Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 Personal Body Fat Tester
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List Price: Our Price: $5.24 You Save: $14.75 (74%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Customer Reviews of Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 Personal Body Fat Tester
Customer Review: Excellent Product for the Money
Summary: 5 Stars
My first reaction was "This plastic thingy-a-jigamus will accurately measure my body fat?" In a nutshell, the answer is YES. In fact, at work we have a health and fitness coach. She has a two-thousand dollar Tanita bio-electric impedance scale. The difference between her scale and this plastic tool is amazing. The deviation is within 2%. Just practice using it and you will be just fine. When I first used it the average difference between three readings is 2 to 4 mm. Once I got used to it, my readings were consistenly on the money, and I was able to accurately get the same reading even the following day.
Next to a pistol and a rifle (I'm a staunch Second Amendment and US Constitution supporter), I would say this is a must have in every household - especially if you are a bodybuilder, or just want to track your weight (or I should say fat) loss.
Updated April 2, 2008.
Okay. I've been using this thing for over a month now. Just wanted to let you know that I have been consistently losing fat, and that the readings between this tool and the $2000 electric scale is still within 2% deviation. The key is consistency. As long as your readings are consistent, you can be rest assured that you will know whether your body is losing fat, muscle, or both. Again, it's a great tool to have.
Update April 3, 2009
Hello again! It's been over a year. I decided to buy another one because the old one is losing the "click" when I measure. What do you expect? It's plastic, and plastic - just like with any other solid material - will deteriorate in time due to friction. Anyway, I am still giving the accu-measure a 5 star. For the price ($6.95 w/ free shipping as of this writing) you cannot go wrong. In retrospect, I probably should have bought more than 2 while they are still in sale.
Customer Review: Perfect Buy at this Price
Summary: 4 Stars
The caliper is *great* and the myotape can be useful, too. Both are easy to use.
Some reviews have said the caliper is too simple to be effective, but they are mistaken. Their problem is not with the caliper, but the way they are using it (see more below). This product is recommended by the pros, and there is no reason to pay any more.
Caliper: It's a little tough to get a consistent reading, but with practice it gets easier. The product has a great "click" feature so you can never push too hard. Do not use the instructions or the chart that comes with the product, however, as it will decrease the accuracy and consistency of your body fat measurements. A much more reliable method is to use the internet (see below).
Myotape: Very easy to use and good compliment to caliper.
How to maximize this product using the internet:
1) EXRX dot net has a page which lists the skinfold sites to measure under /Testing/BodyCompSites.html and a calculator page under /Calculators/BodyComp.html that will give you the appropriate fat %. I use the 3 site method since the 7 site method requires the help of another person, and it's not necessarily that much superior, anyway.
2) gain-weight-muscle-fast dot com /body-tape-measurements.html lists further regions to measure
3) Each time you measure (weekly, monthly, etc), do it the same time of day in the same exact spot. This will help minimize error.
Note, the instructions which come with the caliper do work, it's just that it isn't the best method, which is why some fitness freaks were complaining. Consistency across measurements is the most important thing when measuring body fat, and the suprailiac is terribly tough spot to hit consistently. Veer just a little off and the reading will change. But if you use the other method I listed, these problems will be alleviated. Also, the 3 site method is more accurate, with minimal additional effort.
Customer Review: Caliper testing is GREAT ... but these are lousy calipers. Too simple for serious measurement.
Summary: 2 Stars
Take note, folks--I am NOT criticizing 'Caliper Fat Testing' as a method of body-fat measurement. I've worked as a personal trainer, and caliper testing, short of water-displacement, is the BEST cheap method. This critique is about the calipers being sold here, THEMSELVES.
These calipers are not up to any form of reliable measurement, because its premise is far too simple.
The instructions include no equations of any kind, and the pinch is intended only for the abdominal skin-fold. Once you measure the skinfold, you take the result (in millimeters) and compare to a color-coded chart which pairs a man/woman's age and measurement to show the bodyfat percentage within the colored stripes of (ideal, overweight, obese, etc.).
This is too simple for a bodyfat measurement. There was no regard for body weight, height, or other skin-fold areas. It would have been nice if the instructions at least included equations so that I could measure myself more accurately on my own--but, no. You may as well use the antiquated Military BMI index.
Granted, the "click" feature is pretty cool, and lets you know exactly how much pressure to apply while measuring. However, if you're a trainer or someone seriously trying to lose body fat and measure your progress, you'll need normal calipers with formulas. This is too basic. A toy.
Customer Review: Great product.
Summary: 5 Stars
These calipers are an excellent, accurate, low cost, reliable way to keep tabs on your body fat percentage. I strongly recommend calipers such as the Accu-measure 3000 over bio electrical impedance methods of measuring body fat because the readings you get are far more consistent and reliable.
The results you will get from bio electrical impedance methods such as Omron hand held body fat analyzers or Tanita body fat scales will fluctuate enormously based on a number of factors such as room temperature, fluid intake, dehydration, activity levels etc etc etc, making their readings wildly inconsistent. I have had my body fat readings vary between 18 and 14 in one day on an Omron body fat analyzer. Obviously the machine is wrong.
With these Accu-measure calipers, measurement is so easy, just grasp the pinch of skin at the Suprailliac as described in the instructions and close the calipers around it until you hear and feel a slight click which lets you know you have applied the correct amount of pressure to measure the thickness of your skinfold. Do this 3 times, take an average and then using the supplied chart (I got mine laminated so it would keep forever) check your results.
Very easy, much cheaper and far superior to bio electrical impedance body fat measuring devices. Highly recommended. Five stars for sure.
Customer Review: Good enough for what it costs
Summary: 4 Stars
Works fairly well for an inexpensive plastic tool. I purchased this with skeptisism (could other calipers be $50 or $200 better than this?), so I had myself and two others tested with professional grade calipers by a qualified staff member at my health club. Then at home I re-measured each other using the Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 -- the measurements compared acceptably. The tool's increment lines on the scale are not easy to read when you are pinching skin, but it does work. Taking skinfold measurements is more art than science, so repeat taking every skinfold measurement until you get the same value twice (you cannot be in a hurry when you do this). The body fat chart included with this tool is very poor however. To get a more accurate body fat score, find another formula that require more measurement locations such as the Yuhasz Equation which requires five measures, see [...]. I calculated body fat for all of us using a one-measure, 2 three-measures, and a five-measure test that tested 7 different body locations (including the one at the health club). The results had a *high* degree of variance. The more pinch datapoints taken appears to be a more reasonable body fat score; the down-side though is you will want an electronic calculator for the formula math and need another person to help you take skinfold measures.