172 of 173 people found the following review helpful:
Perfect Buy at this Price
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...
67 of 85 people found the following review helpful:
Don't be deceived....
This product looks like it's made of metal in the picture but it's actually made of flimsy white plastic. It isn't the most accurate device either. Save your money or get one of the better models.
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.
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This review is from: Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 Personal Body Fat Tester (Health and Beauty)
This little plastic product is so quick and easy to measure your body fat percentage that you almost feel like it can't be that accurate.
But just for kicks I had my body fat measured with one of those fancy electronic machines several times before using the Accu-Measure calipers.
The average of three readings for the electronic device was 26% body fat while the Accu-Measure showed 25.5%. Not bad considering this product is a whole heck of a lot CHEAPER than the electronic body fat machines.
I'm trying to get my body fat down to single digits and these Accu-Measure calipers will help me track my progress. VERY affordable and they REALLY work!
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This review is from: Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 Personal Body Fat Tester (Health and Beauty)
This caliper works well and the "click" feature takes the guesswork out of the correct pressure to use. The chart that's included with the documentation is possibly too simplified, but there are sufficient online resources for using the calipers to determine body fat. I consider it a good value for the home user.
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This review is from: Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 Personal Body Fat Tester (Health and Beauty)
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.
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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.
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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.
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This review is from: Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 Personal Body Fat Tester (Health and Beauty)
Considering the price and simplicity of this little tool, I really like it a lot. As other reviewers have said, it does take a little getting used to to ensure repeatability though. Here's why:
These calipers use a clever little "half arm" sticking out from the side to help you to gage how hard to pinch before taking your reading. At the tip off this half arm is a little round tip that, as you pinch the calipers closed, nestles into a little pocket (on the long arm where Accu-Measure is printed). The problem is that you just have to pay careful attention to when that little round tip is fully seated in its pocket and not pinch to squeeze the calipers any more than that.
I consider myself pretty technically inclined and it has taken me a few weeks to get very comfortable and repeatable with squeezing it just right. Now it's no problem at all.
I will say though that an even greater source of variability in measurements (at least for me) is where specifically you measure. There's a little diagram that shows approx where to pinch your gut to measure. I found though that the more I move outward toward my side, the lower the body fat measure. I'm not all that concerned with the specific percentage...I've been using the calipers to mostly gage progress. And I can do this by looking at the millimeters of "pinched fat" and seeing that slowly reduce over time.
You just have to be VERY specific about pinching at EXACTLY the same location and not moving the location around inadvertently. Today I measured 20mm in one location (easily repeated 3 times very accurately) and 1.5 to 2" away (toward my side) measured 14mm (again easily repeated 3 times in a row).
So in short, the calipers are an awesome tool and will read VERY repeatably as long as you pay close attention to what you are doing. I can't vouch for how accurately they translate mm of pinched fat into % body fat. I'd imaging that there are lots of factors beyond the control of these little calipers that affect the accuracy of that correlation. But if all you need to do is track progress, this is a perfect tool for me.
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This product looks like it's made of metal in the picture but it's actually made of flimsy white plastic. It isn't the most accurate device either. Save your money or get one of the better models.
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his is actually the "Accu-Measure" Fitness 2000 caliper, and it is the same caliper sold on Amazon with that name. As far as I can tell, there is almost no difference between this and the Accu-Measure 3000, except that this appears to be a discontinued model. These calipers are very flimsy but they are fairly accurate. It comes with:
# An original Accu-Measure Personal Body Fat Tester
# Body Fat Measurement Instructions
# Men's and Women's Body Fat Measurement Charts
# Body Fat Tracking Charts with the Right Way to Weigh
# Questions and Answers on Body Fat and Calipers
and Body Fat Tips.
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This review is from: Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 Personal Body Fat Tester (Health and Beauty)
This device is a little piece of plastic that simply gets the job done. After some practice i am getting practically the same results with the three point calculations and the one point calculation with the chart provided with the accumeasure 3000. I am getting the same BF% that my doctor gets, so that means the thing actually works perfectly. I suggest you find the formula for the 3skinfold method as it is more accurate than the one skinfold method witht he chart provided. The device seems cheap and could actually probably be cheaper, but it gets the job done with great accuracy, so I dont see the need to buy any other expensive equipment. This is what you need to track fat loss properly. Fully recommend.
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For less than $5 is it a good tool. However, when the caliper measures ~16 mm it is actually ~10mm between the tips. I don't know if this is just mine or it is the way it's suppose to work, but that does change %fat estimation by a significant amount.
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This review is from: Accu-Measure Fitness 3000 Personal Body Fat Tester (Health and Beauty)
This product works as described. The biggest thing with it is the learning curve for taking measurements. I would recommend playing with it & using it often in order to get the hang of it. This should be used to track progress in terms of the measurement size, rather than using the body fat chart provided. I would recommend this product to someone who would like to have a starting point & track progress as they move along.
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