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BCT Test / Unhappy result / Any Ideas?

Andi

By Andi
in Bodybuilding & aesthetics

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Andi New member

Andi

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Ok, my last BCT test was about 9 months ago. (one of those electrode tests, dont eat before hand, drink certain amount of water etc.) Im female, my results then were: 57kg. 16% B.fat. 9.1kg body fat mass @ 48kg lean body mass.

Ive just had another test done this week, followed exact same procedure and results were: 54kg. 14.9% B.fat. 8kg body fat mass @ 46kg lean body mass.

Im disappointed about the lean muscle mass going down, when i can see and feel more muscle on my body than i have ever had. I have a great training partner and feel I work out harder and do heavier weights than I have ever done.

I would hate to think of my body catabolising, have a healthy diet with lots of protein. Definitely dont starve myself. Could someone please explain to me how I ended up with this result when I really can see and feel the extra muscle?

Hope you all dont think Im being obsessed!!! was just disappointed. Any feedback would be great, thanks

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Pseudonym Veteran member

Pseudonym

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I'm not sure how reliable the electrode tests are. I think you get a more reliable result from caliper testing - your gym should be able to do this for you. Just remember you can't really compare the results from one type of test with the results from another. In fact, even with caliper testing, you need to make sure they use the same formula to calculate it each time, and it's best to try and get the same trainer for every test.

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mr yoyo Junior member

mr yoyo

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at 16 wouldnt you see quite frequent changes anyway with natural hormone process?

if you feel better, then who cares. its a bit like..."well i want to lose weight, but the scales say im the same, guess nothing must be happening" and then you check you clothes and the waist is 3" bigger than it used to be and you pull your belt tighter. so whose right....the scales or the real world test?

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Andi New member

Andi

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Thanx for the replies.Haha 16 how flattering. Im actually 16 x 2!! Can definitely see the muscle difference, so I know what youre saying, just abit surprised at the result. Will try a body calliper test at the gym they do them there. Youre right about your clothes and mirror telling the real story.

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poos_n_wees Veteran member

poos_n_wees

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Dissection is the only accurate method of measuring bodyfat %

I don't understand why you're upset? You said yourself that you feel more muscular and are able to lift heavier than ever before. Don't get hung up on the numbers - focus more on what your body can do now - afterall, you've increased your strength, have a lot more muscle, increased definition... and that means alot more than a few numbers from a test that ain't 100% accurate right?

I'd say your best bet would be to use the measuring tape/camera/mirror/clothes to gauge your progess. Any type of bodyfat testing is a mindf**ck imo.

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Andi New member

Andi

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I know pretty silly getting wound up about numbers on paper.

Just to let you know what a BCT is and what you have to do: *in the 24hrs before BCT must consume a minimum of 3% of your bodyweight in water. *No sauna or exercise for 12hrs before hand. *no alcohol, coffee, tea or energy drinks 12hrs prior to BCT. *minimum of 2hrs between meal and BCT.

electrodes(harmless) are placed on your hands and feet, sends a current through (cannot feel) which reads: Body fat mass. Lean body mass and Water percentage. Supposed to be very accurate.

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THEBERG Member

THEBERG

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I have some questiosn regarding the BCT test Andi,

Do you have to input your gender, age and weight???

As far as I remember these tests have unreliable readings with Problems with excess bodyweight (lean or fat)

Did you have bath close to the test???, because this can cause you to have a thin layer of water on the surface of your skin. This layer will change the conductivity of your body and therefore change the reading that the device would produce.

If i rmember correctly the range of error is higher in bioelectrical impedance analysation technique

The accuracy of BIA ranges from 3 to 5%, and is dependent on a variety of factors.

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Andi New member

Andi

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Yes you do put in your gender, age, weight details. Did have shower earlier so maybe that was why the results were so.

Really not too worried. But thanks for the info. Am going to try the callipers sometime, just to compare results.

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Flex Senior member

Flex

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Unfortunately there is no use comparing results between BIA and Calipers as 99% of the time they are going to be different. Both BIA and calipers have their postives and negatives - BIA is essentially measuring your hydration levels and body water. You will find that your water levels fluctuate with your monthly cycle which can effect the reading depending on the time of month the readind is taken. Time of day can also effect the reading - measuring in the morning will always give a higher reading than afternoon.

To use BIA accurately it must be used under the same conditions each time - same time of day, ensuring that you haven't trained or eaten within a certain time frame, well hydrated, etc. It is also recommended that women initially have multiple tests throughout their monthly cycle to find the time when the most accurate results are given, and then measure at that time with each test. I would imagine also that oral contraceptives would cause variences in BIA testing due to increased water retention. Unfortunately, measuring once every 9 months means that you may not have kept things too consistent as it is hard to remember all the litttle details after such a time.

Any result you get from any method should not be treated as an exact figure, as different methods will always give different results. However as long as you are consistent and use the same method each time, under the same conditions, using the same person to conduct the test, and on a regular basis ie monthly, you will get and accurate figure as to the change in percentage. Even diffrent BIA scales or machines will give different results, no matter how accurate they are.

Depending on the level of skill of the caliper tester, caliper testing can be quite inaccurate, and inconsistant due to having the measure from the exact same site each time. I definately wouldn't say they are more accurate, however ast they aren't effected so much by body water levels they should be a little more consistent in that regard.

If you are really that concerned about the accuracy of your bodyfat testing, then you should look into DEXA testing.

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Pseudonym Veteran member

Pseudonym

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Thanks EU. I had already looked at Wikipedia which said much the same thing. Neither article mentioned using DEXA to determine body fat - only for bone mineral density. I can kind of see how the same equipment could be used to measure body fat, but was surprised it wasn't mentioned anywhere.

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THEBERG Member

THEBERG

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Anyone know the cost to DEXA scan in NZ?

I'm DEXA scanning/MRI'ing myself in a couple of weeks as a part of research, should be interesting what they show and compare that to BF-caliper testings I got done about 3-4 weeks back.

I did a dexa scan about 2 years ago at uni and the dexa scan showed a difference of about 5% leaner than what the calipers gave.

You'll have to post the results once your tested, would be inetresting to get a cross reference as caliper testing can vary on teh testers skill and experence so i would like to see if someone else gets a smiliar difference to me.

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  • 3 weeks later...
ExpensiveUrine Senior member

ExpensiveUrine

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Did DEXA scan this afternoon and here are the results. Unfortunately, I have lost the sheet with my caliper bodyfat % but I still have individual skinfolds so it's just a matter of putting the values back into software again to generate bodyfat %, might do that tomorrow in SportSci lab. I'd imagine that it would come out to be around 24/25%. Thing to keep in mind though, like THEBERG said is skill/experience and my tester was a novice (Level 1 Anthro Restricted Profile), hence the error would be greater.

Overall Results

Tissue (%fat) = 19.8

Tissue (g) = 93,101

Fat (g) = 18,412

Lean (g) = 74,690

BMC (g) = 3,566.0

Fat Free (g) = 78,256

Total Mass (kg) = 96.67

LEGS

Lean (g) = 26,777

Fat (g) = 6,305

BMC (g) = 1,402.7

Tissue (%fat) = 19.1

TRUNK

Lean (g) = 32,119

Fat (g) = 9,272

BMC (g) = 1,017.7

Tissue (%fat) = 22.4

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