Fit or fat? What is your body fat percentage?

[omer]

In a recent article i read about body fat percentage, it was mentioned that cyclists have typical body fat percentage in the range of 5-10% of their body weight. It is also said that a body fat percentage below 3% is dangerous (both figures are for males)

I am curious about the distribution of body fat percentage figures among cyclists; what is your body fat percentage?

cheers,
Omer.

 

[cjcanty]

not too sure if my scale is accurate or not. I am 5' 11 and weigh about 162lbs but my scale tells me I am about 17.5% body fat. That means I have about 28llbs of fat on my body but I am rather skinny. Is it accurate or way off or somewhere in between.

 

[tomUK]

5' 11". 144lbs and 3% bodyfat. Measured on both a Tanita scale and using calipers. My FTP is 280W.

Basically, I'm not too good at chasing on the flats or sprints, however, put me up a 5% climb and there are few that can hold on.

 

[Gilders]

not too sure if my scale is accurate or not. I am 5' 11 and weigh about 162lbs but my scale tells me I am about 17.5% body fat. That means I have about 28llbs of fat on my body but I am rather skinny. Is it accurate or way off or somewhere in between.

Same here - 5' 11'', typically 72 - 74kg (161 lbs average). could certainly lose a few pounds of fat, but would struggle to drop more than about 12 lbs without looking like Skeletor's less fortunate-looking puny brother...

 

[omer]

not too sure if my scale is accurate or not. I am 5' 11 and weigh about 162lbs but my scale tells me I am about 17.5% body fat. That means I have about 28llbs of fat on my body but I am rather skinny. Is it accurate or way off or somewhere in between.

For a cyclist, with 5'11'' + 162lbs; 17.5% seems quite high for me, your scale should be way off.

 

[cjcanty]

Omer, thanks for the info. I was hoping that it was way off. Maybe I should buy calipers or something.

 

[Bikerbill98]

At 225 and ~10, hmm maybe 12%, I'm great on down hills! My friends call me plywood or wideload due to the great draft. I'm afraid I'll never see my HS grad weigth of 190 again.

 

[void808]

Omer, thanks for the info. I was hoping that it was way off. Maybe I should buy calipers or something.

most scales are WAY off. im around 10-11%, and 175lbs But the lame, cheapo scale I have here at home says im 175 at 19%. I got the correct figures from my personal trainer and her testing equip.

 

[velo4it]

5'8" 165pds, more upper body than most cyclists, then again mostly mtn biking, 12-13% according to training, tanita scale 17% - scary high...

 

[void808]

5'8" 165pds, more upper body than most cyclists, then again mostly mtn biking, 12-13% according to training, tanita scale 17% - scary high...

heyyyy, tanita's just looking out for us...by reporting an unusually high body fat rating, it's just encouraging us to work out harder!

 

[Lightspeed0001]

Fit; definitely. 10% body fat, caliper method. 155# - fully hydrated.

Can't beat Spinning for training and conditioning, although there's nothing like the road for handling skills.

 

[Gilders]

most scales are WAY off. im around 10-11%, and 175lbs But the lame, cheapo scale I have here at home says im 175 at 19%. I got the correct figures from my personal trainer and her testing equip.

That is really poor - to be so far out. Do your scales tend to show wild BF fluctuations throughout the day as well?

Just out of interest as you're verging towards single figure BFI, how many grammes of fat do you consume a day and what would you typically burn off calorie-wise per day? Are you still relatively young?

I think many of us rue the day when our metabolic rates as good as conked out (mine in early 20s - bummer); considerable weight gain without any problem, followed by diminutive weight loss with plenty of problems...!

 

[Gilders]

At what body fat percentage typically would your abdominal muscles start showing through prominently (providing you hadn't atrophied them away through years of indolence and did actually do regular abs exercises)?

 

[Lightspeed0001]

That is really poor - to be so far out. Do your scales tend to show wild BF fluctuations throughout the day as well?

Just out of interest as you're verging towards single figure BFI, how many grammes of fat do you consume a day and what would you typically burn off calorie-wise per day? Are you still relatively young?

I think many of us rue the day when our metabolic rates as good as conked out (mine in early 20s - bummer); considerable weight gain without any problem, followed by diminutive weight loss with plenty of problems...!

Hi Gilders;

Unbelieveable as it might sound, I typically tend not to think about fat consumed, only rather the "type" of fat I consume - making certain that non-trans varieties predominate - essential fatty acids (raw flax seed oil, raw nuts, greens), some monosaturated in the form of olive oil - and very little in the way of saturated fat.

My caloric burn per day is almost always on the negative as an average - I teach roughly 8 Spinning classes per week - about 600 calories per class in addition to training on my own. So I'd safely say about 2000 per day. Some days significantly less - !recovery!

My take on BMR is that it's enhanced by diet and training, yet you're right - it does tend to slow up with age. I've thankfully not seen any signs of that yet and I'm 41. One of the strategies that has helped is plenty of low intensity spinning with HR's around 65-75% for an hour or so. My seniors I teach have benefitted from that plan tremendously.

As far as scales go - I don't use them except to correct for fluid losses. Calipers only - 7 site method.

Thanks for the question.

Justin

 

[ejglows]

This thread was definately not intended for the women on this board...

For the record, 5`2"-125lbs, 19% FEMALE.

Rather be fit and fat than just plain fat...

e

 

[Bikerbill98]

At what body fat percentage typically would your abdominal muscles start showing through prominently (providing you hadn't atrophied them away through years of indolence and did actually do regular abs exercises)?

Hmm, Gilder it sounds as though you have many crunches to do. Consider what your ideal weight should be minus ten pounds. If acceptable weight is based on 15% body fat (average male BF) and you were 175 lbs., at 165 lbs. you would be about 11% BF. BTW, abs grow as you exercise them too.....

 

[Bikerbill98]

This thread was definately not intended for the women on this board...

For the record, 5`2"-125lbs, 19% FEMALE.

Rather be fit and fat than just plain fat...

e

"It is generally accepted that men should have less than 18% total body fat and women 23% or less, However, experts suggest that an excess is not particularly hazardous to health until an individual accumulates 35% and 40% total body fat respectively." It would seem you have very fit fat. Keep up the good work. You fall within the acceptable range of fatness.

 

[LioNiNoiL]

my scale tells me I am about 17.5% body fat.

My son and I tried a fat-percentage scale (I don't remember the brand) at the sports store, and it was way off: I am a very dense old mesomorph, and he is a very lean teenage hockey/BMX/blader, and it showed us both at 20% bodyfat. If that demo scale was representative of those fat scales, then they're junk.

 

[rule62]

Male - 5'10" - 154 - 9%

 

[Meek One]

Male 6'1" (185cm) 202lbs (92kg) and roughly 20 percent and dropping