BMI 21.5, BF 26%, wtf???!!!

melissaptx

Hi everyone. I've been a runner for about 10 years now and have always kept track of my calories. I've never been overweight. Recently I joined a gym and found out I have a high body fat % for my weight. I have started to weight train because of this. I guess I just need a little encouragement. It's not like I've ever "let myself go" so I don't understand how my body fat could have gotten so high. I feel like I've restricted calories my whole life. I've been doing weights now for 45 minutes 4 times a week, in addition to my 4 hours a week of cardio. What else can I do besides weight train to lower my body fat percentage?

Pariah

i don't know who told you you had a high body fat %, because 26% is within the healthy range for your age and gender.
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/library/blbodyfatcharts.htm

erickirb

You are in the normal range so don't fret over it too much, I think you are doing the right things, maybe up your protein amount as a % of your total calories as this will help your muscles either grow, or help you from loosing muscle if you are trying to loose weight.

Fat Level Women (%)
Very Low 14-17
Low 17-20
Average 20-27
High 27-31
Very High above 31

rnroadrunner

As a runner you do not build muscle mass typically. You will see a drastic change if you do weight training in addition and have enough protein in your diet to build muscle. your lean weight to bodyfat will surprise you. good luck


Dont try to lose any more weight your allready at a good BMI just Tighten and tone.

electricgypsy

Hi everyone. I've been a runner for about 10 years now and have always kept track of my calories. I've never been overweight. Recently I joined a gym and found out I have a high body fat % for my weight. I have started to weight train because of this. I guess I just need a little encouragement. It's not like I've ever "let myself go" so I don't understand how my body fat could have gotten so high. I feel like I've restricted calories my whole life. I've been doing weights now for 45 minutes 4 times a week, in addition to my 4 hours a week of cardio. What else can I do besides weight train to lower my body fat percentage?

you are perfectly healthy stats and averages aren't everything! low body fat isn't too good for you just as high body fat isn't.

SHBoss1673

As rnr said, running is not an ideal way to increase your lean tissue, and BMI isn't really a very good measure of your body health. There is such a term as "skinny fat", and while I don't consider 26% "fat" by any definition, I do consider it on the higher half of normal for a woman.

That said, we are about solutions at MFP, and the solution to body fat is building muscles. When I say building muscles, I'm not only talking about going to a gym and doing max weight to failure, although that can be a good start, I'm also talking about things like circuit training, HIIT training, Boot Camps, plyometrics, and yoga/pilates. All of these workouts do amazing things (and super amazing things when you do multiple types in a week). While running is a good cardio routine, running daily will do 2 things that I would consider a drawback to body fat loss (at a certain point, when you really don't have any obvious weight to lose). 1) Your body, and specifically the muscle groups you use to run with, will become very used to the routine, and it will become super efficient at this exercise, while that's good for training, it's not good for burning fat calories. Efficient muscles burn less energy for the same amount of work by utilizing a combination of better oxygen consumption, and more specific muscle fiber recruitment.
and 2) Running is essentially a cardio only routine (unless you incorporate things like off road, and hills to a large degree), and while cardio is a good calorie burn, it doesn't do anything for you when you aren't actually doing it. Routines that build muscle (like the ones I mentioned above) force the body to work hard for hours, and sometimes days after the routine is completed (called EPOC or Exercise Post exercise Oxygen Consumption) which raises the metabolism a small amount, cumulatively this can have a strong fat burning effect, it also forces hormones into the body that counteract cortisol (which helps store fat during times of rest). One last aspect is that 1 lb of muscle burns about 5 to 7 calories per day when resting, so even when you aren't using muscle, if you put on 10 lbs of it and keep it on for a year, you're talking some serious extra calorie burn (60 cals a day at REST X 365 days is 6 lbs worth of calories burned, and most of those will be fat if you keep your nutritional intake the same as always)

lvfunandfit

As rnr said, running is not an ideal way to increase your lean tissue, and BMI isn't really a very good measure of your body health. There is such a term as "skinny fat", and while I don't consider 26% "fat" by any definition, I do consider it on the higher half of normal for a woman.

That said, we are about solutions at MFP, and the solution to body fat is building muscles. When I say building muscles, I'm not only talking about going to a gym and doing max weight to failure, although that can be a good start, I'm also talking about things like circuit training, HIIT training, Boot Camps, plyometrics, and yoga/pilates. All of these workouts do amazing things (and super amazing things when you do multiple types in a week). While running is a good cardio routine, running daily will do 2 things that I would consider a drawback to body fat loss (at a certain point, when you really don't have any obvious weight to lose). 1) Your body, and specifically the muscle groups you use to run with, will become very used to the routine, and it will become super efficient at this exercise, while that's good for training, it's not good for burning fat calories. Efficient muscles burn less energy for the same amount of work by utilizing a combination of better oxygen consumption, and more specific muscle fiber recruitment.
and 2) Running is essentially a cardio only routine (unless you incorporate things like off road, and hills to a large degree), and while cardio is a good calorie burn, it doesn't do anything for you when you aren't actually doing it. Routines that build muscle (like the ones I mentioned above) force the body to work hard for hours, and sometimes days after the routine is completed (called EPOC or Exercise Post exercise Oxygen Consumption) which raises the metabolism a small amount, cumulatively this can have a strong fat burning effect, it also forces hormones into the body that counteract cortisol (which helps store fat during times of rest). One last aspect is that 1 lb of muscle burns about 5 to 7 calories per day when resting, so even when you aren't using muscle, if you put on 10 lbs of it and keep it on for a year, you're talking some serious extra calorie burn (60 cals a day at REST X 365 days is 6 lbs worth of calories burned, and most of those will be fat if you keep your nutritional intake the same as always)

Perfectly said! --as always :-)

I'm a runner too. I make sure to put in 4 weight/strength training workouts per week and I do light cardio on those days. The other 2 days a week, I run 4-6 miles and I take 1 day off to recover. You'll notice a big change when you incorporate some muscle building workouts that have been mentioned!

Keep at it! You're doing great!