Body Fat % goals

RE: Body Fat % goals

Former Member — Thu, 04 Jul 2002 16:23:30 GMT

Originally posted by Guppigirl Does anyone out there know of good target percentages for women? I know it's considerably more than men. -GG I was waiting for somebody to answer this, and because it's not forthcoming yet, by default I will answer it, even though I paid less attention to women's conditions than men's. I believe that the medical definition of body fat for an 'ideal' female, is 23%. Olympic caliber female swimmers who train 6 hours per day for years, are at 15%.

RE: Body Fat % goals

Former Member — Wed, 03 Jul 2002 14:27:52 GMT

I'm 5'9" and currently 165 with 8.5% body fat. I've been down to 3.5% and found it very uncomfortable, both for everyday activities and working out. When your body fat is very low, you start to strip away the fat around organs and lose water that your body needs. Your body does not want to be extremely low in body fat. I'd hesitate to go lower than 7-8% if you want to stay healthy. At any rate, the focus of your changes should be your exercise and nutritional habits rather than body weight or fat measurements. If you eat properly (quality and quanitity) and exercise a reasonable amount (these take some experimentation as each person is different), your body will adjust itself. Don't try to force your body into something it does not want to be. A more reasonable measure of fitness might be your swimming times, performance in practices, overall feeling while working out, or heart rate.

RE: Body Fat % goals

Guppigirl — Wed, 03 Jul 2002 06:17:21 GMT

Does anyone out there know of good target percentages for women? I know it's considerably more than men. -GG

RE: Body Fat % goals

osterber — Tue, 18 Jun 2002 10:51:58 GMT

Most sources will say that for males, under 20% is adviseable, and over 20% is "too much". But let's be honest... if you went from 28% to 21%, that's a fantastic improvement. Rome wasn't built in a day. At some point you need to congratulate yourself for _that_ progress, and not get over-eager. You also may need to give your body some time to maintain steady state at 21% before you can really move on. Also note that hydration can affect your body fat percentage, especially if you're using one of those scales that measures it electronically. I routinely bounce between 17% and 20% depending on how hydrated I am. (Which is why it's generally adviseable to weigh, etc., yourself at the same time of day each time.) -Rick

RE: Body Fat % goals

Former Member — Mon, 17 Jun 2002 08:00:15 GMT

The medical definition of 'ideal male', I was told, is 15%. One year ago, at 6 feet and 162 pounds, I was measured at 14%. 162 pounds is not an indication of 14%, but an indication of 'light frame' as in light skeleton. Competitive male swimmers who train six hours per day, get to in between 3% and 8%, but is good to have some fat for accessing a source of energy.