs about $3k - so you don't want to stick that in your bathroom.
In my own bathroom, I use Tanita's "Ironman Innerscan" scale (a rebranded version of their BC-558). The accuracy of this scale (which I've compared to DEXA, Bodpod, and Hydrostatic) is pretty good - it uses an "athlete" prediction equation that gets you into the same ballpark as Hydrostatic (I generally run about 1% "skinnier" on the Tanita than in an underwater tank.
Here are some thoughts with USING a BIA scale (if you decide to get one - and if you do, get a Tanita, they really are the best):
1. weight at the same time of day (i.e. in the morning after using the bathroom)
2. make sure you are fully hydrated from yesterday's workout
3. don't "check" yourself multiple times per day because all you're measuring is water volume shifts
4. (for the ladies) - don't freak out when your BF% jumps 3-4% during the first few days of your period - again, water volume shifts
5. don't worry about your BF% number being "right" (all the different methods will vary from each other by a couple %) - rather, use the scale to keep track of whether or not your BF% is going in the right direction (lower)
Hope some of that helps...
Shawn
@ Coach Rich - I can't count laps worth beans in the pool, but I have been successfully using the scale, mirror and belt test for my weight check for years.
I have a Tanita's BC-558 Ironman Segmental Body Composition Monitor. The results from it align well very with a $10K high end Inbody machine. As Shawn suggested, I weigh each AM after waking up. The segmentation units with athlete mode are said to give more consistent results. As Rich mentions hydration levels can make a noticeable change. If you take a measure each day you quickly know where you should be. The units stores data for 4 people. I measure each AM then measure again post my last workout of the day.
The measures taken and recorded are weight, body fat % (total and segmental), body water %, muscle mass (total and segmental), bone mass, BMR, visceral fat, metabolic age and physique rating. The unit will graph each of those measures my week, month, and year so it is easy to see the trends.
I am very happy with the scale.
To Paul's comment, don't reconsider purchasing the Tanita just because it is imperfect. It is a great tool. I use it most mornings after getting up and using the restroom. I know that the number it gives me will be high (because I'm dehydrated after sleeping), but also repeatable (because 'how' dehydrated I am doesn't change much). Therefore, it is very helpful in seeing whether or not I'm going in the right direction.
Just one additional suggestion. Get one that spits out the % body water (hydration) level. It's a good check for that day you drink like a camel, and the next morning think that you lost 2% body fat overnight...
All
Thx for the input.
Shawn i've been reading your website - great info - some of it fits me to a "T" - especially 25 hrs of stuff into a 24 hr day
I've been using the Coach R method (he's the consumate value/$ guy - love it) for the past year while I've dropped about 15#. My officially calibrated finger tips tell me my lower body fat near zero (no surprises there considering our sports), my upper body is pretty good as well - the mid section well - I need some work (love handles) - i'm guessing 5-10 lbs extra - I haven't concentrated on this yet based on the posts i've read that it's better to wait for the end of OS (procrastinator). Overall I eat very well (thank you wifey) with one chink in my armor - Mt Dew - 1 per day (i can't stand the diet stuff - aftertaste).
I know what needs to be done - now just do it!!!!
Us engineers like to track all sorts of data - so I'll be adding a Tanita to my wish list.
Jeff
Cheap hydration status monitor:
Check the color of your urine. If anything other than clear...drink water. There was a "piss chart" above every urinal at USMC boot camp, as x color = drink y canteens of water. To this day it's impossible for me to take a piss, not note the color, and not estimate how much water I need to drink to fix it.
I tell people pale lemonade to clear color. If you are taking multivitamins you may pee bright yellow a couple of times after ingestion. If they are time-released you may pee bright yellow all day. Since we are talking colors, there is a med for kidney stones that makes you pee Smurf blue.
Here is a link to the urine color chart in case you want to add it to your very own bathroom and be like Coach R.
@ Coach - bringing back some "fond" memories - Paris Island '74 - funny how some of the wierd stuff we learned so long ago sticks with us