Round 2: Guess my BF% / Total LBM before Hydo Test Tuesday

Cortelli

Hello MFers (as a friend refers to MFP users)!

Exactly 11 weeks ago I posted this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1138895-guess-my-body-fat-before-hydrostatic-testing-tommorrow?hl=guess+body+fat and encouraged anyone to estimate my body fat % before a hydro test scheduled for the next day. It was an interesting experiment as the guessed values varied far more than I expected and the values from numerous online calculators I used based on body measurements also varied quite considerably.

Well, it is 11 weeks later and it’s time to do it again. The testing van is back at my work gym tomorrow, and I have signed up to be tested at 9:15 AM PST.

This time I am less interested in the BF% - I think it is sure to fall into a much narrower range. What I am interested in this time around is how much lean body mass I lost in dropping weight from then to now.

While losing weight we’re all bound to lose muscle as we lose fat. My goal has been to minimize the amount of muscle lost while dropping primarily fat. I attempted to do so by regularly and vigorously weight training (3x week), and trying to consume sufficient protein (approx. 150 g per day) - with mixed success.

This morning I weighed in at just less than 159 lbs, and have been bouncing between 159 and 156 for the past week or so (very typical for me to move 2 to 3 pounds one way or another overnight). My basics of course have not changed – still 5’ 9” and still 43 yo male, for another week or so.

When I was tested in Nov, I weighed 171 lbs and the test put me at approx. 19% body fat with approx 139 lbs of lean body mass.
So, in the ensuing 11 weeks I have dropped approx. another 12 – 14 lbs. How much of that was fat versus LBM? I am keen to know.

As in Nov, front and side pics relaxed and very lightly flexed / tensed muscles.

Front Relaxed:


Front Lt Flex:


Side Relaxed:


Side Lt Flex:


And I am rocking 2 pillow pets this time around. Cheers!

ElliottTN

I'd put you at around 14 or 15

jwdieter

15.362

Mr_Knight

You are noticeably leaner and trimmer than last time - nice work!

Yeah, if it was 19 last time, I'd say around 15 this time.

richardheath

If you lost no LBM, you'd be about 12 or 13%. But given your pics didn't load for me (except the first one), that's the best I can do!

ETA - they loaded now, and I'd say 13% is too low. Maybe 15%?

MityMax96

Gonna go w/ ~15%

Cortelli

I'm gonna go with between 13 - 14% personally. Hoping I haven't lost more than about 2.5 lbs of LBM. At 15%, I would have lost 4 lbs of lbm and 8 lbs of fat - sucky ratio and I hope my body is capable of better. Last pick from this AM that gives a slightly different perspective, perhaps - anyway looks leaner to me than the poses I recreated yesterday.

Weighed in at 158.8 lbs again - off to do a few early morning calls and then hustle into work for the hydro test in 3.5 hours.



ETA: spelling

Cortelli

So I completed the hydro this AM and am very happy. The test results came back with a BF% of 12.7%, saying I had actually gained 0.5 lbs in LBM.





In theory I suppose that is possible as back in December I ratcheted back the cardio and began lifting heavy with my lower body (until that time I had focused upper body and used my lower primarily for cardio and some HIIT) and basically ate at maintenance through the holidays from Dec 19 – Jan 18 (with a few weeks gaining and a few weeks losing). So in theory maybe I could have added LBM in my lower body.



More likely is that the LBM amounts are subject to a reasonable margin of error. Regardless, what I am happy about is now I believe (with something more than blind faith) that I can start bulk/cut cycles without overly worrying about my LBM yo-yo-ing too much. I had been debating whether to do bulk/cut or slower recomp / lean gains. The big wildcard for me was how efficiently could I cut and still hold onto LBM. I am walking away from this little experiment believing I can pretty efficiently hold on to (or minimize losses of) whatever LBM gains I may make in a bulk cycle.

Still a bit more cutting to do, but next experiment will be to see how effectively I can add LBM.

fleetzz

Great job!!!

richardheath

Cool! Good job!

NCSteveVH

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing (and awesome job by the way!). I'm hoping to achieve similar results over the next 12 weeks. I have a Bod Pod measurement next week to establish my baseline and will also try to lose 5-6% of body fat while maintaining as much LBM as possible. I'm guessing I'm about 17% now (profile pic is current). Getting to 12% by Memorial Day is my goal.

Cortelli

Thank you all for the pats on the back :drinker:

I am just really happy that it appears that I can lose fat without jeopardizing LBM too much. Makes going forward easier.

@NCSteve - I am no expert by any means, but I'd guess you were considerably less than 17% in your profile pic. You're carrying a lot of muscle and little visible fat.

Post your Bod Pod results when you get them next week - or if you prefer not to share publicly, I'd love to see a message from you - I just bet you're south of 15% already.

NCSteveVH

@NCSteve - I am no expert by any means, but I'd guess you were considerably less than 17% in your profile pic. You're carrying a lot of muscle and little visible fat. Post your Bod Pod results when you get them next week - or if you prefer not to share publicly, I'd love to see a message from you - I just bet you're south of 15% already.

I will definitely share my Bod Pod results and post a better photo (test on Feb 14). I'm sure I'll have a few specific questions for you on how you managed to lose 12 pounds of fat in 11 weeks AND maintain all of your muscle mass. Once I get down to 12% BF, my plan is to maintain that through the summer and then start bulk/cut cycles in October. Thanks again for sharing your results!