Skwigg
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Do It Yourself Body Fat Testing

I think it's best to learn to do your own body fat readings. There's definitely a learning curve if you're using calipers, but if you do it yourself, you can be really consistent. If it's just some person at the gym and you get a different person with a different pair of calipers each time, you won't be able to reliably compare the readings. You also want to avoid being tested by an inexperienced friend or spouse who doesn't understand the gravity of screwing up your readings. Getting your fat pinched is a loaded experience. It's important that innocent bystanders reach minimum safe distance.

The only plastic caliper I recommend to people is the SlimGuide. They're big, easy to handle, and spring loaded for constant tension on the pinch. Anything you snap or click closed yourself is going to be less consistent from reading to reading. I especially hated the FatTrack digital calipers. After taking a dozen readings in a row that were everything from 13% to 23%, I had a hyperventilating breakdown and trashed the things.

Here's a crash course in using calipers:
T-Mag's Body Composition for Beginners

Here's a handy site that shows you where to pinch and averages three readings for each location:
 
 
The more sites pinched in a caliper test, the more accurate it is, but many of the pinch locations on a 7-site test are impossible to reach by yourself. A 3-site test is still pretty accurate and it's possible to do it by yourself at home. In fact, if you take your readings three times in a row every morning for a week, you should become quite consistent at it. Your numbers won't vary and you'll know for sure that you're always pinching the same area and grabbing the same amount of skin.

The only tricky reading to get yourself is the tricep. To get that one, look at the back of your arm in a mirror. Find the center point between your armpit and elbow and dot it with a felt tip pen. Hold the marked arm straight out in front of you at shoulder level (like Frankenstein) and grab the mark with the calipers. It takes some practice to be consistent but it's totally doable. For all of your pinches, use an average of three readings. If there's more than a couple millimeters difference in the three, then you know you need some more practice.

You can also use a bioelectrical impedance method like a Tanita scale or an Omron handheld, but they are MUCH less reliable. Tanitas tend to read people 7-8% high and have been responsible for a lot of panic and tears. Omrons tend to read 3-4% high but are quite consistent. They're great for ease of use and spotting a general downward trend. I'll admit that I do like my "mOron" and use it more than any other testing method. Here are some tips for using an Omron Body Fat Analyzer.


And here's a link to the Biofitness Calculator if you want to estimate your body fat using just a tape measure. The closer you are to "average" the more accurate that one will be. For someone who's very big or very small, the numbers can be a little wacky. Remember that it's just an estimate. It can also be used for spotting downward trends. It's very consistent in that regard. For me, it's usually within 1% of my caliper readings.

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