With all the high tech fat testing gizmos available these days, you might wonder if
skinfold testing is really accurate – especially a one-site skinfold test. I have to
admit, the first time I saw an Accu measure, I thought the little plastic thingy was
a piece of junk. I didn't see how it could possibly come close to comparing to my
$450 "Skyndex I" digital caliper we use at our health clubs (with a four-site
measurement). It wasn't until I used the Accu Measure myself and had hundreds
of my clients use it (who didn't have any other options for testing), that I began to
appreciate the value of this simple instrument.
What I discovered is that there's definitely a learning curve and you may get wildly
inconsistent measurements when you first start using the Accu measure. But after
you master the technique, you will get measurements with uncanny accuracy and
consistency (and it's consistency that really matters, not "accuracy.")
For example, the first time you measure your illiac crest (hip bone) skinfold, taking
three measurements in a row, you might get readings of 14 mm, then 17 mm
Then 9 mm, etc. This shows very poor accuracy because you're a beginner and
you're unfamiliar with proper "skinfold pinching" technique and site location using
anatomical landmarks.
Don't worry. Everything is difficult the first time, and practice makes perfect - so
practice! For the first week, measure yourself every day – for practice purposes,
not for progress reporting purposes (because you won't see much difference in
body fat from day to day). Within that first week, your technique will improve
dramatically. You'll see measurements more like this: 14 mm, 13 mm, and 15
mm. Each skinfold in this example is only one millimeter apart, indicating that your
accuracy has improved (you can average those three numbers to 14 mm as your
official measurement, by the way).
Within two or three weeks of practicing, you'll have excellent accuracy. You know
you have the technique perfected when you get three of three or at least two of
three measurements identical. For example: 13 mm, 13 mm, 13 mm, or 13 mm,
13 mm, 14 mm.
During the sometimes frustrating learning stages, it will make you feel better to
know this: When I was in college learning body composition testing in exercise
physiology lab and then again in ACSM certification workshops, our instructors and
professors told us that it takes 100 tests on 100 different subjects before you are a
"proficient expert" at testing. So stick with it. (And keep that in mind if you choose
to have someone else measure you).
Even if you have access to a fitness professional, personal trainer or exercise
physiologist to measure you with a multiple site skinfold test, the accuracy will only
be as good as the tester's experience and testing technique. The technique of
skinfold testing is not accurate or inaccurate per se –the person doing the testing
is accurate or inaccurate. So... you might as well become an accurate tester
yourself, right?
