Posted on Nov 6, 2013
What is more accurate, the tape test or the 'Bod Pod'?
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I'd like to hear some feedback on this. Had a discussion about body composition and the debate was which is more accurate, the tape test or the bod pod at the wellness center.
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Height and Weight
Height and Weight
Posted 11 y ago
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Hate to cut this discussion short but it's not even a discussion. Between "bod pod", water displacement, calipers, tape, etc. - the tape loses every time. Think about it this way if you can dive back to high school geometry it's easy to see why our system is as worthless as it is. If two objects are measured to have the same volume (tape & height) but one has more mass (weight) then the heavier one is denser. With muscle being denser than fat, if two people come in with the exact same height, neck, and waist measurements, the one who weighs more, is better off than the other because of a higher muscle to fat ratio. That's simple math. It hardly gets simpler. Yet when an individual goes in for tape, their weight isn't even a part of the equation. Their weight to height ratio just determines if they get taped.
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I agree that the methods big Army uses are not very accurate. I, for one am an advocate for the bod pod simply because of the example you used which pound for pound is more accurate the what the Army is using and will ever use.
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If the question is about what is more accurate, and the first thing listed is the tape test, the answer is the second thing, whatever it is.
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I hardly believe the tape test to be accurate in the slightest degree. As long as you are proportionately overweight (Big belly, big neck) you can stay within the limits prescribed in 600-9. You end up looking unprofessional in uniform and it degrades the overall appearance of the Army.
Before my brother joined the Army, he was a body builder. He busted the scales for his screening weight. MEPS taped him and informed him he was over the allowed body fat percentage. He went to the doctor and had an official BMI done and was sitting at 11%. They wavered him to join with that documentation.
It's inaccurate because it doesn't account for various body types. I think it continues to be used because it's faster than the alternatives, even if it has a larger margin of error.
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