Health Check ups

EEmain

EEmain

Registered User
The nurses from the benies dept. were at our location today for quick checkups..
I had some quick tests done..

Total C: 157
BP: 119/80
GLUCOSE:96
Now these numbers are close to what the DOC got 2 months ago.. However one of the nurses had a handheld
body fat monitor.. I have heard these things are far from accurate. But this one must have been way off..
First I got mine checked 27.5%! I questioned this.."These things are highly accurate." She also told me muscle was heavier than fat.. and that I am very obese.
So I waited untill the big boys came in.. now these guys are shorter or not much taller than me and go close to 300lbs.. I was one of them not long ago..
The average was between 28 and 33%.. I couldnt believe it. I am not a Mass monster but not small either. And definetly in alot better shape than most of the peeps I work with.. Guess I will have to figure out how to do the test myself now.. She pissed me off by saying I was "Very Obese."
 
She probally didn't know what the hell she was doing or talking about. Most people in the medical field have no idea about body composition, they just go by a ridiculous wall chart. Bodyfat testing I'm sure is very new to people in the medical field. Your best bet is a mirror.



EEmain said:
The nurses from the benies dept. were at our location today for quick checkups..
I had some quick tests done..

Total C: 157
BP: 119/80
GLUCOSE:96
Now these numbers are close to what the DOC got 2 months ago.. However one of the nurses had a handheld
body fat monitor.. I have heard these things are far from accurate. But this one must have been way off..
First I got mine checked 27.5%! I questioned this.."These things are highly accurate." She also told me muscle was heavier than fat.. and that I am very obese.
So I waited untill the big boys came in.. now these guys are shorter or not much taller than me and go close to 300lbs.. I was one of them not long ago..
The average was between 28 and 33%.. I couldnt believe it. I am not a Mass monster but not small either. And definetly in alot better shape than most of the peeps I work with.. Guess I will have to figure out how to do the test myself now.. She pissed me off by saying I was "Very Obese."
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handhelp bioelectric impedence to check bf is always accurate for me, did you take your shoes off?(sometimes having them on interfers with it) and did she enter your height and weight right? and also was it done on a full or empty stomach?(empty gives more accurate rating) also if batteries were low that would effect it also.

the device is accurate but the littlest thing can mess up the reading!!
 
bencozzy said:
handhelp bioelectric impedence to check bf is always accurate for me, did you take your shoes off?(sometimes having them on interfers with it) and did she enter your height and weight right? and also was it done on a full or empty stomach?(empty gives more accurate rating) also if batteries were low that would effect it also.

the device is accurate but the littlest thing can mess up the reading!!
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He didn't mention what type of device was used, just that it was handheld...It could have also been a caliper, or Near-Infrared Interactance which is last in line for reliability. However with Bioelectric Impedance like you said the results can be skewed. Some things that can alter it are hydration level and skin temperature. The most effective way to measure is Hydrostatic Weighing, but I'm sure that cost a considerable amount...
 
It wasn`t calipers but a device I held. It was aprox. 20 min after lunch and my workboots were on.

Since posting I have been reading about these tests and found a few sites to enter measurements into.
One came back 22% and the other came back 19.6.

Hydrostatic testing is available in my area for around $100. However I will be shopping for calipers this weekend.
 
EEmain said:
It wasn`t calipers but a device I held. It was aprox. 20 min after lunch and my workboots were on.

Since posting I have been reading about these tests and found a few sites to enter measurements into.
One came back 22% and the other came back 19.6.

Hydrostatic testing is available in my area for around $100. However I will be shopping for calipers this weekend.
Click to expand...
Did it say "Futrex-5000" on it?
 
No I looked at this online and it is not it. It looked like a steering wheel for a gocart.

Never thought of getting the name...
 
Sounds like it was a Bio Electrical Impedence test, they are not very accurate at all. How it works is it sends an electrical impulse through your body, in your case since you were holding it in your hands it went through one hand, through your body then back out the other hand. It measures the amount of resistance that is encountered as the electrical impulse goes through your body. Since muscle contains much more water than fat would, the electrical impulse would travel through a person with more muscle and less fast much faster since water is an excellent conductor of electricity, thus there would be less resistance going through the body and would read at a lower body fat level. Here is where its fault is, if you are dehydrated there is obviously going to be less amount of water in your body, making it more difficult and take longer for the impulse to travel through your body, thus reading a higher body fat measurement, so the results of this test are very unaccurate and really depend completely on how well hydrated you are. In one of my kinesiology labs, we did 3 different types of body fat tests, skin fold-fairly accurate, BIA(bioelectrical impedence), and underwater weighing, which is pretty much the gold standard, next to the DEXA which is the best, but very expensive. My skinfold I believe came out to 12%bf, my underwater weighing results came out to 11.7%bf, and my BIA results came out to 18.5%, so draw your own conclusions from that, it is not very accurate and I wouldnt worry about it. One other thing, dont ever go by BMI, that thing is ridiculously unaccurate for judging weight problems, I had another lab a week ago, my previous lab was last year, and according to my BMI I was one point away from being obese, and my skinfolds came out to 6.1%. The BMI is a joke in my opinion. Hope my explanation of the BIA test made sense, if not I can try and explain it again.
 
Just go to a gym and have them do a skin fold (caliper) reading. If you want your own calipers I dont trust the plastic springy ones. I have a Lange and those usually run about 220 and the calibration just cost me 70 but the skin fold is usually accurate within 2% if done correctly.

That nurse also said muscle weighs more than fat, I always thought a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weighed the same.
 
ironviking said:
Just go to a gym and have them do a skin fold (caliper) reading. If you want your own calipers I dont trust the plastic springy ones. I have a Lange and those usually run about 220 and the calibration just cost me 70 but the skin fold is usually accurate within 2% if done correctly.

That nurse also said muscle weighs more than fat, I always thought a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weighed the same.
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No muscle does weigh more than fat. Its more dense so it takes up less space. Fat is less dense so its spread out more. I also would trust anyone at a gym with a caliper. I think the mirror is your best bet...
 
i hate people like this!
It's so ridiculous how people who have no idea about exercise and nutrition can tell you that you are "very obese". i would be so pissed off.
look at urself though and look at your colleagues, they're obviously fatter than you and in no way as in shape as you are.
I wouldn't worry about what the test says.
 
ironviking said:
Just go to a gym and have them do a skin fold (caliper) reading. If you want your own calipers I dont trust the plastic springy ones. I have a Lange and those usually run about 220 and the calibration just cost me 70 but the skin fold is usually accurate within 2% if done correctly.

That nurse also said muscle weighs more than fat, I always thought a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weighed the same.
Click to expand...

Oh I see what your saying now!..Duh!. Of course they weigh the same!. Muscle is just a lot more dense so it takes up less space. Of course a pound of fat and a pound of muscle are gonna weigh the same!. Its just the fat would take up at lot more space(volume!)...Sorry I didn't really think about it!. I'm still pretty sick so I have an excuse!
 
T-Bone said:
Oh I see what your saying now!..Duh!. Of course they weigh the same!. Muscle is just a lot more dense so it takes up less space. Of course a pound of fat and a pound of muscle are gonna weigh the same!. Its just the fat would take up at lot more space(volume!)...Sorry I didn't really think about it!. I'm still pretty sick so I have an excuse!
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LOL, I thought I was going to have to explain density to you. True about the people at the gym with a caliper most of those people have no clue as to what they're doing but its got to be better than an impedance tester and less expensive than hydrostatic.

When I use to measure people I would sometimes leave bruises.....good thing those women didnt know there was no such thing as a glute measurement :thumbsup:
 
Thanks guys! I was pissed because of all the hard work I`ve done in a year seemed to mean nothing..

I used that anger to kill my legs yesterday and am paying for it today.. But in a good way!
 
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