"Hey Ducky,
How do you use your calipers?? I just got one and I'm having a hard time with it. They are supposed to be the kind where it should be easy to do it yourself - then they tell me I have to take a measurement of my tricep! How can you do that? I find it hard to pinch without having my other hand to help.
And how do you know you're always getting the same spot? Depending on how I do it, my measurements can vary a lot!
Do you find it's consistent for you?"
I've been taking mine for a long time. I pretty much have the measure spots down. I do tricep, just above the hip bone, and thigh. My thigh is the hardest to get the same every time. I used to measure from the joint, but now I'm just familiar. You might want to try measuring.
The tricep is the hardest to get. You are supposed to have someone else do it, and grab the skinfold with the arm at your side. The way I do it is to hold my arm up... or out in front so that the arm fat well... lol, hangs there (think bat wings x( ).Then I can get the calipers on it to measure. My thigh is hard because the skinfold fat does not want to separate from the muscle, and getting a caliper on it is not easy and kinda painful. The one at the waist is easy to get.
I have an older spring tension caliper, and a newer FatTrac digital caliper. I find the oder one to be much more consistant. The digital one is supposed to apply the same squeeze presure when it records a measurement but I find I need to manipulate the fat a bit to be sure I only have a pinch of fat and no muscle. So the digital one is more sensitive and goes off before I'm ready and gives me a wide range of readings. The spring one just comes to rest at a tension and stays there. I also keep taking readings in each spot until they are the same, or close enough to pick one in the middle. Like say I get 7, 8, and 9 mm for several readings, I just go with 9 mm.
I also have a tanita scale and have a serious hate relationship with that thing! It tells me I'm obese every morning ;( and it varies a lot on how hydrated I am.
Calipers are the way to go for me. Good luck.