Body Fat % - help?
BChanFit
Posts: 209 Member
I changed my calorie intake to maintenance about 4 months ago. In that time I've started weight lifting (3 months ago) and increased my cardio from what I was doing (1 month ago).
Good news: I'm maintaining my weight perfectly. Scale is always +/- half a pound. So that's good.
Bad news: Body fat % has also stayed the same for the past 4 months. Wouldn't the increase in exercise change that? I can't figure it out. Anyone else have experience with this? Any advice is appreciated.
Good news: I'm maintaining my weight perfectly. Scale is always +/- half a pound. So that's good.
Bad news: Body fat % has also stayed the same for the past 4 months. Wouldn't the increase in exercise change that? I can't figure it out. Anyone else have experience with this? Any advice is appreciated.
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Replies
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It's notoriously difficult to measure body fat accurately. It can't be measured with a scale and even bodypods aren't reliable. I wouldn't worry about that. If you want to know if you're gaining muscle, use a tape measure and look at your clothes and how much you're lifting. If your weight is staying the same and your inches decrease you are becoming denser - i.e. lower body fat. If you see muscles where you used to see round soft curves, you have lower body fat. If your clothes fit better but you haven't changed weight, you've probably lost body fat.0
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I would suggest eat at a small deficit while lifting heavy, and maybe even lower the cardio so you retain the most amount of muscle possible. Also make sure you get enough protein.
What lifting program are you doing now? If you are doing your own thing I would suggest picking a tried tested and true program such as starting strength, stonglifts 5x5, New Rules of lifting etc.0 -
Thanks, that's really helpful! And encouraging. I have lost inches the past few months and can definitely lift and do more all the time. And yet my trainer has me hold this thing every month that says "nope, you're still fat" Same-exact-number-every-time. (Okay that's not what it says literally but it's how I interpret it and it inevitably bothers me for days.) 0
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Recomp is really slow. I've been lifting for just over a year now and maintaining about the same weight. In March, 2014 I had a BodPod test done and came in at 18.9% body fat. I just had the same test last week and came in this time at 16% body fat. So over the course of 7 months I lost just a few % body fat.
This is lifting heavy too (currently I'm squatting 1.2x body weight) 5-6x/week. I also calorie cycle, but I'm not sure if this helps or not.
How are you measuring body fat, btw? If it's your scale at home, I don't think those are accurate in the least. Measurements, calipers, or if you have access to a BodPod (or DEXA or Hydro) will give you a better picture. Just keep in mind it's super slow. Pictures also help. I can really see the difference in my body after a year of lifting.0 -
Erickirb - I keep waffling back and forth on the calorie thing. I agree with you and think decreasing would help but my trainer seems to think *increasing* will help. So I feel stuck on the intake issue right now. I am trying to build a base to start marathon training in May. Looking to get up to 20 miles (18 this week, 20 next week) and will continue that until May so reducing the cardio isn't really appealing either. I don't understand how reducing cardio will help the BF% issue?
I'm currently eating about 130 grams of protein a day, give or take 5 grams.0 -
Recomp is really slow. I've been lifting for just over a year now and maintaining about the same weight. In March, 2014 I had a BodPod test done and came in at 18.9% body fat. I just had the same test last week and came in this time at 16% body fat. So over the course of 7 months I lost just a few % body fat.
This is lifting heavy too (currently I'm squatting 1.2x body weight) 5-6x/week. I also calorie cycle, but I'm not sure if this helps or not.
How are you measuring body fat, btw? If it's your scale at home, I don't think those are accurate in the least. Measurements, calipers, or if you have access to a BodPod (or DEXA or Hydro) will give you a better picture. Just keep in mind it's super slow. Pictures also help. I can really see the difference in my body after a year of lifting.
Wow, very impressive! I can't squat that much, I just started semi-recently so I won't be attempting that anytime soon either.
I'm using the hand held thing they have at the gym. Not sure what it's called. Thanks for the info about the slow pace - helps put things in perspective. Trainer said I should be going down 2% or so each month.0 -
wait... you do all this work and your trainer is humiliating you in some way? ahem.... not cool0
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If your trainer is checking your body fat with an electronic body fat measuring device, GET A NEW TRAINER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go somewhere that will measure with calipers or via hydro. The electronic measuring devices are notoriously in acurate. Have someone do a 3 pinch and a 4 pinch measure.0
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I guess my thinking is... even if it's wrong, wouldn't it still reduce to a lower wrong number if I lost fat?0
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Jennloella wrote: »
OMG Didn't even think of that. Something new to consider... I would certainly hope they're not reduced to rigging the body fat thingy for clients.![:\](https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
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It's notoriously difficult to measure body fat accurately. It can't be measured with a scale and even bodypods aren't reliable. I wouldn't worry about that. If you want to know if you're gaining muscle, use a tape measure and look at your clothes and how much you're lifting. If your weight is staying the same and your inches decrease you are becoming denser - i.e. lower body fat. If you see muscles where you used to see round soft curves, you have lower body fat. If your clothes fit better but you haven't changed weight, you've probably lost body fat.
Links to the lack of body pod accuracy????
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yopeeps025 wrote: »
Links to the lack of body pod accuracy????
First thing that popped up in Google: http://www.nifs.org/fitness-center/fitness-assessments/bodpod
It's done at the local university here.
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Standard Disclaimer: Sorry for the standing-on-the-toilet shots. I've been taking pics here for years never thinking I'd make them public.
This is ~3% reduction in body fat according to BodPod. It shows most in my abs. Weight is pretty much the same, or was in these pictures. Maybe a 1-2lb difference.
February 2014
[img]http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/jivete/Lifting progress/F-02272014.jpg[/img]
August 2014
[img]http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/jivete/Lifting progress/IMG_00000341.jpg[/img]
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Jennloella wrote: »
OMG Didn't even think of that. Something new to consider... I would certainly hope they're not reduced to rigging the body fat thingy for clients.
It's highly unlikely that your gym is manipulating the device. These devices are inaccurate because any number of things can affect them: how much water you've had to drink that day, what time of day you use it, if you use it before or after your workout, etc. Plus, the electric wave may not actually travel through your whole body. If you use the handheld device it pretty much just gets the top half, but if you use a BF% bathroom scale you get the bottom half. It's ok to use it to get a ballpark number, but don't accept it as true.
ETA: I own one of these and it is about 5-7% off of what I've been measured at by the caliper method (which also has room for error).0 -
I always do it every 4 weeks, same time of day, same amount of water/food before. I guess I just thought it would show decline and have been disappointed. I was trying to think of what I could do to get it to show improvement but it sounds like the general consensus is to not worry about it?
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And Husseycd you look great! Would love to be down 3% bf...0
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My profile pic is me at 11%. It took me 2 months to trim up from 16%/11%. The only thing I changed was my diet. Lowered my protien and carbs to my body weight. I did lose a few pounds of muscle but I havnt figured out how to diet down exactly and keep all muscle, even with BCAA's.0
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yopeeps025 wrote: »
Links to the lack of body pod accuracy????
First thing that popped up in Google: http://www.nifs.org/fitness-center/fitness-assessments/bodpod
It's done at the local university here.
Nice body recomp. I notice there will be links that claim the other methods of BF% are inaccurate also. I read a site on how to get inaccurate reading on hydrostatic weighing which is suppose to be like the best method to measure BF%.
I myself am getting a bod pod test done today. I saw some have a tube for you to breath in because that would give inaccurate reading since bod pod uses air displacment.
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Jennloella wrote: »
I was thinking the exact same thing!!!0 -
I guess my thinking is... even if it's wrong, wouldn't it still reduce to a lower wrong number if I lost fat?
Yes it would. At least is has for me. When I started using a bioimpedance scale about a year and a half ago it measured around 22% bodyfat. The number has come down to about 11% now, and the trend has been pretty consistent. That doesn't mean my bodyfat is actually 11%, but I'm pretty confident saying it's about half of what it was when I started measuring.
For more accurate estimates you can use a set of calipers. This is the set I've been using. It's pretty inexpensive: http://www.amazon.com/Accu-Measure-Fitness-3000-Personal-Tester/dp/B000G7YW74/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413577813&sr=8-1&keywords=body+fat+caliper
And this makes taking tape measurements pretty easy. It too is fairly cheap: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008CENXCS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I still use my bioimpedance scale daily. I also take readings every Saturday morning using the calipers and tape measure. As far as I can tell, the bioimpedance scale gives me BF readings about 3% to 4% less than what they should be. But the readings are consistently low, so again, I think they're useful for spotting trends.
One last thing: Get a new trainer. A new dieter might start off losing 2% bodyfat for the first couple months, but you're maintaining weight while trying to build muscle and strength. The process is going to be much slower than that. 2% per month is unrealistic.0 -
I hadn't really thought about that, thanks Jim! I guess maybe at this point I shouldn't worry too much about it. Measurements are getting better, clothes are getting better and I can definitely lift/do more than before.0
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Recomp is really slow. I've been lifting for just over a year now and maintaining about the same weight. In March, 2014 I had a BodPod test done and came in at 18.9% body fat. I just had the same test last week and came in this time at 16% body fat. So over the course of 7 months I lost just a few % body fat.
This is lifting heavy too (currently I'm squatting 1.2x body weight) 5-6x/week. I also calorie cycle, but I'm not sure if this helps or not.
How are you measuring body fat, btw? If it's your scale at home, I don't think those are accurate in the least. Measurements, calipers, or if you have access to a BodPod (or DEXA or Hydro) will give you a better picture. Just keep in mind it's super slow. Pictures also help. I can really see the difference in my body after a year of lifting.
Wow, very impressive! I can't squat that much, I just started semi-recently so I won't be attempting that anytime soon either.
I'm using the hand held thing they have at the gym. Not sure what it's called. Thanks for the info about the slow pace - helps put things in perspective. Trainer said I should be going down 2% or so each month.
the hand held thing is wayyyyyyyy off …
maybe take some pictures and then compare them on line to females of a similar body fat %..
there used to be a body fat estimation thread on there, but I am not sure if it is still going..
also, this may sound counter intuitive but you may need to eat at a slight surplus to add some muscle on and then do a cut to get rid of any fat…0 -
Ahhh! People keep saying (friends, trainer Nd here) that but it freaks me out and I just can't wrap my brain around purposely getting fat to just have to diet again later.
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A lot of the female powerlifters and Crossfitters I know have had a lot of success (myself included) have had a lot of success using the Eat to Perform program for recomp. I don't have an accurate BF measurement, just an inaccurate one, but my inaccurate one says I've lost 8-10% BF between January and now. My pants size has also gone down and my lifts have gone up. I know I don't have an accurate measurement but remark on my transformation daily and it shows in photos; people stop me on the street and recently people have started referring to me as a bodybuilder, which I'm very much not. So, it must be doing something, whether I have the exact #'s or not. I weigh within1-2 pounds of when I started the program.0
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Wow that's awesome Kelly!0
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I have one of those "BF scales" that you stand on and is supposed to measure your body fat through the electrical impedance through your feet.
I've lost over 20 lbs and 2 dress sizes, but the BF reading on it has not changed ONE. BIT.
So, yeah, I'm pretty sure it's not accurate.0 -
I have one of those "BF scales" that you stand on and is supposed to measure your body fat through the electrical impedance through your feet.
I've lost over 20 lbs and 2 dress sizes, but the BF reading on it has not changed ONE. BIT.
So, yeah, I'm pretty sure it's not accurate.
When you lose weight you ordinarily will lose lean body mass along with fat. Part of that lean body mass is muscle, but it's also comprised of bone, connective tissue, internal organs, skin, and everything else that is not fat. In order to minimize loss of muscle mass while dieting, resistance exercise is important. If you lift weights (or bodyweight exercise) you will lose less muscle, but you'll still lose some. It's possible to lose 20 pounds and to get smaller overall without ever changing your body composition or bodyfat percentage.
If you were lifting weights while losing that 20 pounds, then I think your scale is suspect. If you weren't, your scale is not necessarily to blame for your lack of body comp improvement.0 -
mbcaldwell123 wrote: »If your trainer is checking your body fat with an electronic body fat measuring device, GET A NEW TRAINER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go somewhere that will measure with calipers or via hydro. The electronic measuring devices are notoriously in acurate. Have someone do a 3 pinch and a 4 pinch measure.
+1
When I switched gyms, as part of a new member I received a 'free health assessment' who did use the electronic body fat measuring device.
At 97lbs the guy told me that I had 30% body fat! My initial thought was 'O-M-G - I'm fat!' He also heavily pitched that I NEED to add muscle because as we age we lose & what I'm doing now will not sustain .... blah blah blah I chalked it up as a typical hard sales pitch to sign up w/a trainer & just TOTALLY disregarded the experience in its entirety & carried on.
I also recently started some regular weight baring exercises & I'm started to see some muscle definitions that I have only seen on others.
This is probably the healthiest & best physical shape I have been in my entire life! SO for me, I'm just not going to put too much stock in the whole body fat thing unless my clothes starts to get tight & the scale starts to creep up.
You look great btw - Good luck!0 -
Recomp is really slow. I've been lifting for just over a year now and maintaining about the same weight. In March, 2014 I had a BodPod test done and came in at 18.9% body fat. I just had the same test last week and came in this time at 16% body fat. So over the course of 7 months I lost just a few % body fat.
This is lifting heavy too (currently I'm squatting 1.2x body weight) 5-6x/week. I also calorie cycle, but I'm not sure if this helps or not.
How are you measuring body fat, btw? If it's your scale at home, I don't think those are accurate in the least. Measurements, calipers, or if you have access to a BodPod (or DEXA or Hydro) will give you a better picture. Just keep in mind it's super slow. Pictures also help. I can really see the difference in my body after a year of lifting.
Impressive and extremely discouraging
My gym has the bodpod too. I stopped going to those appointments when I lost 3 pounds, inches all over and the thing told me I had gained 0.5% body fat, and the nurse was insisting that it was accurate.
Calipers are nice and all except when you have loose skin, then it's just as useless.
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