You know those scales that can tell you loads of details…

[TheChosenTwo]

The scales that can tell you how much body fat you’re carrying, how hydrated you are, your muscle composition etc… how do they work? Presumably they can’t tell how much of your weight is water and how much is fat just by your footprints?! Although this must be what they’re claiming to do - does anyone have a pair? I’ve ordered some but sceptical about their accuracy! They haven’t arrived yet but we didn’t own any so I just went for the first set I found on Amazon.
Have you got them? How do they work?

I've got Renpho scales and they're very accurate with weight and the app is really helpful for monitoring. I understand the body composition stuff is calculated by measuring the time an electrical pulse passes through the body - fat, muscle, water and bone take different times. No idea how accurate the cheaper scales are but, either way, they do allow you to compare changes over time.

Oh that’s interesting! So maybe they do work after all.
Yes I bought the Renpho ones, they were pretty cheap and on offer - I just need to know how much I weigh, I don’t need the other bits but it got me wondering. There’s a boditrax machine thing at my gym that claimed to do the same (you hold on with your hands too I think) but I’ve never used it, I’m not in for public weighing!

I don’t like these scales I don’t think they are accurate there is only one way to really know these things and it’s a DEXA scan or a very specialist test where they float your body in water. It’s cheaper to just measure your neck, wrist, waist, hips, bust and thighs and work it out from there. Waist should be half your height, you can work out your body comp using the US navy method calculator

Maybe I should buy a soft tape measure. I don’t need to know any of the other details, I was just curious as to how it worked - and I am rather sceptical even after the pp mentioned it was to do with pulse points in your feet which did sort of convince me but not fully 😂

😂 so yeah I think they are an electrical pulse and it measures how long it takes to run through you but they are so variable on water in your body and the position you stand in. My friend and I did the ones at the gym it told us we have very obese arms which was so funny as we do not, we are both bum and thigh heavy. My tape measure has seen me good to be honest!

I think they're kinda pointless. You don't need a fancy scale to tell you if you're a healthy weight. Apart from that you know if you're healthy based on whether you drink, smoke, eat well l, drinks water and exercise. It's just unnecessary info even if it is accurate for most people

I find it useful as I have put on some muscle, so my target healthy weight has changed. Now I'd be better to look at my percentage body fat than weight.

They're not accurate, but if you use them for a few months you'll be able to track changes which are relevant.

I agree for me, a regular person, the extra info is pretty pointless, I’m not interested in the data. Just needed to know how much I weighed as the last time I was weighed was probably during pregnancy with dc3, about 12 years ago! We didn’t have any scales in the house and I couldn’t be arsed driving to town to find a Boots or pharmacy with scales so I just bought some.

Not accurate at all. Take a variety of metrics. Weight. Measurements. Progress photos. How you feel. How your clothes fit. Ability to walk, climb stairs, participate in exercise. Overall these will show progress over time and a better picture than focusing solely on on scale weight which can vary due to hormone, food volume, needing the loo etc completely independently of fat loss.
I'm a weight loss coach and would never recommend anyone buy these scales or use the data.

I bought some but haven't worked out yet how to read the measurements other than weight

I've got Withings ones. Not sure how accurate all these measurements are but I like the app on my phone and how that works.

Agree with this. The numbers depend greatly on how hydrated you are, but if you do it at the same time every day, then you can compare it with itself (just not anything else).

They are definitely off in absolute terms. A DEXA showed my body fat at 21% and the scales at 14%.

I am also not sure they are even useful for tracking. I lost weight and my body fat % went down with my weight. I am now trying to gain muscle and as I am gaining weight my body fat % is going up at exactly the same rate it went down showing zero recomposition.

However I know my body composition has changed as everything is more solid. Also I compared with the scales at the gym which showed my body composition had changed. So I would say accuracy is very poor.