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Lowest bf % to maintain year round??

pistachio

pistachio

Member
Stemming off trent's thread, I'm curious to know what people's thoughts are on this. I'm not that knowledgeable about cutting up or staying lean, as I've never really pushed it before, so want to hear from others.

So what is the lowest bf % that you can naturally stay at year round? And is it healthy to do so? Obviously bodybuilder levels of bodyfat is unhealthy 3-5%, but I would have thought 6-8% would be healthy. ie Still shredded, but not striated glutes lol.

At the moment, I'd say I'm about 9-11% bf (will get some pics up in the near future), but am doing no cardio and am not dieting particularly strictly. I feel I could comfortably maitain a lower bf if I included some cardio or made my diet more strict. Ideally, I'd like to maintain a 'ripped' build year round, that is if I like how I look when I get there.

I would think genetics would play a big part in this - ie people who are naturally fat may have to 'settle' for say 10% year round, while people who are naturally lean and don't store much fat could probably stay at 5% year round without any problems.
 
pistachio said:
Stemming off trent's thread, I'm curious to know what people's thoughts are on this. I'm not that knowledgeable about cutting up or staying lean, as I've never really pushed it before, so want to hear from others.

So what is the lowest bf % that you can naturally stay at year round? And is it healthy to do so? Obviously bodybuilder levels of bodyfat is unhealthy 3-5%, but I would have thought 6-8% would be healthy. ie Still shredded, but not striated glutes lol.

At the moment, I'd say I'm about 9-11% bf (will get some pics up in the near future), but am doing no cardio and am not dieting particularly strictly. I feel I could comfortably maitain a lower bf if I included some cardio or made my diet more strict. Ideally, I'd like to maintain a 'ripped' build year round, that is if I like how I look when I get there.

I would think genetics would play a big part in this - ie people who are naturally fat may have to 'settle' for say 10% year round, while people who are naturally lean and don't store much fat could probably stay at 5% year round without any problems.
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This plays the biggest part in this ^^^

Health wise your prob best to stay around 10-12%.

Your prob able to stay around 10-12% all year round - now as you said above some ppl will stay alot leaner due to genetics etc...but lets say for the general training public who trains hard, eats well etc...10-12% would be able to be maintained through the year with not a huge amount of stress..if diet and training kept on at the same level.

Theres no way - unless your genetically gifted 6% is near impossible for a natural athlete to stay all year round and even 7-8% would be hard...if you are taking drugs id say 8-10% would be easy to maintain.

Most natural bodybuilder when they compete will be between say 5-7% when they step on stage, un-natural maybe between 3-5%...theres alot of BS that some guys have got down to 1% bf and shit like that...thats impossible...the body needs some fat to live....
 
12-13% is doable naturally if u keep up the training/diet macros.
Without the health implications anything under 9% is hard to maintain year round. This eats into your life as a whole turning u into a hermit (genetics and age have their parts in this).

Re: karens post. The guy she was referring to has all his food boxed and labeled while he goes on holidays to stay shredded year round. I mean if i was on holidays i would like to eat my fish and chips on the beach/BBQ food at least 1-2 weeks.
 
TrentZor said:
12-13% is doable naturally if u keep up the training/diet macros.
Without the health implications anything under 9% is hard to maintain year round. This eats into your life as a whole turning u into a hermit (genetics and age have their parts in this).

Re: karens post. The guy she was referring to has all his food boxed and labeled while he goes on holidays to stay shredded year round. I mean if i was on holidays i would like to eat my fish and chips on the beach/BBQ food at least 1-2 weeks.
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This,
no holiday from his diet!
 
YEAAABUDDDY said:
Health wise your prob best to stay around 10-12%.
Click to expand...

Why?

TrentZor said:
Without the health implications anything under 9% is hard to maintain year round.
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What health implications?

TrentZor said:
This eats into your life as a whole turning u into a hermit (genetics and age have their parts in this).

Re: karens post. The guy she was referring to has all his food boxed and labeled while he goes on holidays to stay shredded year round. I mean if i was on holidays i would like to eat my fish and chips on the beach/BBQ food at least 1-2 weeks.
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What if you don't mind doing this though? What if to you, this is worth it?

What I want to know is whether it is HEALTHY to do. Leave the willpower side of it to me.

Honestly, even when I go on holidays (which isn't often), I still like to eat healthy.
 
Does anyone have an image with a general guideline of what each bodyfat % body would like? (f you know what I mean). I remember seeing one on here somewhere but can't find it.

My brother sustains really low bf % all year round, he went from 62kg - 80kg in 1-2 years, keeping the same amount of bf %. Crazy.
 
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on bodybuilding.com there a thread in the fat loss area called fat estimation,, theres a lot of pics of just average ppl going to gym and u can get a rough idea of what certain bf % are.. or google image and a few compare pics pop up.
 
excerpt. basically as humans we are not designed to function year round on low bodyfat.

our bodies need fat to function correctly and it might surprise you that the same athletes that look like the epitome of health don’t feel that energetic at such low body fat levels and suffer from suppressed immune systems and are extremely susceptible to colds and other viruses.

Females usually experience a cessation in their menstrual cycle as a consequence of going too low as the body perceives itself to be in the throes of starvation and does its best to not get pregnant as it no longer has the capacity to carry a baby to full term with such low energy reserves.

It is truly not a state that the human body wants to maintain and it explains to a large degree why it is inherently so difficult to reduce your body fat levels and why we have to go to unhealthy extremes to get ourselves at an ultra low body fat level.

What does it feel like to be under five percent body fat? I can tell from my experience that it isn’t pleasant at all. When I was competing the second my fat levels dropped below 5% the lethargy set in.

I hardly had the energy or desire to do very much and my face had the sunken look of someone that hadn’t eaten in several months. It seemed as if someone so much as sneezed in my direction I would get a cold and I felt cold all the time (your body uses a layer of fat as a form of insulation to keep in your body heat- take that layer away and you lose heat very quickly and will have trouble staying warm in a cold environment.)

Above all I would have difficulty staying asleep- the body perceives such low fat levels as a famine response and forces you to stay awake longer in the hopes of finding food.



The key is to find your own level
 
TrentZor said:
excerpt. basically as humans we are not designed to function year round on low bodyfat.

our bodies need fat to function correctly and it might surprise you that the same athletes that look like the epitome of health don’t feel that energetic at such low body fat levels and suffer from suppressed immune systems and are extremely susceptible to colds and other viruses.

Females usually experience a cessation in their menstrual cycle as a consequence of going too low as the body perceives itself to be in the throes of starvation and does its best to not get pregnant as it no longer has the capacity to carry a baby to full term with such low energy reserves.

It is truly not a state that the human body wants to maintain and it explains to a large degree why it is inherently so difficult to reduce your body fat levels and why we have to go to unhealthy extremes to get ourselves at an ultra low body fat level.

What does it feel like to be under five percent body fat? I can tell from my experience that it isn’t pleasant at all. When I was competing the second my fat levels dropped below 5% the lethargy set in.

I hardly had the energy or desire to do very much and my face had the sunken look of someone that hadn’t eaten in several months. It seemed as if someone so much as sneezed in my direction I would get a cold and I felt cold all the time (your body uses a layer of fat as a form of insulation to keep in your body heat- take that layer away and you lose heat very quickly and will have trouble staying warm in a cold environment.)

Above all I would have difficulty staying asleep- the body perceives such low fat levels as a famine response and forces you to stay awake longer in the hopes of finding food.



The key is to find your own level
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I get that trent, but that is ULTRA low. Is 6-8% really that low? Sub 5% sure, but say 8%, surely that is not that low?

If my DEXA was accurate and I'm only around 10% now (don't think I've gained any fat since it was done and if anything, have lost fat as I am more vascular now), then 8% is only a very small way away. It just doesn't seem that there is going to be some massive drop in my health from losing an extra 2kgs of fat.

Or maybe I'm actually a lot fatter than the DEXA suggests. I should really get some photos up.
 
Biggest thing I have seen is test levels dropping hugely due to guys wanting to stay lean for long peroids of time...I have had acouple of mates who competed then tried to stay that 6-8% bf which is what they competed at...had bloods done and they test levels had dropped hugely...and for a person who trains whats the point of that? yea you may look good, but 1. you wont be able to maintain it for ever and 2. you will def not be putting on any size....combine that with no energy, no sex drive etc etc...whats the point? They have struggled to get test levels back up to what they were....

I think if you have something you want to diet for i.e a holiday, festival, comp etc then go for it...but do not stay at a low bf or try and stay at a low bf for long peroids of time....

That remind me there was a dude called Kyle who posted on here...he comes from Canberra, i have met him once or twice...he did the same thing...came off a comp and did not let his body rebound and tried to stay at a very low bf and his test levels were gonnnne aswell! - he had a log here that he record all that info in,....
 
I wouldnt think the DEXA scan would be inacurate in any way, from what i know they are one of the most accurate forms of measuring body fat....

From my understanding between 5 and 10% should be able to be maintained year round with little health implications, there is a thread on bolex about paleo diets and there a few VERY knowledgable people who have posted on there that i have spoken to that follow this style of diet and manage to maintain low body fat levels year round and feel the best they have in a long time at much lower body fat levels.

I think in one post BigJimmy explains he has a number of clients on this style of diet who maintain very low levels of body fat year round and they dont compete, it is just how they eat and train which enables them to maintain this level of BF, and a few females who maintain single digit BF levels (which is very low for females) and their health is fine.

In saying this, i think it does also have something to do with genetics, etc etc.

Will be following this thread with interest, especially interested in those who do maintain a low BF level to see how their diet is as i think this is the main factor in all this and the # of cals they consume to maintain a low BF %age
 
pistachio said:
I get that trent, but that is ULTRA low. Is 6-8% really that low? Sub 5% sure, but say 8%, surely that is not that low?

If my DEXA was accurate and I'm only around 10% now (don't think I've gained any fat since it was done and if anything, have lost fat as I am more vascular now), then 8% is only a very small way away. It just doesn't seem that there is going to be some massive drop in my health from losing an extra 2kgs of fat.

Or maybe I'm actually a lot fatter than the DEXA suggests. I should really get some photos up.
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At 10% now you might feel fine and energetic. But depending on your genetics/training factors. A drop in 2% might actually make u feel worse for wear. The best way to see if to try it for yourself.

I have guys who are sub 10% at my gym and can function fine while otehr who have gone down to sub 10% felt like shit so they stay at 15%.

The dexas are pretty much on the ball.

Myself i have hit 7% over the years. I usually hover around 13% year round but i carry a much lower LBM than yourself so its easier for me to cut. That said every % drop below 9% i could feel myself getting weaker (as joel mentioned due to test levels) and not rebounding from colds as quickly.
 
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Neddysmith said:
I wouldnt think the DEXA scan would be inacurate in any way, from what i know they are one of the most accurate forms of measuring body fat....

From my understanding between 5 and 10% should be able to be maintained year round with little health implications, there is a thread on bolex about paleo diets and there a few VERY knowledgable people who have posted on there that i have spoken to that follow this style of diet and manage to maintain low body fat levels year round and feel the best they have in a long time at much lower body fat levels.

I think in one post BigJimmy explains he has a number of clients on this style of diet who maintain very low levels of body fat year round and they dont compete, it is just how they eat and train which enables them to maintain this level of BF, and a few females who maintain single digit BF levels (which is very low for females) and their health is fine.

In saying this, i think it does also have something to do with genetics, etc etc.

Will be following this thread with interest, especially interested in those who do maintain a low BF level to see how their diet is as i think this is the main factor in all this and the # of cals they consume to maintain a low BF %age
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There is noway you could maintain 5% bodyfat all year around...unless the genetic gods were on your side and you had access to some great drugs lol...

Most natural bodybuilders will not reach 5% bodyfat on stage..let alone maintain it year round...
 
deep said:
What would he be on??
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Clen, t3, DNP, GH, test, stana etc etc....anything really....u never know...

Im not saying he is but we really need to give examples to pistachio of people we know are natural/or from a stand point of a natural athlete...

Im not going to say yes he totally is on drugs...but theres a very high chance he is to maintain that level of bf....
 
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