Ultimately, it's the mirror, the photograph, or your appearance on stage that count. As such, body fat measurements, in the end, are meaningless. In fact, I have experienced cases where the person with the absolute lower body fat number, appeared less conditioned on stage.
However, in trying to get yourself to that end point, it's nice to be able to know if you are gaining or losing muscle and/or body fat. In tracking those trends, I use, and recommend, several methods at once.
First, although it may not give you a "correct" number, inexpensive electrical impedance body fat scales can give you good trending information. Just be aware that as you get leaner, daily hydration and muscle glycogen levels may cause extreme variations. As such, make sure you measure at the same time and under the same conditions daily. Take your weekly numbers, throw out the highest and lowest, and average the remaining 5. This will give you very accurate weekly trending data.
Second, use calipers. More important than calculating absolute body fat percentage is taking weekly tests at sites where you genetically carry the most body fat, normally lower back, obliques, thighs or hips. When those places start getting leaner, you are on the right track, especially if you are maintaining your strength levels.
Third, body circumference measurements can be useful, but beware the fear that you may be losing muscle when the arm or thigh measurement starts shrinking, along with the waist. If you are still working out hard and eating sufficient protein, especially the branched chain amino acids, you're likely losing subcutaneous fat in those areas, not muscle.
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