Overweight women with very high LBM?

I'm 18, I'm a wrestler from my high school and I'm 5`8 and 170 pounds currently. I have around 24% body fat, because I got "fat" during the off-season, but I'm now starting my cutting process to be 160 lbs. My coaches estimate that me being 160 lbs of pure fat will lead me to 15% body fat. I work out with free weights mostly (~25-30 lb weights) and for me that's pretty light. I can also bench around 150 lbs, maybe 170 lbs on a good day. People tell me all the time that I don't look 170 lbs at all, that I look around 145 so yeah. I try to stay as lean as possible- extra fat on me does NOT look feminine! lol

I'm 18, I'm a wrestler from my high school and I'm 5`8 and 170 pounds currently. I have around 24% body fat, because I got "fat" during the off-season, but I'm now starting my cutting process to be 160 lbs. My coaches estimate that me being 160 lbs of pure fat will lead me to 15% body fat. I work out with free weights mostly (~25-30 lb weights) and for me that's pretty light. I can also bench around 150 lbs, maybe 170 lbs on a good day. People tell me all the time that I don't look 170 lbs at all, that I look around 145 so yeah. I try to stay as lean as possible- extra fat on me does NOT look feminine! lol

24% body fat is NOT fat, and is not even overweight. I bet that you look great. Good luck with your wrestling competitions!

Hmm...I don't eat a ton now (usually :laugh:), but I'm a former gymnast and calculations put me at a pretty high level of LBM
(still only 103 lbs at 5'4" though- I believe I read the average is like 95 lbs for my height) 160 lbs LBM seems like it would would be QUITE a lot for 5'4".

ETA- I'm not overweight anymore, so I guess you can maybe disregard

I suppose I'll reply then. I'm 5' 2.75" (39 yrs old), and this spring had my LBM hydrostatically measured at 113.6. The guy measured it a few times (all the same reading), and afterward asked if I'd been an athlete. I was certainly active in my 20s (mostly karate), but not an athlete.

For me, I believe it's genes. I'm built very much like my dad, and he had lean mass in the 170s at 5' 7" in his late 30s without working out at all. I have a very large frame, especially for my height, and I've always been a bit stronger than the average lady who doesn't lift. I once helped a boyfriend move, and he had more trouble with his end of his couch than I did.

I think alot of it has to do with genes. My husband was very fit in his teens and 20's training in lots of martial arts. I've been with him over 16 years in that time he hasn't worked out and he still looks very fit with alot of muscle!!!

He rarely eats junk, most of his food is clean, this no doubt helps too

Ok, science nerd coming out. This isn't my specific field of study, but last time I was working in this area the general consensus was that for most features, both physical and behavioral, the general break down is 70% nature 30 % nurture. So basically, yes it is genetic, but 30% actually leaves a surprising amount of room for making changes in features that are semi malleable. So then the question becomes, is the feature you are trying to adapt or change actually malleable, or is it one of those features that's basically genetically predetermined. In general, muscle mass falls in to the semi malleable category, so you can adapt it over time.

Also, I would be willing to bet that some features demonstrate increased maleability during certain stages in life. For instance, I do think the OP has a good thought in surmising that young people who were very active during their early 20's might have had a better shot at unintentionally increasing LBM during this stage in their life as that is a time period when many people are still growing, usually broader not taller, and in general adding to their overall muscle density. There's a reason late teenagers aren't a match for true adults in the strength department even when they're roughly the same size. Most people add at least some muscle weight during this time, even when not trying. The freshman 15 happens for many reasons.

regarding 30% room for non-genetic factors.... In my experience, genetics still plays the main part. I did judo in my teens and ice hockey in my late teens and early 20s. I did attempt to do weights workouts, but I was using much too light weights out of total ignorance and not having a clue what i was doing. Due to having a complete moron of a judo coach, I was regularly starving myself to make too-light weight categories (this is one reason why I'm so vocal about this topic!!!) so I was probably losing lean body mass more than gaining it.... anyway this one time in the gym these guys cornered me and tried to convince me to train with much heavier weights, they got me to bench press (on a machine) heavier and heavier to find out how much I really could lift... anyway I benched 35kg (77lb) for a couple of reps, so they told me I should use much heavier weights... trouble is I was getting a bunch of really crappy advice from the BMI chart obsessed judo coach, so didn't listen to them out of ignorance and even confusion due to conflicting information ....anyway the judo coach basically ended my judo career because in the end I quit due to being sick of starving myself to make the under 56kg (123lb) weight category then being too weak to fight, and when I tried to start fighting in the under 61kg (134lb) weight category, instead of being advised to get in the gym to get strong enough to handle that weight category, he basically told me to lose 10kg (22lb) and that I should be fighting in the under 52 (114lb) or under 48kg (105lb) categories... based solely on BMI. I had visible upper abs at this time, and very little fat anywhere other than a small amount hiding my lower abs. So I would have been right at the low end of the healthy range for body fat percentage, where could I have lost 10kg from?

so anyway............. benching 35kg the first time I tried to do bench presses with a proper amount of weight - genetics. I had a high lean body mass for my height in spite of starving myself to make a weight category I shouldn't have been fighing in - genetics, ....and idiots with BMI charts can do a huge amount of physical and psychological damage to teenagers. I nearly developed an eating disorder as a result of the above. Thankfully i got into ice hockey before I had done any damage to myself (yes unfortunately I carried on with periodically starving myself even after i quit judo), so basically gave a big f*** you to having to weight a particular number of kilos, and played in defence where having a lot of lean body mass and strength is an asset, and no more trying to lose weight, totally emotional freedom from that mentality :drinker:

I'm sure I have more lean body mass than I would have if I'd never done any sport or anything else that required strength (like fighting with the boys lol) I would have had less lean body mass than I do now, but on the other hand I've done stuff (including weight watchers about 7 years ago, losing 3lb a week while doing next to no exercise) that will have resulted in losses of lean body mass. I can bench more now than I could at 16 but really not that much more. So there's a mixture of factors that would result in me having more lean mass and others that would result in me having less lean mass. In terms of now, i'm going to mainly be bulking, with cuts in between as I tend to gain fat around my waist and that's not healthy, so got to keep that under control, but I don't really know whether I'm at my genetic potential for LBM or not. Or if I could have had more lean body mass by now if I hadn't done stupid dieting or self-starvation things in the past, or if I've regained all that from playing ice hockey in my late teens/20s and from doing powerlifting now. So who knows really.... it's extremely hard to separate genetics from the environment, but I really think that my build comes from genetics a lot more than sport.

I'm still at 28-32% body fat and 160 pounds. But when I was younger and this weight I was much bigger around and vastly less fit. I have this funny chubby girl six pack, you can see my abs even though there is still some jiggle over them.

This is me, though my body fat might be a tad higher - I really have no idea. I carry it all in the tummy - like a guy. My shoulders are huge. I have higher testosterone levels than a lot of women thus when I do lift weights It is VERY obvious. I am not a fan of the muscular look but unfortunately I have not much choice - which is also why I have resisted going back to weight lifting. I did do some formal weight training about 3 years ago but even then I don't think I was doing anything too heavy as my back was really bad due to being very large chested. I quit because my calves stopped looking shapely and instead took on a very square look from the muscle. This squareness in my calves is back since I have lost weight

I have been doing physical jobs for most of my life and can out lift / push / pull most 'normal' guys my age/size. As a kid I was very active for the first few years of school. I played volleyball, rugby, field hockey and just about every other sport until I hit high school. At my heaviest I was 235 - now down to 160 ish. There is no fat on my legs save a teeny handful on my inner upper thighs. My arms have crazy definition with the exception of the typical 'bat wing' due to my age LOL (this has been reducing also with the weight loss).

I have always been told that I look like I 'work out' even when I haven't been doing anything at all. I'm actually very curious how it will play out as I lose more weight because I am fully convinced that I do actually have a decent six-pack under the chub without doing much of anything but I guess we'll find out in another few pounds.

Sorry I never finished reading what you wrote so I as I read it I edit my post LOL. I dated a body builder and had to cook for him for awhile, Eggs like 3 a day, rice and beans and chicken, I also ate brownies, cake and anything chocolate I could get my hands on. Once I ate 1lb in one day that was when I knew I had a problem and had to do something. My heaviest I was only 185lbs- my lightest was 150lbs but I was so hungry and mad I would have beat up a handicapped child for a burger.

bwaaaahahahahah..now that was funny!

I have always had a high LBM. Not genetic. I've always eaten pretty healthy and been pretty active for the most part. In high school I did guard for all 4 years and both seasons so I was always moving, dancing, running, should have lifted but didn't think of it at the time. I have a massive bone structure too (been told by many people i could do olympic lifting because of it.) My legs have awesome amount of muscle. I grew up in a house where you had your protein veggies and fruit at dinner no exceptions. We never had a lot of junk in the house and snacking was a no-no but somehow I've always been overweight.

Stats:
Age-23
Height- 5'5
Weight-317 lbs
BF- 30%(95.1 lbs)
LBM-221.9