How to Take Skinfold Measurements with Calipers

The most common method of measuring body fat is by measuring the thickness of subcutaneous fat. These skinfold measuremets are taken on 7 particularly fleshy areas of the body with special calipers. It requires skill and practice to take these measurements accurately. If you have a pair of good calipers and you want to calculate your percent body fat, the steps below will teach you how to do it correctly. You can then plug the numbers into the body fat calculator.

First, learn how to pinch the skin in order to take an accurate measurement. Lift the skin up from the muscle with your thumb and index finger. Lift it as far as it will go without hurting. This is best done while the subject is standing. Don't squeeze the skinfold too much; fat is compressible and this will give you an inaccurate reading. After 5 seconds, apply the calipers halfway between the top and bottom of the fold and take a reading. The calipers will measure the thickness of the skin and fat in millimeters.

This is difficult with extremely lean people. If you are pinch muscle rather than skin and subcutaneous fat, your patient may give a yelp! Make a very very tiny fold to get only fat and no other tissue. On an obese person, the skin fold will be very thick and easy measure.

Next, where to take the 7 measurements? Traditionally, for measuring percent body fat, the 7 skinfold measurements are take here:

pectoral: midway between the nipple and armpit
midaxillary: directly under the armpit, below the level of the nipple
tricep: on the back of the arm, midway between the shoulder and elbow
subprailiac: On the side, just above the hip bone
abdominal: an inch away from beside the navel
thigh: midway between top of thigh and knee, on the front of the leg
subscapular: on the back, below the shoulder blade

Some skinfolds should be made vertically, and others horizonally. Make the pectoral, tricep, abdominal, and thigh skinfolds vertically. Make the midaxillary, subprailiac, and subscapular skinfolds horizontally or diagonally, along the natural creases of skin.

If you need to measure the same area more than once, wait at least 30 seconds before pinching again so that the skin can normalize.

Practice consistency and accuracy. If measurements are being taken for a group of people, the same person should measure the skinfolds of everyone. The person making measurements should use the same pair of calipers on everyone so that the results of body fat calculations can be compared.

If you are measuring yourself over a period of time, have the same person measure you so that you can track changes accurately. Also, if you are measuring your changes in body fat over a period of time, it is important to always pinch on the same side of the body. Alternatively, you can do both sides of the body and average the results. Just be consistent, however you do it.

Once you have taken the skinfold measurements, you can plug the numbers into the body fat calculator to determine your percent body fat.