Body fat for females

Transform

Just a follow on from a post earlier from Gem.

In my opinion and from seeing it in practice with clients there is no problem with menstural cycles below 15% body fat for women. I would however say that below 10% and some may experience their cycles stopping. If your body fat goes down quickly its more likely this can happen also.

Take any of the ladies from oxygen magazine e.g. Jamie Easton (on this months cover) who maintains a 12-13% BF most of the time but will drop a little lower for a cover shoot. Charles poliquin at one of his talks said that he gets sent women who have to appear in oxygen and gets them as low as 8-10% as they look best for shoots.

Finally there is a certain look 90% of men like and 90% of women want. Where as, what women find attractive in men varies so much e.g. skinny and tall or big and cuddly etc

When i train clients my goal is to get them to 18% or below - now if they start at 18% and really should be 12% to look good thats different.

Men to be 10-12% - better to aim for six pack at a good 8% imo

g'em

Transform wrote:

Just a follow on from a post earlier from Gem.

In my opinion and from seeing it in practice with clients there is no problem with menstural cycles below 15% body fat for women. I would however say that below 10% and some may experience their cycles stopping. If your body fat goes down quickly its more likely this can happen also.

that's interesting to hear firsthand from a PT actually - I've usually seen that 15% quoted in most of my sources, and then it made sense when I got down that low. Of course as you say rapid fat loss can do it too, and that almost certainly contributed in my case.

Transform wrote:

Take any of the ladies from oxygen magazine e.g. Jamie Easton (on this months cover) who maintains a 12-13% BF most of the time but will drop a little lower for a cover shoot. Charles poliquin at one of his talks said that he gets sent women who have to appear in oxygen and gets them as low as 8-10% as they look best for shoots.

Ah, Jamie Eason... and yet I'm quite sure, no *positive* there are plenty of women who would consider her "too manly"



Still, maintaining 12-13% bf alongside a good LBM is pretty much a full time job. Not impossible, by any means, but damn hard!!

Transform wrote:

When i train clients my goal is to get them to 18% or below - now if they start at 18% and really should be 12% to look good thats different.

Yup, getting into those low teens is a whoooole other world!!! But absolutely, for the vast majority of women anything <18% looks outstanding.

cowzerp

Women can have menstrual problems even in the high teens-a girl i trained had no period for 9 months before she told me and she was 19-20% most of the time-as soon as she went up to 25 she was fine! everyone is different, so 18% could be v low for 1 person and normal for another-it all depends on hormones and also where the fat is stored! most girls look fine between 18-28% but unfortunately most girls are 30+ i like thin girls personally but very rarely meet any through lean girls in the gym!! seriously

LegacyUser

I don't like girls who are as cut as myself. I think that's just weird. I'm not intimidated by it or anything, I just prefer girls who have it in all the right places. I mean the girl in that photo up there has a stomach almost like mine...except mine is better but hey...:)

BossArky

That female looks exacty like She-Ra from a Masters of the Universe jig-saw puzzle I used to have when I was younger.

Hanley

Are you saying you train your male clients to shoot for 8%???

g'em

cheesedude wrote:

I mean the girl in that photo up there has a stomach almost like mine...

you have the stomach of a 5'2" figure model?? each to their own I guess :rolleyes:

Dragan

g'em wrote:

you have the stomach of a 5'2" figure model?? each to their own I guess :rolleyes:

*chuckles*

Boru.

Here's a bit of an embarrassing trivia - many female competitiors actually display what I would consider my goal physique. Very lean, high definition, small compact frame with hard musculature but not excessively over developed. Not that I aspire to be a woman of course, but the physiques of female competitors such as Valerie Waugaman or Gina Aliotti would actually be very similar to what I would say an ideal male physique would look like - minus the female componentes of course.

LegacyUser

g'em wrote:

you have the stomach of a 5'2" figure model?? each to their own I guess :rolleyes:

Obviously not, i just mean that she looks a bit too lean for my liking

g'em

cheesedude wrote:

Obviously not, i just mean that she looks a bit too lean for my liking

I'm sure she'd be heartbroken to hear that...

hunnymonster

I've another stoopid question. A lot of the photo's on t-nation show women who obviously have very low bf % but still manage to have big boobs. They can't be real can they?

g'em

many of them aren't. Jen Heath, for example, who is one of the regular columnists and contributors is open about her implants. There are *very* few women who can achieve bodyfat that low and retain naturally big boobs - it's not impossible, but it's not the norm.

LegacyUser

g'em wrote:

I'm sure she'd be heartbroken to hear that...

I reckon so yeah.

Transform

Yes i aim to get all my male clients to 8% if thats what they want - some just want to be fitter and healthier (generally my older clients)

No woman looks great at over 20% BF imo unless pregnant or other issues. Most of my long term female clients are below 18-20% and aiming for 16%.

In relation to lack of periods its caused by lack of good fats in the diet and a quick drop in body fat due to cutting or stress. More good fats would resolve it quick enough and allow for optimal balance of oestrogen and progesterone balances.

Cheesedude you are all talk, lets see some photos pretty boy!

Finally i know of NO ONE who is in amazing shape that trains any less than 5 times per week.

LegacyUser

Woah i wasn't trying to prove anyone wrong or anything and I didn't mean to insult anybody. I'll clarify my statement regarding women. I just don't like the female bodybuilder look. It's the same for everyone though, some girls like the brad pitt look and other love the ronnie coleman look. Each to their own.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Transform

Cheesedude you have no sense of what women want if you think ANY woman would like ronnie coleman!!!

99.9% of women would find him disgusting and 90% of women would look at the oxygen figure models as being the ideal.

My point cheesedude is that you talk lots of junk and do not back it up.

finally the original point is that what men find attractive in women is fairly clear yet what women like in men varies more widely and that is why i train my female clients for a certain look as its what they want.

Wibbs

Boru. wrote:

Here's a bit of an embarrassing trivia - many female competitiors actually display what I would consider my goal physique. Very lean, high definition, small compact frame with hard musculature but not excessively over developed. Not that I aspire to be a woman of course, but the physiques of female competitors such as Valerie Waugaman or Gina Aliotti would actually be very similar to what I would say an ideal male physique would look like - minus the female componentes of course.

Funny enough as a bloke I would be in agreement with you on that one. The bruce lee kinda look. I think that kind of lean thing rather than the huge swollen thing is a better look IMHO. If you look at humans "in the wild" as it where, very very few are very big. They're lean and wiry. It looks more efficient somehow, for want of a better word.

Transform wrote:

No woman looks great at over 20% BF imo

I can assure you it is your opinion. I can think of many women who look bloody great at 20% or higher. Personally above 25 wouldn't be for me. Again IMHO while the fitness models can look very good. While phoaar often springs instantly to mind, the lack of waist would put me off. People do differ on this. I think giving the impression that no woman looks good at 20% BF can be unhelpful, considering the often unhealthy obsession with weight loss and excessive exercise with some.

unless pregnant or other issues.

Or indeed trying to get pregnant. A higher BF is preferable. It's one of the reasons that many "primitive" peoples fatten women up before marriage. BTW a healthy range of BF is only an issue if the if the woman sees it as such.

LegacyUser

Transform wrote:

Cheesedude you have no sense of what women want if you think ANY woman would like ronnie coleman!!!

99.9% of women would find him disgusting and 90% of women would look at the oxygen figure models as being the ideal.

My point cheesedude is that you talk lots of junk and do not back it up.

finally the original point is that what men find attractive in women is fairly clear yet what women like in men varies more widely and that is why i train my female clients for a certain look as its what they want.

Well it wasn't meant to be taken literally, I said each to their own. I used the Brad Pitt and Ronnie Coleman examples as they are complete opposites.

Your point is that I talk lots of junk, how so? Clearly you can't accept my viewpoint because you probably train plenty of women to go for that look. Don't get sensitive over it, It's my opinion. Whatever.

LegacyUser

Transform wrote:

99.9% of women would find him disgusting and 90% of women would look at the oxygen figure models as being the ideal.

And I also disagree with your statistic there. I don't think 90% of women would call that the ideal.