Body Fat % - help?
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BChanFit
Posts: 209 Member
I changed my calorie intake to maintenance about 4 months ago. In that time I've started weight lifting (3 months ago) and increased my cardio from what I was doing (1 month ago).
Good news: I'm maintaining my weight perfectly. Scale is always +/- half a pound. So that's good.
Bad news: Body fat % has also stayed the same for the past 4 months. Wouldn't the increase in exercise change that? I can't figure it out. Anyone else have experience with this? Any advice is appreciated.
Good news: I'm maintaining my weight perfectly. Scale is always +/- half a pound. So that's good.
Bad news: Body fat % has also stayed the same for the past 4 months. Wouldn't the increase in exercise change that? I can't figure it out. Anyone else have experience with this? Any advice is appreciated.
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It's notoriously difficult to measure body fat accurately. It can't be measured with a scale and even bodypods aren't reliable. I wouldn't worry about that. If you want to know if you're gaining muscle, use a tape measure and look at your clothes and how much you're lifting. If your weight is staying the same and your inches decrease you are becoming denser - i.e. lower body fat. If you see muscles where you used to see round soft curves, you have lower body fat. If your clothes fit better but you haven't changed weight, you've probably lost body fat.0
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I would suggest eat at a small deficit while lifting heavy, and maybe even lower the cardio so you retain the most amount of muscle possible. Also make sure you get enough protein.
What lifting program are you doing now? If you are doing your own thing I would suggest picking a tried tested and true program such as starting strength, stonglifts 5x5, New Rules of lifting etc.0 -
Thanks, that's really helpful! And encouraging. I have lost inches the past few months and can definitely lift and do more all the time. And yet my trainer has me hold this thing every month that says "nope, you're still fat" Same-exact-number-every-time. (Okay that's not what it says literally but it's how I interpret it and it inevitably bothers me for days.) 0
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Recomp is really slow. I've been lifting for just over a year now and maintaining about the same weight. In March, 2014 I had a BodPod test done and came in at 18.9% body fat. I just had the same test last week and came in this time at 16% body fat. So over the course of 7 months I lost just a few % body fat.
This is lifting heavy too (currently I'm squatting 1.2x body weight) 5-6x/week. I also calorie cycle, but I'm not sure if this helps or not.
How are you measuring body fat, btw? If it's your scale at home, I don't think those are accurate in the least. Measurements, calipers, or if you have access to a BodPod (or DEXA or Hydro) will give you a better picture. Just keep in mind it's super slow. Pictures also help. I can really see the difference in my body after a year of lifting.0 -
Erickirb - I keep waffling back and forth on the calorie thing. I agree with you and think decreasing would help but my trainer seems to think *increasing* will help. So I feel stuck on the intake issue right now. I am trying to build a base to start marathon training in May. Looking to get up to 20 miles (18 this week, 20 next week) and will continue that until May so reducing the cardio isn't really appealing either. I don't understand how reducing cardio will help the BF% issue?
I'm currently eating about 130 grams of protein a day, give or take 5 grams.0 -
Recomp is really slow. I've been lifting for just over a year now and maintaining about the same weight. In March, 2014 I had a BodPod test done and came in at 18.9% body fat. I just had the same test last week and came in this time at 16% body fat. So over the course of 7 months I lost just a few % body fat.
This is lifting heavy too (currently I'm squatting 1.2x body weight) 5-6x/week. I also calorie cycle, but I'm not sure if this helps or not.
How are you measuring body fat, btw? If it's your scale at home, I don't think those are accurate in the least. Measurements, calipers, or if you have access to a BodPod (or DEXA or Hydro) will give you a better picture. Just keep in mind it's super slow. Pictures also help. I can really see the difference in my body after a year of lifting.
Wow, very impressive! I can't squat that much, I just started semi-recently so I won't be attempting that anytime soon either.
I'm using the hand held thing they have at the gym. Not sure what it's called. Thanks for the info about the slow pace - helps put things in perspective. Trainer said I should be going down 2% or so each month.0 -
wait... you do all this work and your trainer is humiliating you in some way? ahem.... not cool0
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If your trainer is checking your body fat with an electronic body fat measuring device, GET A NEW TRAINER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go somewhere that will measure with calipers or via hydro. The electronic measuring devices are notoriously in acurate. Have someone do a 3 pinch and a 4 pinch measure.0
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I guess my thinking is... even if it's wrong, wouldn't it still reduce to a lower wrong number if I lost fat?0
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Jennloella wrote: »
OMG Didn't even think of that. Something new to consider... I would certainly hope they're not reduced to rigging the body fat thingy for clients.![:\](https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
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It's notoriously difficult to measure body fat accurately. It can't be measured with a scale and even bodypods aren't reliable. I wouldn't worry about that. If you want to know if you're gaining muscle, use a tape measure and look at your clothes and how much you're lifting. If your weight is staying the same and your inches decrease you are becoming denser - i.e. lower body fat. If you see muscles where you used to see round soft curves, you have lower body fat. If your clothes fit better but you haven't changed weight, you've probably lost body fat.
Links to the lack of body pod accuracy????
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yopeeps025 wrote: »
Links to the lack of body pod accuracy????
First thing that popped up in Google: http://www.nifs.org/fitness-center/fitness-assessments/bodpod
It's done at the local university here.
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Standard Disclaimer: Sorry for the standing-on-the-toilet shots. I've been taking pics here for years never thinking I'd make them public.
This is ~3% reduction in body fat according to BodPod. It shows most in my abs. Weight is pretty much the same, or was in these pictures. Maybe a 1-2lb difference.
February 2014
[img]http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/jivete/Lifting progress/F-02272014.jpg[/img]
August 2014
[img]http://i532.photobucket.com/albums/ee322/jivete/Lifting progress/IMG_00000341.jpg[/img]
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Jennloella wrote: »
OMG Didn't even think of that. Something new to consider... I would certainly hope they're not reduced to rigging the body fat thingy for clients.
It's highly unlikely that your gym is manipulating the device. These devices are inaccurate because any number of things can affect them: how much water you've had to drink that day, what time of day you use it, if you use it before or after your workout, etc. Plus, the electric wave may not actually travel through your whole body. If you use the handheld device it pretty much just gets the top half, but if you use a BF% bathroom scale you get the bottom half. It's ok to use it to get a ballpark number, but don't accept it as true.
ETA: I own one of these and it is about 5-7% off of what I've been measured at by the caliper method (which also has room for error).0 -
I always do it every 4 weeks, same time of day, same amount of water/food before. I guess I just thought it would show decline and have been disappointed. I was trying to think of what I could do to get it to show improvement but it sounds like the general consensus is to not worry about it?
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And Husseycd you look great! Would love to be down 3% bf...0
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My profile pic is me at 11%. It took me 2 months to trim up from 16%/11%. The only thing I changed was my diet. Lowered my protien and carbs to my body weight. I did lose a few pounds of muscle but I havnt figured out how to diet down exactly and keep all muscle, even with BCAA's.0
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yopeeps025 wrote: »
Links to the lack of body pod accuracy????
First thing that popped up in Google: http://www.nifs.org/fitness-center/fitness-assessments/bodpod
It's done at the local university here.
Nice body recomp. I notice there will be links that claim the other methods of BF% are inaccurate also. I read a site on how to get inaccurate reading on hydrostatic weighing which is suppose to be like the best method to measure BF%.
I myself am getting a bod pod test done today. I saw some have a tube for you to breath in because that would give inaccurate reading since bod pod uses air displacment.
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Jennloella wrote: »
I was thinking the exact same thing!!!0
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