Body fat % goal

skudera27
skudera27 Posts: 54
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm currently a male, 5'10, 173lbs, 14.6% body fat. I am trying to get my body in to triathlon shape (will be doing my third one in June), and I set my goal to 10% body fat. I came up with this number just looking online what male athletes body fat % should be around (6-13%).

I'm most concerned about my belly being flat/toned, but people have been commenting telling me not to lose anymore weight. I think it's more of an overreaction because I was 204lbs & 21.5% body fat 8 months ago. I have completely altered my diet and I workout roughly 5 days a week. Running, biking, swimming and some light weights. I have to be careful with my shoulder because it's dislocated 3 times, most recently about 1 1/2 months ago.

So my question is, should I stick to my routine and keep going after that body fat? 10% body fat should put me around 165 or so - is 10% a good goal? I don't do much ab work, so that's probably something I'll want to start focusing on more in addition to my cardio? How much will weights assist me in reaching my goal? I can't do any type of bench workouts, pulls ups, dips, etc, just some shoulder and arm exercises that my PT gave me to do for rehab.

Sorry if this doesn't make too much sense!

Replies

  • sheltol
    sheltol Posts: 120 Member
    I'm a triathlete with pretty much your exact stats 5'9, 158, 10%bf. If all your numbers are accurate, I'm going to say that yes they are over reacting. Unfortunately, people are not used to seeing a lot of people in the 10% or under bf range.

    About a year ago I pushed it to the 7-8% range and to be honest, I'm much happier at 10%. My diet isn't nearly as strict and looking back I was probably starting to look like I over did it. I got caught up in the I want to see a six pack and it just wasn't meant to happen.

    About weight training. ABSOLUTELY! Do what you can. Weight training and HIIT made a huge difference in my performance. If you have any questions let me know. Best of luck to you. Larry
  • November_Fire
    November_Fire Posts: 165 Member
    Generally you're always going to find people who start shrieking there's something wrong with you and you're insane for trying to lose weight, get in shape, take up a sport or do anything that's not sitting on the sofa with your hand in a bag of Cheetos. My family members have all been utterly horrible about my taking up fitness/healthier eating and I was only shedding a little bit of weight and really just gaining strength. You'd think I'd joined a cult.

    Yes, they're overreacting. I don't know the man-fat numbers, but if you feel good at 10%, go for 10%. As an athlete you might find that you don't feel so good, a bit weak or dizzy - I don't know, 10% might be good forsome, not for others, I've no idea - and if that happens it's easily corrected by putting some back on. You'll only know by trying :)

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