Loosing Body fat%

dpzzz
dpzzz Posts: 3
in Fitness and Exercise
I joined a gym about 3 weeks back to start resistance training. My fitness is reasonable. Can run around 3 KMs on any given day, so was considering myself quite fit.
I was aghast when they calculated my body fat to be 27.9%. By resistance trainig (about 3 times a week) with an irregular cardio (yup, guilty of missing cardio), my body fat % is now 27.4%. Agreed, that I have an inch loss all over,and my body fat% is down. Frankly speaking, I was expecting more loss. How good is this 0.5% loss in 3 weeks?

I am 29, female and 5 feet tall

Replies

  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    27.4% is pretty much smack dab in the middle of average body fat for women (25%-30%) so there's not really anything to be aghast about. IMO a .5% change in three weeks is fine. It takes time so just be patient.
  • bostonwolf
    bostonwolf Posts: 3,038 Member
    "Losing" fat will leave you with "Loose" skin if you don't add some muscle.
  • meganb2506
    meganb2506 Posts: 24 Member
    I am also wondering about body fat percentage, have been weight training a while now, since March. The lowest my BF has been is 25%, today it was back up to 28%, I have lost inches and have built muscle, so I'm a little confused as to how/why it is going up.

    Any advice? or clarification... or anything really..

    FYI - Train 3-4 times a week for about 1 and a half hours, will do an hour liftining and half an hour cardio pretty much each session.
  • Julieboolieaz
    Julieboolieaz Posts: 658 Member
    I am also wondering about body fat percentage, have been weight training a while now, since March. The lowest my BF has been is 25%, today it was back up to 28%, I have lost inches and have built muscle, so I'm a little confused as to how/why it is going up.

    Any advice? or clarification... or anything really..

    FYI - Train 3-4 times a week for about 1 and a half hours, will do an hour liftining and half an hour cardio pretty much each session.
    How do you measure your BF? There is a LOT of error in measuring. I've read a lot about it recently (just started tracking mine). I bought a caliper and measure the supra iliac fold. I have a mole right there and can consistently choose the same fold. Are you being measured at your gym? It sounds to me the measuring is off.

    It is slow business, but if you keep with it you'll make progress, I think you're already doing well! Like others have said, you're in the normal range and these things take time. (Talking to myself here!).

    I will say that the scales that measure BF% are WAY too high. They can be useful, when you weigh at the same time of day, to track a trend in BF, but I would not trust the number it gives. The caliper is more accurate.

    The professional measurements are expensive and they're not even accurate. Look up Leigh peele and her comments on BF measuring,

    Keep forging ahead! I'm in the same boat and rowing my way to a leaner body too! :)
  • dpzzz
    dpzzz Posts: 3
    Thanks for the words of encouragement!
  • dpzzz
    dpzzz Posts: 3
    "Losing" fat will leave you with "Loose" skin if you don't add some muscle.


    Am doing the usual squats, lunges, leg curls, dead lifts et al to build muscle.
  • meganb2506
    meganb2506 Posts: 24 Member
    I am also wondering about body fat percentage, have been weight training a while now, since March. The lowest my BF has been is 25%, today it was back up to 28%, I have lost inches and have built muscle, so I'm a little confused as to how/why it is going up.

    Any advice? or clarification... or anything really..

    FYI - Train 3-4 times a week for about 1 and a half hours, will do an hour liftining and half an hour cardio pretty much each session.
    How do you measure your BF? There is a LOT of error in measuring. I've read a lot about it recently (just started tracking mine). I bought a caliper and measure the supra iliac fold. I have a mole right there and can consistently choose the same fold. Are you being measured at your gym? It sounds to me the measuring is off.

    It is slow business, but if you keep with it you'll make progress, I think you're already doing well! Like others have said, you're in the normal range and these things take time. (Talking to myself here!).

    I will say that the scales that measure BF% are WAY too high. They can be useful, when you weigh at the same time of day, to track a trend in BF, but I would not trust the number it gives. The caliper is more accurate.

    The professional measurements are expensive and they're not even accurate. Look up Leigh peele and her comments on BF measuring,

    Keep forging ahead! I'm in the same boat and rowing my way to a leaner body too! :)

    This gives me hope thank you, I use a set of Tanita scales and measure every wednesday morning. Maybe i should ignore the numbers a little while and just go off the measurements and how I look.

    Thank you a lot xx

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