Skinfold Caliper

A plastic pincer that measures the thickness of a fold of skin. Same reading, same spot, every couple of weeks, shows how fat is changing.

• Plastic, spring-loaded
• Chart included

Why you’d want it: A scale can't tell fat from water from muscle. A caliper on the same spot, done the same way, can — and it costs less than lunch.

Picking tip: Ignore the body-fat percentage the chart gives you; it's a formula fitted to somebody else. What's useful is the raw millimetre reading at one spot, taken the same way each time, going up or down. The Accu-Measure style with a click stop is the easiest to use on yourself.

Category

Measuring & Tracking

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