Why Using a Skinfold Caliper? The skinfold caliper is the oldest yet still the most accurate and economical method of measuring body fat percentage. The skinfold caliper measures skinfold thickness at different specific locations on the body, data from the measurements help estimates the body fat percentage. How to Take Skinfold Measurements？ Skinfold measurements are usually taken at specific sites on one side of the body. The skin at the location site is pinched and pulled away from the underlying muscle so only the fat tissue and skin are lifted up. Joinfit skinfold caliper is then used to measure the skinfold thickness in millimeters. Usually two measurements at one site are recorded and then averaged. How to interpret a skinfold caliper measurement? The amount of fat under the skin, also known as subcutaneous adipose tissue, is interpreted as the thickness of skinfolds from multiple body locations, There are different scienfically proven formulas that crunch these numbers into an estimate of body fat percentage according to a person’s age and gender. What are the body locations of skinfold caliper measurement? The measurement sites on the body vary depending upon the specific skinfold testing protocol that you choose to use. From top to bottom, generally there are the following seven common body locations usually being referred to: Triceps: The back of the upper arm Midaxilla: Midline of the side of the torso Subscapular: Beneath the edge of the shoulder blade Pectoral: The mid-chest, just forward of the armpit Suprailiac: Just above the iliac crest of the hip bone Abdomen: Next to the belly button Quadriceps: Middle of the upper thigh After all skinfold measurements are complete, you’ll need to punch in your sex, age, weight and all the measurement numbers into the online calculator in the link below to convert these numbers into a percent of body fat. https://exrx.net/Calculators/BodyComp
