Impedance scales – why I don’t use them and why you shouldn’t either

Impedance scales are the ones that measure your body fat, muscle mass, water etc. It does this by sending an electric pulse through your body and judging how long it takes to get back can determine an estimate of how much of fat and muscle you have.

Some will make you stand on metal plates, some will make you hold something as well, NONE of these are accurate, some will claim a +/- of 3.5 percent that doesn’t seem a lot but that’s a whole 7 difference between the values and that isn’t a 7% in the accuracy that 7% of the displayed figure.

 Which means you might step on one day and be 30% body fat step on a day later and be 35% step on a day later and be 28% body fat, still be in a deficit, weight going down you’re getting stronger/fitter and healthier but the scales say you have put on 5% body fat.
 
How demotivated and upset would you feel, even though everything is going really well you will so shit just because an incredibly inaccurate scale tells you you’re now 5% fatter.
 
The only way to accurately track your body fat levels is to keep dying and getting autopsies which is obviously impossible, so do body measurements along with progress pictures, track workouts and weigh ins, as long as you understand what the scale represents and the things that effect, remove the attachment to the number it’s just you weight, it will go up and down and stay the say, but it will always be an accurate representation of your weight at that particular time.
 
The most important tracking tool is how you look and feel, if you’re seeing change great, if you’re feeling better fantastic, don’t let a cheap body fat scanner get you down or tell you you aren’t progressing.
 
It happens too much where people want to see a number on a screen change and are so fixated with that number that what they see in the mirror and see in their workout progress gets completely ignored and pushed aside as not good enough when it might be some exceptional results! But that little number just won’t budge.
 
So, make sure you have progress pics, make sure you track what your workouts and if you’re consistent you will see results.
 
If you’re Birmingham based and want a personal trainer who tracks this for you, helps you to understand stuff like this so you aren’t being disheartened when you get on the scales or get given one of those handheld body fat measures, then get in touch and we can jump on a call.