the trainer at the gym said they have a 98% percent accuracy...

The trainer at the gym is only 50% accurate +/- 10% - Fact.

They are not 98% accurate thats bull.

Going back to wat you said earlyer about above 4% being healthy, thats also rubbish.
4-5% of your body fat is your veins , skin and such. Any less and you'd be dead.

He lied

Look, all of you on this thread who are saying that you have such low body fat levels are incorrect. Maybe a "trainer" told you that you are sub 8%, but they were probably very bad at taking body fat readings or they used very poor and inaccurate means of evaluating your body fats. If you are sub 8, you are going to have very detailed definition unless you have absolutely no muscle what-so-ever.

And whoever said that scrawy to brawny is not for them because they don't have abs.....haha, you have a lot to learn. Buy the book and worship it because it would work wonders for you.

Word. Listen to the man.

lol..daaamn..mine is 24%

Its okay. I know I am in the low 20s somewhere.

If you are 7.8% and can't clearly see your abs.......you are not 7.8%. Forget those bio-impedence measurements. Get calipers.

Calipers are no more accurate and their accuracy depends heavily on the user. Submersion tests are the most accurate but, not many places offer them and those that do, charge for them. Personally, I use BIA scales but, only as a measure of progress, not as a definitive measurement of my BF%

Time of day etc may have had an impact on your reading of 7.8%. But, I think its fair to assume that your BF% is pretty low if any kind of test comes back with that result. Perhaps you are genetically blessed but, I would rely more on the mirror than anything else - its the most accurate bodyfat measurement tool I have found so far

I dont get it. Everyone here is saying that everyone else are liars. So you're saying that those expensive toys that they have at the gym are only 50 % accurate +- 10%? What the hell is that supposed to mean?

The "instrument" that i used, is a digital thing that you hold in your hands. You input your weight, your hieght, and your age (we measured my weight and hieght on one of the traditional scales you see at the doctors office. Not the digital or step on scales that spin with an arrow pointing to the weight.

It had two metal plates on it that you put your hands on top of then it takes like 20 seconds and calculates the BF%.

It looked like this: Omron Hand Held Body Fat Monitor BF-306

They can't be completely inaccurate.

And even if they are. Example: A teenager that is usually skin and bones, because some teenagers have REALLY high metabolism. Starts to work out, 5 times a week, and plays a competitive sport 2-4 times a week as well. Who's to say that that kid doesn't have around 8% body fat?

He probably only had 10-15% to start with...

And it doens't really make that much sense that you can't see your ab muscles. But *I* can. and my obliques. and my riblets. and every other muscle. and the ribs on my back. So doens't that count for something?

I really don't think that people are calling each other "liars", just saying that if someone gives you a machine that takes a measurement with impulse signals, be it a handheld or stand-on, and tells you that its 98% accurate, they are mistaken. 7-9 pt Calipers aren't perfect but its a lot more feisable than a hydrostatic test. But like others have said, use the mirror, it dosen't give a number but a picture is worth a thousand words right?

fair enough