Increasing your
knowledge
Pinching
the inches
an essential guide to
skinfold measurements
Fat-loss programmes revolve around the need for quantifiable results but which method
is the most accurate? Louise Bloor explores the accuracy of skinfold measurements.
W
hether you’re running
a fat-loss boot camp
or working one to one,
it’s essential that your
fat-loss clients have a tangible sense of
their progress to keep them motivated
– and coming back for more. However,
the method you choose needs to deliver
accurate results that support weight loss in
the healthiest way possible.
There are a number of easily accessible
protocols that can be used to measure
an individual’s change in weight and
physique. However, these are generally
partnered with their own common
problems and inaccuracies. For example,
the use of weighing scales and body
mass index, although useful as generic
references and guides, fails to take into
consideration a person’s body composition
or structure with the result that those with
muscular physiques may be misclassified
as overweight.
Body composition
Body composition is the body’s relative
amount of fat to fat-free mass (i.e., water,
bone, muscle and tissue). I place emphasis
on this because working alongside athletes
it is important to know how much an
athlete weighs, how much of that weight
is fat and what implication that will have
on their power-to-weight ratio and,
ultimately, their performance. Assessing
an individual’s skinfolds through the
44 Autumn 2013
special
use of skinfold callipers enables a non- excluding iliac crest for both).
invasive and easily accessible protocol to It’s advisable to use seven or eight
predicting a person’s body fat. sites, as people store fat in different
The skinfold calliper measures the places and taking less would increase the
thickness of a double layer of skin and risk of missing a significant increase or loss
the underlying adipose tissue (fat). The in body fat at a specific site, which could
sum of these measurements is then used have an impact on the training and diet ask me for, but these equations can often all other times, skinfolds can be measured be monitored in relation to performance
to predict fat mass by giving a skinfold intervention that you put in place. be inaccurate. The problem is that there at the beginning, middle and end of increments and decrements. Every sport
total in millimetres. As a guide, average are over 100 equations used to predict a weight loss or training programme, and team position has a desired optimal
skinfolds for a non-athletic male should Multiple options body fat from skinfold totals but each one though there is no equation to calculate physique and, while all athletes will not
fall within the range of 91-110mm and, This data can be used to estimate body is population specific. For example, an how weight loss impacts on the sum of fit into this, this does not prevent them
for females, 101-120mm (seven sites fat percentage, which athletes frequently equation developed for use on skinfolds. Again, as a guide, if the sum of from achieving sporting success. There are
non-athletic females will not be valid seven sites (excluding iliac crest) is more no cut-off points and body composition
when used on athletic males. For those than 80mm, then 1kg weight will equal a is one of many factors that contribute to
Getting accredited who insist on having their body fat 10mm fat loss and, if it is less than 80mm, performance.
percentage calculated, I use two or three then 1kg will equal approximately 5mm. Taking skinfold to assess an individual’s
The reliability of skinfold testing can vary from tester to
equations so they themselves can see the body fat is not for everyone and it is
tester depending on the trainer’s or coach’s level
of experience. You can gain accreditation through varying results. advisable to obtain written consent and
the International Society for the Advancement of I prefer to take full anthropometry Body composition is provide information explaining the full
Kinanthropometry (ISAK), which has developed international measures at the initial consultation to one of many factors that protocol. Additionally, individuals should
provide a solid reference point of where be informed of their right to withdraw.
standards for anthropometric assessment. The three-day
the client is when you begin working with
contribute to performance When assessing physique, it is important
course is approximately £300-350 and using the ISAK
standardised protocol trains you to accurately measure them. These measures include height, to be sensitive to the psychological impact
height, weight, eight skinfold sites, five girths and two body mass, eight skinfold measurements Working with athletes this may have on them. For some, the
bone breadths. You will be required to collect and submit (biceps, triceps, subscapular, iliac crest, If working with athletes, it is beneficial to process alone can be traumatic and so
20 profiles within six months to become fully accredited supraspinale, abdominal, front thigh and take measurements during specific training should ideally be done in private and on
and invest in the equipment necessary to conduct the medial calf) and five girth measurements cycles and around competition schedules the same gender where possible. Results
full assessment and collect all the data. The Harpenden (arm relaxed, arm tensed and flexed, to allow you to identify individual are confidential and should be returned
Skinfold Calliper is widely used by most but the inexpensive waist, hip/gluteal and calf). As diet and fluctuations and patterns. Many athletes tactfully with a positive focus on what the
Slim Guide Calliper has the same jaw pressure and gives exercise impacts changes in fat mass and like to know their competition weight individual personally wants to achieve
accurate results. The Lufkin W606PM is the preferred tape muscularity, the use of skinfolds and girths and skinfolds, while others have it taken and less focus on normative data. It is
for landmarks and girths, in addition to a stadiometer to is an accurate way of monitoring these during training periods for reassurance important to note that an individual’s
measure height, weighing scales in kilograms for weight changes as opposed to weighing scales so they have time to intervene if they are skinfolds will never be the same
and a small sliding calliper for bone breadths. alone, as an increase in body mass does not at an ideal total. Any changes in an throughout the year, but large fluctuations
not necessarily mean an increase in fat. At athlete’s body composition should always should ideally be avoided. fp
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