Body fat, should i be worried?

AstraMonti

They measured (if that's the correct word) my body fat and they found it to be 10%, which they said it's the lowest acceptable value for a guy in my age. Should i be worried?
I know the fat is used as the last part of the body that will give energy when cycling but i don't know if this has anything to do with the % of it in the body.

Caroline_ie

LOL
Take it as compliment, it's great for a cyclist. Do you hear Raam complaining?? do ? eh ?? NO!

Lumen

Wiggins did the TdF at 4% so I'd say you'll be fine.

Who did the testing?

AstraMonti

It was a small device that you press your thumbs on and tells you your body fat, i would assume is as accurate as an ordinary 30euro scale out on the market.

Edit: The gym is Jackie Kelly in city center.

rottenhat

Yeah, I think this falls under the heading of undignified boasting.

I imagine they mean that's the lowest acceptable level in the sense of being in decent health for a normal person - below that you might run into problems with immune system etc.

ROK ON

AstraMonti wrote: »

It was a small device that you press your thumbs on and tells you your body fat, i would assume is as accurate as an ordinary 30euro scale out on the market.

Edit: The gym is Jackie Kelly in city center.

If you need topping up you can have mine, I have loads of the stuff just hanging around.

ednwireland

ROK ON wrote: »

If you need topping up you can have mine, I have loads of the stuff just hanging around.

+1 got loads lipo anyone ?

Chips Lovell

Lumen wrote: »

Wiggins did the TdF at 4% so I'd say you'll be fine.

But he was told that he would get sick if he maintained it for any length of time. He subsquently said he got a bad dose of the sniffles post Tour.

AFAIK 8-10% is the minimum for staying healthy.

MadHatter

FWIW, I just joined a gym and had my fitness assessment yesterday. They measured my body fat using a large scales with electrodes under the feet (like an industrial version of those bodyfat bathroom scales). It came out at 6.5%. Now there's now way in the world my body fat is 6.5% percent, it'd be nearer 16.5%, so I'd take those readings with a pinch of salt.

On the other hand, according to Wikipedia 10% is perfectly fine if you are an athlete.

partyguinness

A friend of mine who is an intercounty GAA player is under 5%...4.something%.

we have told him that he wont last 2 days in the polar caps and he would get eaten first..:D

tunney

AstraMonti wrote: »

They measured (if that's the correct word) my body fat and they found it to be 10%, which they said it's the lowest acceptable value for a guy in my age. Should i be worried?
I know the fat is used as the last part of the body that will give energy when cycling but i don't know if this has anything to do with the % of it in the body.

You can go to 6% without issue (assuming male). For races should be closer to 4%. Anything over 10% and I start to feel fat.

Relax, you can lose plenty more weight
(Well probably only 4-8 pounds)

Chips Lovell

Should be noted that most tests are highly inaccurate as well.

tunney

el tonto wrote: »

But he was told that he would get sick if he maintained it for any length of time. He subsquently said he got a bad dose of the sniffles post Tour.

yeah but all those drugs must have kept him healthy........

AstraMonti

tunney wrote: »

You can go to 6% without issue (assuming male). For races should be closer to 4%. Anything over 10% and I start to feel fat.

Relax, you can lose plenty more weight
(Well probably only 4-8 pounds)

:eek:

I am 190cms and i weight 77kgs.. ! And since i started cycling although my weight is the same, i went one number down in jeans.. which makes it extremely hard to find proper trousers!

peterako

10% is lean, and healthy
(all relative of course to the rest of your health/physique).

5% and lower is 'dangerous'.

Bodybuilders, for example, will diet down to 3 to 5% for contests.

This is for a week or two and it puts a LOT of stress on the immune system and organs.

Prolonged periods at this level can lead to organ failure and death....

Of course, individuals vary (genetics, acti9vity level etc.).

I've no idea of my actual body fat level, but my electronic scales read about 15%. I use this as a 'benchmark' to see if I'm getting 'relatively' fatter or leaner.

Having said this....my bodyfat measurements can vary considreably throughout the day so the accuracy of this (elctrode) method has to be questioned....('fatter' in teh morning than last thing at night....)

Peter (yes....I'm fat....)

quietobserver

I did an extreme cycling challenge 10 years ago and was tested in a lab where they said my bodyfat was down to 6%. Looking back photos look crazy. I look gaunt and washed out. Am glad its in the past and im at 13% now.

Its unfortunate that alot of cyclists believe that less body fat is what they need rather than reaching the desired healthy range and working on measuring performance on the bike rather than matching the pros (not saying the OP is doing this)

It does lead to complications and the increased risk of immune system problems.

tunney

quietobserver wrote: »

Its unfortunate that alot of cyclists believe that less body fat is what they need rather than reaching the desired healthy range and working on measuring performance on the bike rather than matching the pros (not saying the OP is doing this)

Probably worth noting that I am talking as a triathlete and the importance of low BF and weight is much more higher when running than cycling.

blorg

What MadHatter says, I would be suspect of those measurements. You can get it measured properly, basically you need a large measuring jug filled with water up to around 2/3 full. Then step into the measuring jug making sure you submerge yourself completely. The difference in water level will give you your volume. Then use one of these formulas to estimate your body fat:

Brozek formula: BF = (4.57/ρ − 4.142) × 100
Siri formula: BF = (4.95/ρ − 4.50) × 100

If you don't have a large enough measuring jug you can use a bath, fill the bath around 2/3 full and mark the water level. Then get in and submerge yourself completely in the bath. While you hold your breath have a partner scoop water out of the bath into a standard one litre measuring jug until the water level falls to the marked level. Make sure to stay under the surface at all times while this scooping is going on.

Jawgap

10% body fat - you slob:):):)

Herschel Walker was a running back for the Dallas Cowboys and famously only had a body fat % of 1 to 2% (or maybe it was 2% to 3%). He excelled in a sport dominated by free-weight lifting juggernauts without doing anything more than sit ups, press ups and other exercises like that.

His metabolism and endocrine system, however, seems to have been freakishly unique.

He was also famous for not sleeping, eating little and having his wisdom teeth out with no anasthetic (he reckoned he didn't need it!!).

Not exactly a stick-like physique:-

Jawgap

blorg wrote: »

What MadHatter says, I would be suspect of those measurements. You can get it measured properly, basically you need a large measuring jug filled with water up to around 2/3 full. Then step into the measuring jug making sure you submerge yourself completely. The difference in water level will give you your volume. Then use one of these formulas to estimate your body fat:

Brozek formula: BF = (4.57/ρ − 4.142) × 100
Siri formula: BF = (4.95/ρ − 4.50) × 100

If you don't have a large enough measuring jug you can use a bath, fill the bath around 2/3 full and mark the water level. Then get in and submerge yourself completely in the bath. While you hold your breath have a partner scoop water out of the bath into a standard one litre measuring jug until the water level falls to the marked level. Make sure to stay under the surface at all times while this scooping is going on.

I could drown before she gets enough water out!

billyhead

Abouta year ago my bodyfat was measured at 4-5%. I was like a rake. I did a lot of running and other cardio training and it wrecked me. I was not eating enough to offset the training and maintain a healthy weight. I am 6ft 1 and was 10.5 stone back then. My immune system was in bits. I was wrecked tired very day and was picking up colds very easily. I have put on a stone in weight since then and now my bodyfat is 8%. I am still failry lean but feel a whole lot better and helthier. Anything below 5% bodyfat no matter what sort of athlete you are is dangerous imo.

Vélo

peterako wrote: »

5% and lower is 'dangerous'.

quote]

I don't believe this.

I went to Tony Quinns gym about 10 years ago and they tested my body fat.

It was 1%:eek:, so by your reckoning I'd be unhealthy. I've never been in hospital, am rarely sick and have never had an antibiotic. I think I've only been to the doctor once in that 10 years also.

Since the test I've only put on about half a stone.

I must actually get it checked out again to see what I am now but I'd be surprised if it's gone up that much.

I'm 5' 7" and weigh 9.0 stone*

*you'd imagine I'd be good on the hills!

dub_skav

MadHatter wrote: »

FWIW, I just joined a gym and had my fitness assessment yesterday. They measured my body fat using a large scales with electrodes under the feet (like an industrial version of those bodyfat bathroom scales). It came out at 6.5%. Now there's now way in the world my body fat is 6.5% percent, it'd be nearer 16.5%, so I'd take those readings with a pinch of salt.
.

Not too much though, you wouldn't want high blood pressure too.

Lumen

Snorkels FTW!

Vélo

I just had a look at my BMI and it's 19.7 which just fits in the category of being normal weight.

I never thought I was normal weight.

When I did my leaving cert I only weighed 5 stone 4lbs.

petethedrummer

Jawgap wrote: »

I could drown before she gets enough water out!

snorkel

petethedrummer

Lumen wrote: »

Snorkels FTW!

Thats twice today. We'll sort this out on the Sean Kelly.

Jawgap

petethedrummer wrote: »

snorkel

good one....

peterako

Vélo wrote: »

It was 1%:eek:, so by your reckoning I'd be unhealthy.

Note: I did say individuals do vary

I.e. some people will deviate for the 'medical norms' (which I'm not a great fan of eg...BMI etc).

BUT 1%....basically you have NO fat.

This means.....your internal organs are hanging freely inside your abdomen :eek:

You can see all the striations in your muscles through your skin (NO Fat in your derm layers):

A body builder at 4 or 5% BF -

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=813753&d=1186601332

(the striations are basically the individual muscle fibres of your muscles...)

Maybe 1% was wrong. I'm not questioning you or that you're lean, I'm just a bit sceptical of the accuracy of 1% the result.

Peter

MadHatter

Re electronic body fat measuring devices, while the accuracy is a bit hit and miss (different hydration levels can give wildly different readings) they can give useful readings when used consistenly. So if you weigh yourself and take body fat readings at the same time every day, you can plot a reasonable graph of body weight & body fat over time to at least give an indication of where you're going.

Vélo

peterako wrote: »

Note: I did say individuals do vary

I.e. some people will deviate for the 'medical norms' (which I'm not a great fan of eg...BMI etc).

BUT 1%....basically you have NO fat.

This means.....your internal organs are hanging freely inside your abdomen :eek:

You can see all the striations in your muscles through your skin (NO Fat in your derm layers):

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=813753&d=1186601332
(the striations are basically the individual muscle fibles of your muscles...)

Maybe 1% was wrong. I'm not questioning you or that you're lean, I'm just a bit sceptical of the accuracy of 1% the result.

Peter

No don't worry about calling me lean, I'm a skinny freak. I'd say even RAAM is jealous. I'm probably the only man in Ireland if not the world that lycra is baggy on:eek:.

The test mightn't have been accurate. It was 10 years ago so maybe the equipment for testing was new and innacurate. As I said I should really get it done again to see what it is out of curiosity.

At least when someone calls me a fat bastard I can say "Yes, 1%"

tunney

Vélo wrote: »

No don't worry about calling me lean, I'm a skinny freak. I'd say even RAAM is jealous. I'm probably the only man in Ireland if not the world that lycra is baggy on:eek:.

The test mightn't have been accurate. It was 10 years ago so maybe the equipment for testing was new and innacurate. As I said I should really get it done again to see what it is out of curiosity.

At least when someone calls me a fat bastard I can say "Yes, 1%"

Unless it was done via a displacement chamber there is margin for error. Hate to break it to you but the odds are that you were higher.

Jumpy

I was 8% back in my speedskating days. I was tested at 33% before I started cycling again. 2 months later I am 24%. If I keep that rate up I should be back to normal by the end of the year

Jumpy

Lumen wrote: »

Snorkels FTW!

Speaking of skinny... who is tanline man in your avatar?

blorg

@Velo- 1% cannot have been accurate. This is 4% in a lean build and even he can only keep it that low for a short period:

petethedrummer

Jumpy wrote: »

I was 8% back in my speedskating days.

Speedskating? In Ireland?

Jumpy

This is brilliant. I have an idea for the Sean Kelly in the time before the race starts.

1. We put all the under 5%'ers in a ring to have a fight.
2. We record it and post it up on www.stickpage.com
3. ???
4. Profit.

Jumpy

petethedrummer wrote: »

Speedskating? In Ireland?

Im Australian

Lumen

Jumpy wrote: »

Speaking of skinny... who is tanline man in your avatar?

Michael Rasmussen, otherwise known as The Chicken.

edit: bigger pic here.

blorg

Jumpy wrote: »

Speaking of skinny... who is tanline man in your avatar?

That is Michael Rasmussen, Lumen's doping hero. 5'9" 125lb racing weight.

Jumpy

Good god. I didnt realise it was possible to have zero pecs.

Rovi

partyguinness wrote: »

A friend of mine who is an intercounty GAA player is under 5%...4.something%.

we have told him that he wont last 2 days in the polar caps and he would get eaten first..:D

He's be pretty chewy though, it's the fat that adds flavour :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbled_meat

peterako

blorg wrote: »

This is 4% in a lean build and even he can only keep it that low for a short period:

:eek:

Chips Lovell

I think that picture was taken after Paris - Roubaix, so he was probably even lighter at the Tour.

unionman

I had my body fat tested today after seeing this thread up. They dipped me in a big jug, did some equations and prodded me with electrodes.

This is what came up on the screen:


What do you think it means?

Chips Lovell

unionman wrote: »

What do you think it means?

You don't have to be kept in a fridge?

peterako

You're a skinny me

unionman

el tonto wrote: »

You don't have to be kept in a fridge?

Every cloud...

Raam

AstraMonti wrote: »

:eek:

I am 190cms and i weight 77kgs

fatty! Come back to me when you loose 10kg

NeilMcEoigheann

7.14% fat but i could loose a few more.

Lumen

NeilMcEoigheann wrote: »

7.14% fat but i could loose a few more.

Yes, I remember you looking pretty substantial at the Kippure TT. Then you turned sideways and disappeared.