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Lowest bf % to maintain year round??

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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if you're staying 9-11% without having to fuss to much about diet and no cardio, honestly, you're gold.

Out of the hundreds of people I have trained, most of them (some of them amatuer BBers) were working hard to keep 10-12% year round.

For me, if you can stay 11-12% year round it's a good effort. There will be the ebb and flow of when you dip to 8-9 and maybe 13-14+ after a bad holiday.

Anyhow, you're quite right. Genetics and your bodies thermostat will push you to either side, or if you're an incredible meso you'll keep mass and stay lean just by having a wank.

That's a rarity though, most people are either:

Struggling to keep LBM if they don't watch what they do, but leanness isn't the issue

Or

Struggling to maintain leanness, but have no issues keeping and laying down LBM
 
Neddysmith said:
Sure you are mate, just mean you have to make your back even wider to get the same tapper look:eek:
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Haha, yeah i know.. I'm not sure how much bigger i want to get though. Mind you, my back still looks 'skinny' to me, so that could use a bit more mass. Chest i think is big enough tho.

Minchia said:
if you're staying 9-11% without having to fuss to much about diet and no cardio, honestly, you're gold.

Out of the hundreds of people I have trained, most of them (some of them amatuer BBers) were working hard to keep 10-12% year round.

For me, if you can stay 11-12% year round it's a good effort. There will be the ebb and flow of when you dip to 8-9 and maybe 13-14+ after a bad holiday.

Anyhow, you're quite right. Genetics and your bodies thermostat will push you to either side, or if you're an incredible meso you'll keep mass and stay lean just by having a wank.

That's a rarity though, most people are either:

Struggling to keep LBM if they don't watch what they do, but leanness isn't the issue

Or

Struggling to maintain leanness, but have no issues keeping and laying down LBM
Click to expand...

I should clarify, i am still dieting (technically), but it isn't strict.

I more or less eat the same stuff every day, but have been far more relaxed if i can't eat the EXACT stuff every day.

So yeah, I've stayed at more or less the same bodyfat (probably actually gone down 0.5-1% bodyfat actually) over the last 3 months, and my weight has marginally increased (from 89.5-90.5kgs to about 90-91kgs).

As of next week, I will start a PROPER diet again (where I will be strict and will eat the same stuff every day), but aiming to bulk.

There is a slim possibility that something will come up in the next few weeks tho that will require me to (attempt to) get shredded in like 2 weeks. So if that happens, I will cut instead.

This is why I'm waiting until next week to worry about getting a diet sorted.
 
I can easily stay 18-20% year round, no worries at all.

This is a guess cause i honestly have no idea what i would actually be at..
 
GN1 said:
Naturally, 8%.
On hormones you can look 8 weeks out most of the year.
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Thanks GN1, I am sure Peter will be glad to hear this.

OT , I only just noticed Oni is the only other person on the site to refer to AAS/PED's as hormones, like yourself. Must be coincidence.

Thanks for the input though.
 
If I had meant AAS I would have said AAS.
You can not look 8 weeks out all the time and still grow on steroids alone, you need peptide hormones in addition to AAS.
 
jchen said:
Thanks GN1, I am sure Peter will be glad to hear this.

OT , I only just noticed Oni is the only other person on the site to refer to AAS/PED's as hormones, like yourself. Must be coincidence.

Thanks for the input though.
Click to expand...

I totally noticed this aswell the other day lol
 
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