The quest for single-digit BF%

As long as you are training with weights, it is very difficult to starve yourself enough to lose LBM. As you said, weight lifters prep for contests can drop an extreme amount of weight. A lot of it is water and often assisted with diuretics. I am seeking a similar final goal of being at or below 10% BF. I am almost 45 years old and just past 50 lbs lost with a current 16% BF. Unlike you, I have done it all with cardio because I find that I cannot lose weight and lift. My appetite becomes crazy and it is very difficult for me to keep myself at a consistent deficit. Also, cardio has always been my weak spot and I am taking the opportunity to strengthen my weaknesses first and then go to lifting as a finishing and long term workout. After losing 50+ lbs with very little resistance training, I have lost almost no LBM so I don't understand why people are frightened of cardio

It's very tough to do. Initially, I went from 200 lbs. to 165 lbs. eating right and lifting heavy consistently. I ended up in the 12% BF range with no significant difference in BF levels between 165 and 175 lbs. 165 was too skinny for my height, so I clean-bulked back up to 180 at around 15% BF. I gained some mass and I'm now cutting back to the low 170's to see if I can get leaner than I was on my first pass at weight loss. I plan to alternate bulking/cutting until I get to where I want to be.

Rich...I couldn't have stated my predicament any better than you have. Although I've got my fatloss on a spreadsheet to a power curve, showing just how slow it has become. I'm at 11% (using the Navy estimating method) and hope to get to 9.5% some day.

I cut from 215 to 167 and achieved "skinny-fat" results. I'm just finishing Body Beast and it appears as though I've brought up my lean mass from 149 to 159. I needed a break from the calorie restrictions and ab obsession and Body Beast looked like a great diversion. This was a good detour to change my focus for a bit and adding mass was a great investment. I finish in 2 days and will post my results on that program and my journey in general.

I'm considering cycling between P90X and Body Beast until I achieve the desired results. I'm thinking I'll limit my carbs to 120g and my macros to 40(p)/ 30 (c) /30 (f) while on P90X and follow the Beast diet while on that program.

Great post...

This is what I needed to see today. I had lost over 200 lbs, and when still about 30 lbs away from my goal, I started lifting. For the past year, I have been frustrated as the lbs went up, but the inches stayed the same or dropped some (except where I have been adding muscle across the shoulders, chest and arms). I keep debating if I should stop trying to lift and cut my way to goal and go back on the Doctor's program (which was around 900 Calories a day, so it is impossible to lift and do the program) or if I should just keep going and expect it is going to take me 5 years to loose the last 20 lbs that should get be to within my goal of 9.9% bf.

It is funny, cause I am eating to lose about 2 lbs a week, and yet, the scale just keeps jumping around.

Glad to see I am not the only one struggling with this issue!

don't eat carbs

Bump, you never know what wisdom the forums will provide today.

Tomorrow is one years effort of losing 46 pounds and putting back 14 in lean mass.

"Good enough" is the enemy of success. I've done well, but I'm bummed to have not met my ulitmate goal of single-digit BF% or 6 pack abs. I got to find the motivation to make this happen for my inner control freak.

I did exactly one Physique contest in 2004. I got down to 15% bf at that time. I did not win anything, but it did teach me a lot about what it takes to get to that level.

If your budget is limited, your best spent money will be on Whey protein supplements 3-4 times a day (or more).

Don't worry too much about cardio. Endurance isn't the goal when reaching a very low body fat percentage. You'll need to do HIIT 4-6 days a week. Try to max out your heart rate when doing HIIT and don't go longer than 20 minutes. If you are going longer than 20 minutes you are doing it wrong. You should feel like vomiting or passing out after that 20 minute HIIT session.

Meal timing is very important. You are right when you mentioned being OCD about eating. You absolutely will feel insane when your alarm goes off and you just have to go pound down a protein shake. Don't let more than 3 hours go by without eating. Yes, wake up in the middle of the night and have a protein shake. Get whey protein in a variety of flavors so that you don't get bored. I also like to mix mine with flavored crystal light just for more variety.

You didn't mention your budget, but if you have some expendable income, look into supplementation to cut the fat. There are a variety of different thermogenic stacks out there that can be of assistance. Add in some BCAA's as well as creatine and some performance recovery formulas to help you keep as much of your hard won muscle as possible while cutting.

Still have some cash you want to throw at this project? Hire a personal trainer. Hire the man/woman who has trained award winning body builders. If (s)he can't give you references to athletes (s)he trained, don't waste your money. And for God's Sake, don't hire the in-house trainer at the gym! Mostly those folks are just there to keep noobs from hurting themselves on the equipment--(is your computer plugged into the wall?).

If you still have money left over, get something like Up by Jawbone. 24-7 monitoring of your biological functions will be helpful in making micro changes to your routines and diet for maximum results.

While you are checking your metabolic processes, get yourself into a Bod-Pod so that you have an accurate base line measurement of your body fat percentage. Repeat the Bod-Pod test twice a month until your goal is reached.

Also consider getting a resting metabolic rate test done as well. What you don't know may cause you to under or over eat. This will ensure that you are actually consuming the correct number of calories a day.

If you have crazy amounts of money to spend, look into HGH and anabolic supplements. Keep it legal though. I'm not advising that you use a controlled substance. If you do decide to go the controlled substance route, hire an exercise physiologist to help you. Some anabolic steroids are controlled because if they are used improperly they can be dangerous. I've seen some steroids used in a beneficial manner, but your trainer has to really, really know his chemistry and biology for it to work well.

I didn't do all of these things when I was body building. I spent about $1200 a month for 5 months to get myself down to 15% body fat. I had a high paying job that allowed me a lot of schedule flexibility back then (Home Construction GC, Spec houses mostly). I suppose that getting down to single digits is possible for less money, but I also imagine that it would take a very long time and a lot of muscle mass would have to be sacrificed.

I have a genetic issue that would prevent me from winning any physique contests without liposuction surgery. I hold all my body fat in my torso. Even at 15% body fat I still could not reveal a 6-pack. I had veins popping on my arms and legs, even on my lower abdomen, but I couldn't get a 6-pack thanks to my mom and dad. But you never know until you try, and I gave it the best possible effort that I could afford to give.

So that's how you buy your way to super low body fat. It can be done in 8-12 weeks if you have the cash.

i have a buddy who is a natural bodybuilder, he told me he has to take diuretics to stay in that sub-10%. i've never been lower than 11 myself, and definitely have the same goal as you guys

Huh, well I posted in this thread, a few months back. I see it here, a little update.

Lost all the fat gained my 2nd bulk, just dropped right off in 2 weeks. As per usual, the leaner you get, the more you realize your past estimates were too low. I'm pretty sure I'm within 3-4 lbs or so of the single digits, abs are starting to show decently when unflexed. Navy formula is LOL, says I'm 9%. Modified Y has me at 11.6%, that seems right.

By Memorial Day I'll be there.

My advice still remains, if you've lost a lot of fat, once you get into the visible abs when flexed range, start cycling short moderate rate bulks along with the cuts, letting them act as a refeed, cut long enough to cut past your leanest with each cut.

The first month of post-bulk cutting is easy. If you keep the bulks short and moderate rate, you'll drop the new fat fast.

If you are going to do refeeds instead, ditch the pig out day and instead do a 1-2 weeks at maintanence refeed. Your homones won't be fixed with one pig out. A longer refeed will at least fix things somewhat, though it won't undo slowed metabolism like bulking will.

I think most of the advice though in this thread is crap. There is nothing special about cutting into the single digits. What you have to fight is your bodies tendency to adapt to a deficit, lowering your metabolism, and your bodies hormonal warfare against starvation that gets much stronger as you get leaner and as you've been dieting longer. Fighting these things makes it very hard to cut to the single digits in a linear fashion from much higher. A few minicuts gets around this issue. Don't cut longer than 6 weeks or so without a long enough break from cutting that all cutting adaptations are undone (starting in the low teens). It takes longer, but it is never really hard and you don't have to sacrifice your metabolism or lean mass.