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- First reviewJanuary 20, 2016
- Last reviewApril 20, 2016
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- Average rating5
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Shrinkinguy's Reviews
Gauge your fitness quickly with this Skulpt Chisel body scanner. It measures a variety of muscle groups so that you can see exactly how much fat you have, helping you to focus your workouts and exercise specific muscle groups. Simply spray the sensor with water, and place this Skulpt Chisel body scanner on your body for immediate results.
Customer Rating
5
Great device for measuring fat and muscle quality
on April 20, 2016
Posted by: Shrinkinguy
I've been using the new Chisel for a few weeks now with the new version of the Skulpt app. It's definitely an improvement over the previous AIM device, and cheaper too. But fundamentally it uses the same technology to measure fat and muscle quality through Electrical Impedence Myography (EIM), which basically sends some electrical impulses through one side of the device, through your skin, and measures the results on the other side of the device. And based on the results they can sort out how much body fat you have at that location, and an indication of the quality of muscle. Then if you sample a few points you can get a good idea of what your overall body fat percentage is.
The Chisel works under the control of your smartphone, so you'll need either an iPhone or Android device with Bluetooth. You touch a body location on your phone, place the Chisel and it gives the results. The Chisel's sensors need to be moistened as well for good contact with the skin. Basically it takes about a minute to measure the three locations that give you an overall body fat percentage. The new Lithium Ion battery solves the problem of the original AIM device that wouldn't keep a charge very long.
Based on the readings you take, the app will make suggestions on caloric intake to obtain a more ideal body fat percentage. Pretty simple, and overall it seems pretty accurate. I would say if you're a fitness enthusiast you'll want one of these since just going by measurements and the scale really doesn't tell the full story. You need to know your body fat percentage as well. It's innovative, it's based on years of advanced research, and they've brought it to the public in a form that is easy to use and understand. I highly recommend it.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+11points
11of 11voted this as helpful.
Skulpt Aim Body Fat Tracker: Stay on top of your fitness goals. Skulpt Aim measures the body fat percentage and muscle quality of your biceps, triceps, abs and quads to give you a comprehesive overview of your body mass. Plus, you can sync data with your compatible Apple® iOS or Android device.
Customer Rating
5
Skupt AIM - An In-depth Review
on January 20, 2016
Posted by: Shrinkinguy
If you're wanting to track your body fat percentage and muscle quality in a fast and accurate way, this is the right tool for you.
What is the Skulpt AIM?
It’s a small (think of slightly larger than iPhone-sized) handheld electronic device for spot-measuring body fat percentage and muscle quality (MQ). It does this by sending electrical currents through your skin and underlying fat layers. Now you’re thinking – “body fat percentage I understand, but what the heck is muscle quality?” According to the company, “it means the force a muscle produces relative to its size. For example, if you had two muscles that were exactly the same size, the one that produced the greater force would have the higher MQ…AIM measures the composition and structure of the muscle over a specific region. Since those two things affect how strong the muscle is, we can give you your MQ without having to do a strength measurement or taking out a tape measure!”
It’s a small (think of slightly larger than iPhone-sized) handheld electronic device for spot-measuring body fat percentage and muscle quality (MQ). It does this by sending electrical currents through your skin and underlying fat layers. Now you’re thinking – “body fat percentage I understand, but what the heck is muscle quality?” According to the company, “it means the force a muscle produces relative to its size. For example, if you had two muscles that were exactly the same size, the one that produced the greater force would have the higher MQ…AIM measures the composition and structure of the muscle over a specific region. Since those two things affect how strong the muscle is, we can give you your MQ without having to do a strength measurement or taking out a tape measure!”
How it works
To take a muscle measurement, you have to first moisten the metallic sensors on the back of the device, then you hold the device over the muscle you want to measure. The device flashes red while it takes the reading, and if it works, it glows a steady blue and shows the results (the fat percentage and muscle quality). It also gives a little spot judgement on whether the reading for that muscle is considered "Athletic", "Fit", "Average" or "Needs Work".
To take a muscle measurement, you have to first moisten the metallic sensors on the back of the device, then you hold the device over the muscle you want to measure. The device flashes red while it takes the reading, and if it works, it glows a steady blue and shows the results (the fat percentage and muscle quality). It also gives a little spot judgement on whether the reading for that muscle is considered "Athletic", "Fit", "Average" or "Needs Work".
The app
The app shows a whole-body view of all of the latest measurements for body body fat percentage and muscle quality. Having your data on your phone is convenient if you want to access it to better plan your workouts. I actually went one step further however and recorded the information in a spreadsheet so I could see all of the data in one place and how it changed over time.
The app shows a whole-body view of all of the latest measurements for body body fat percentage and muscle quality. Having your data on your phone is convenient if you want to access it to better plan your workouts. I actually went one step further however and recorded the information in a spreadsheet so I could see all of the data in one place and how it changed over time.
Body fat percentage
To get metrics for your total body, you’ll need to measure only four muscle groups: biceps, triceps, abs, and thigh. This will give you an accurate body fat percentage, and total MQ score.
To get metrics for your total body, you’ll need to measure only four muscle groups: biceps, triceps, abs, and thigh. This will give you an accurate body fat percentage, and total MQ score.
What to do with muscle quality
The concept of "muscle quality" is a new one for me. Along with fat percentages, the AIM gives a number for the muscle quality for each muscle measured. The higher the number, the better. The scale goes up to 180, which means you are in the "Skulpted" range. All of my readings were within the "fit" to "athletic" range, which was comforting since I want to know that my hour each morning in the gym is yielding some results. As I said, you can't spot-reduce fat, but you can spot-increase muscle quality. I found that in general if the AIM was telling me that some muscles were lower in quality, if I focused on them for a couple of weeks I could bring the numbers up. Having said that, I don't think I would necessarily focus on this information to plan my workouts.
Technology and accuracy
The AIM is classified as an EIM device. It measures electrical current flow in different directions and it can measure the flow at different depths (the further apart the electrodes, the deeper the electrical current will penetrate). By combining these multiple electrode configurations with multi-frequency electrical measurements, and by using a variety of algorithms, the Skulpt Aim can separate out the condition of the muscle from the amount of fat in a region in just a matter of seconds.
The concept of "muscle quality" is a new one for me. Along with fat percentages, the AIM gives a number for the muscle quality for each muscle measured. The higher the number, the better. The scale goes up to 180, which means you are in the "Skulpted" range. All of my readings were within the "fit" to "athletic" range, which was comforting since I want to know that my hour each morning in the gym is yielding some results. As I said, you can't spot-reduce fat, but you can spot-increase muscle quality. I found that in general if the AIM was telling me that some muscles were lower in quality, if I focused on them for a couple of weeks I could bring the numbers up. Having said that, I don't think I would necessarily focus on this information to plan my workouts.
Technology and accuracy
The AIM is classified as an EIM device. It measures electrical current flow in different directions and it can measure the flow at different depths (the further apart the electrodes, the deeper the electrical current will penetrate). By combining these multiple electrode configurations with multi-frequency electrical measurements, and by using a variety of algorithms, the Skulpt Aim can separate out the condition of the muscle from the amount of fat in a region in just a matter of seconds.
Skulpt claims that even EIM is subject to some inaccuracy due to changes in skin condition, temperature, and subcutaneous blood. But those are much smaller than the inaccuracies inherent in the BIA approach. When I get a "bad" reading on the Skulpt (i.e. a reading that is a lot different from past readings, or a lot different from the same muscle on the other side) I just take another reading or two.
Pros:
Quickly measure body fat percentage
Measure the quality of your muscles
IOS and Android apps to synchronize data and view trends
Better technology than Bioimpedence Analysis
It's a cool and technologically revolutionary device
Quickly measure body fat percentage
Measure the quality of your muscles
IOS and Android apps to synchronize data and view trends
Better technology than Bioimpedence Analysis
It's a cool and technologically revolutionary device
Cons:
It's relatively expensive for an average consumer
Its readings can vary depending on position, orientation and skin conditions
Its buttons are a bit stiff, making it awkward to navigate its menus
It's a little hard to understand how to apply the more advanced information (like muscle quality, and body fat percentages of 24 muscles)
It's relatively expensive for an average consumer
Its readings can vary depending on position, orientation and skin conditions
Its buttons are a bit stiff, making it awkward to navigate its menus
It's a little hard to understand how to apply the more advanced information (like muscle quality, and body fat percentages of 24 muscles)
At a current price of around $150, this isn't for a casual fitness enthusiast. I would say that the people who can benefit the most from this device and technology are those who have definite fitness goals and are putting together training plans to accomplish them. My experience is that it is better than using calipers, and gives more information to work with. And compared to other higher-end measurement devices, it is much more affordable.
I would recommend this to a friend!
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+3points
4of 5voted this as helpful.
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