Customer Reviews

FatTrack GOLD Digital Body Fat Caliper with FREE MyoTape

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I just got this thing and I'm happy with it in general, but there is a reference to an "IMPROVE YOUR MEASURING SKILLS" guide that is not included. It is impossible to get reliable results with this tool without a diagram of where to get the measurements. Just saying chest, abdomen, thigh is ridiculously unclear.

It is also somewhat difficult to learn how to pinch fat only. The first few times you are likely to get crazy results.

I was able to find this manual page on the internet:
http://www.accufitness.com/products/fattrack_pro_manual2.html
It cleared up most of my issues.

--brian

Back in the old days before they had scales and hand-held devices to measure your body fat percentage, you actually had to "pinch your skin" to figure out your body fat. Maybe you remember this from grade school? You can still do that if you want to! Here is a digital caliper, the Fat Track II.

First, how a caliper works in general. You pinch a portion of your skin up away from your body. The three locations are your thigh, your abdomen, and then an "upper area". For men the upper area is the chest. For women (for sort of obvious reasons) it has to be somewhere else, so they go with the back of their arm. This gives a general overall body fat measurement.

How can this work? Fat tends to line the inside of your skin. For example, that is why people who were obesely overweight, who then drop down to only "overweight" have "pouches". It is because they still have fat inside their skin and that fat is pulling the skin down. If you watch The Biggest Loser, you know that if you really do lose that fat, your skin tones up. You lose the pouch. The caliper is measuring the thickness of that fat layer against your skin.

The downside of this technique is it can be VERY hard to learn how to do. You have to pinch the skin in just the right spot to get it to fold. You have to measure that exact same spot each day, to keep the results consistent! If you measure one location one day, and another location the next, you aren't measuring apples to apples.

Plus if you are very overweight it might simply be hard to get the skin to pull out and fold. It might be tight against the underlying fat.

However, the only "real" test that is 100% accurate is to go to a health club with an underwater scale. You submerge your entire body (including your head) underwater and weigh yourself there. Since fat, muscle etc. has different densities, this guarantees that the scale can determine how much is fat. Most of us can't afford to do that!

How does this compare with the electrical current systems? The upside for the electrical current stand-on scales and hand-held measurers is that that they require no skill. You stand on it or hold it and your fat number is provided. The downside is that, since it involves an electrical current, your body needs to be conductive. If your feet are too wet, or lotioned, or too dry, the current won't conduct properly. Some people try those scales dripping wet or bone dry and then complain they don't work properly. Also, those scales tend to be expensive.

So this caliper has the advantage of being relatively cheap, and second only to the full submission technique in its POTENTIAL for accuracy. However, if you aren't good at measuring in the exact spot - or doing it with the right technique - it *cannot* be accurate. A system designed to measure fat at the upper thigh isn't going to work if you're using it on your lower thigh. A system designed to measure skin fold fat isn't going to work if you're using it on your muscle. So there is a LOT of room here for human error.

That all being said - if you take the time to learn about the areas you're measuring, and pay CLOSE attention to the spots you use, and are precise about how you fold, this can work amazingly well! In that sense, everything is far more "under your control" than with an electronic scale. The caliper is small and fits in your purse. It's cheap. It's very reliable and reproducible.

So in terms of potential and doing what it should, I give this a 5/5. But as a caveat - if you know you're just not a precise person, and won't pay that much attention to the details - I'd say buy a scale. The scale is FAR easier for most people, and is very accurate. Just have your feet medium moist and lotion free when you stand on it. Either way you should have SOME fat measurement device in your home. It is extremely critical in your goal of maintaining a healthy weight to know not just your "raw weight" but also how much of you is fat.

No guessing or benefit of the doubt here. Exactly and quickly measures body fat for any age and gender. Will track 3 people complete with records. Know your fat % in about a minute. I'm a mid 30's dad who always lifted weights, so with bigger muscles it helped to look "in shape" even when my waist went up to 36". Testing with Fat Track every week was awesome! I went to a 31" Calvin Klein jeans, (working out OF COURSE)still weighing about 200 pounds. How awesome THAT felt! Better than high school, baby! For my wife too! It REALLY helps to see the results a week after you don't exercise and eat that fried seafood dinner, or go nuts with the chocolate fudge! Your fat % goes UP over the next week or so! Get motivation from exercise...you see the results. We lost ours and I'm ordering another one because BOTH of us are gaining weight now without it...that tells me it REALLY makes a difference. (We must lie to ourselves, but Fat Track tells us the horrible-or terrific- truth.)

I read these reviews and wondered how the Bodybuilding Federation could endorse a product that got these bad reviews.

So, I bought one. I love it!

Now, I can see how some people may not have been able to use it effectively, because it only opens a few inches and is probably more for fit people than for heavy people. Bit if you are fit and just want to see how fit, this is the device for you.

I find the results very repeatable. Each of the three measurement sites have been repeatable within 1mm over dozens of trys.

The Myotape is also cool. Use it and mybodycomp.com to get your body fat percentage and see just how close the number is to the number the calipers give you. Amazingly, for me, the number was identical.

Great product! Much better than my body fat scale which gives me double the number that this gives me.

True, the included instructions are a bit hard to understand, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to use. It might be a little easier for men because the sites to measure are easy to get to (chest, tummy, leg). I found the FatTrack to be pretty consistent and the MyoTape is really easy to use. If you want to get just one..I too would suggest the myotape..you can use www.mybodycomp.com to calculate your body fat. Something I just found out was that this item is reimbursable from most insurance medical saving accounts.

The AccuFitness AccuMeasure FatTrack Gold Body Fat Caliper is not hard to learn to use technically, but if you don't know how to pinch the right part of the skin in the right places you can end up with wildly varying readings. Once you have the technique down and get consistent readings each time the results are pretty accurate.

I tried it the same day that I was hydrostatically tested and it was within 1.5%. However, if you pinch too much or too little skin your readings will be meaningless. It Takes some practice.

Worked great, seemed really awesome but then it started blinking and making crazy noises and I would have to take out the battery just to make it stop. Now I'm on Amazon looking to buy another one.. grumble, grumble

Before I begin this review I have to get this out there, this is my first body fat measuring unit I have used and It is possible that I'm not utilizing it the correct way. That being said, I read the manual and pamphlet that came with the unit over and over again and looked up as much information as I could online to find out how to get a consistent and accurate reading. So far I have used a ruler to measure from the same spot as much as possible and my readings still can vary 10% give or take. I feel like my readings fluctuate less the more I use it, but I don't really think they're all that accurate, just more of a point of reference. I guess you could say that I feel like I "got what I paid for" from this thing. I don't see many other appealing alternatives out there in this price range, so maybe this is the best you can get for $30. Be prepared to be frustrated in the begin using this thing, because you have to figure out how hard to squeeze the caliper and when to push the button that takes the measurement, this can be tricky. The measuring tape included with the unit is very useful however.

Two items came in this package.
The first is the Body Fat Caliper.
Initially I found it a little quirky but once you get familiar with the procedure it is very simple to use. It is set up to determine percentage body fat based on three skin fold measurements. If you want to use the more involved seven measurement calculation it displays the caliper reading in millimeters which you can use to manually number crunch. Of course the more involved measurements generally require a second person taking the measurements.
The second item included is the Mayotape.
This is really handy when trying to measure yourself. The end of the tape has a securing point on one side of the handle. As you pull the tape out it will not spool back in until you give it a quick jerk (similiar to positioning a pull down window blind). So you make a big loop that you can put you arm through or put around your chest, give it a jerk and it sucks up around you. Then, simply take the measurement at the edge of the handle. It still requires a little dexterity but alot nicer to use and gives more consistant readings than a loose tape.
It would be nice if the package included a little more information on taking proper measurements but that is what the internet is there for.

The product itself, the FatTrack Gold and Myotape, comes with quality packaging and good presentation. Both devices appear well made and in line with the product description.

FatTrack Gold:
Simple operation as far as user set-up and instantaneous calculation of body fat percentage. Simple features and a compact design. In use however, there is the common problem of "user error". Prior to receiving the device I sought out a number of articles and descriptions to accurately take my own body fat measurements. I must say that despite a good sense of the placement of the calipers and practice, readings still vary on a fairly wide level. At this point the device is not being used as a tool to monitor my progress any more than the mirror.

MyoTape:
The MyoTape was as much a desired purchase as the FatTrack. It is simple, locks into place, and has ample tape to track your various measurements. Easy to use.

Conclusion:
Give the FatTrack a fair shake on developing consistency, however as an immediate tool I believe the mirror and the scale are more effective.