Is 18% still considered healthy body fat percentage?

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

I just had my body fat checked yesterday & it says 23.6% but I want to go down to 18%. Is this considered healthy for short people like me. I'm 160cm (5'3), have an athletic & quite muscular body build.

EDIT: At my current BF%, people keep commenting that I'm already too thin which is partly true because my shoulder bones are too visible now & I start feeling my lower spine & hip bones whenever I do crunches or doing martial arts. But I'm still not quite happy with my mid section, still need much toning & I want to have that athletic range of18%.

alliecore

yup, it's quite healthy. considered in the "lean" or "athletic" range but no worries as long as you're eating healthy.

bonita862

For a woman 14 - 20% body fat is the athletes body fat percentage range.
Anything under 12% is dangerously low.

somigliana

I found this blog a good read on the topic of women's body fatm written by Nicky Jankovic, an Australian figure competitor and fitness model.

http://www.nickyjankovic.com/News/NickysHealthFitnessBlog/tabid/1998/EntryId/277/Normal-Womens-Body-Fat-Levels.aspx

"A normal, healthy woman who exercises regularly and eats 'clean' the most of the time will sit around 20-25% body fat. This is realistic and achievable for the majority of women. If you are wanting more of the 'fitness model' body composition you would be aiming for around 14%-18%. Anything under 20% takes commitment to training, discipline to following a strucured meal plan, and hard work! It can be done but you need to realise that you will have to make some sacrifices, and make this a priority like anything else you wish to succed in".

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

I found this blog a good read on the topic of women's body fatm written by Nicky Jankovic, an Australian figure competitor and fitness model.

http://www.nickyjankovic.com/News/NickysHealthFitnessBlog/tabid/1998/EntryId/277/Normal-Womens-Body-Fat-Levels.aspx

"A normal, healthy woman who exercises regularly and eats 'clean' the most of the time will sit around 20-25% body fat. This is realistic and achievable for the majority of women. If you are wanting more of the 'fitness model' body composition you would be aiming for around 14%-18%. Anything under 20% takes commitment to training, discipline to following a strucured meal plan, and hard work! It can be done but you need to realise that you will have to make some sacrifices, and make this a priority like anything else you wish to succed in".

Thanks ) I'll definitely take a look at it.

amomatt

I found this blog a good read on the topic of women's body fatm written by Nicky Jankovic, an Australian figure competitor and fitness model.

http://www.nickyjankovic.com/News/NickysHealthFitnessBlog/tabid/1998/EntryId/277/Normal-Womens-Body-Fat-Levels.aspx


That was a really interesting read-thanks for the link

snookumss

The best thing for you to do now, is to build muscle rather than focus on fat loss. This will further lower your body fat percentage, and not make you "thinner". Probably look great as well

LaMujerMasBonitaDelMundo

I'm currently focusing on muscle building & do circuits 3x a week (1 day for upper body, 1 day for lower body & a day for whole body). I just hope that this stubborn belly fat will just go away.

ninerbuff

Fitness and Figure competitors come in at 15% and usually stay no higher than 20% BF.