Lowering body fat percentage

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mel_her
mel_her Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been on a mission to lower my body fat percentage for about a year now. I have had some success but I am still at 23% and would like to be right under 20. I lift about 2x a week and cardio 2x a week. Any helpful tips would be appreciated.

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  • laurentoews
    laurentoews Posts: 2 Member
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    To get under 20 you will likely need to up each of your training sessions to 5-6 times a week. It is a very ambitious goal and wont come from part time gym, unfortunately. Also, try looking into Macro counting and carb cycling. It's all advanced but easy once you start learning what foods account for what. Lastly, take measurements because with a goal like that it is very very easy to get discouraged by scale and percentage when you're following the diet and exercise-just know that the percentage change is very slow when you're already fit unless you go extreme. 23% is still in fitness range, so congrats, just keep it up. Slow progress is still progress :) Happy new year
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    Keep eating at deficit, make sure you are getting enough protein (about 0.8-1g per lb lean body mass) and progressive lifting. Do you follow a program? 2x per week doesn't seem like a lot. Full body routines I've seen are usually at least 3x per week
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    Are you following a specific progressive weightlifting program or are you kind of winging it as you go?
  • hazcad
    hazcad Posts: 41 Member
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    Work on building more muscle, drop a cardio and add a weights session. Gaining more muscle will help burn more fat as it boosts your metabolism. Eat more protein as that helps grow muscle too.

    Have a look into macro counting as that will help give your body the right amount of each carbs, fat & protein to fuel your body the right way. Their are sites out there that can help you work out what if each is right for you at the level of exercise you do.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    Follow an established lifting program. Probably one that is 3x full body or upper/lower/rest/upper/lower. You don't need to decrease cardio. Especially if you are only doing 2x week. You could even up it a little if you wanted. But spread it around, one LISS, and one or 2 shorter higher intensity pones. The most critical factor is going to be a tight adherence to a manageable and relatively small calorie deficit.
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,141 Member
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    You will need to lift more days a week, at least 4. As for cardio, once weekly is good. How's your diet?
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
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    skinnyinnotime wrote: »
    You will need to lift more days a week, at least 4. As for cardio, once weekly is good. How's your diet?

    Not necessarily. I only lift 3x per week. It definitely depends on your programming
  • mel_her
    mel_her Posts: 7 Member
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    laurentoews wrote: »
    To get under 20 you will likely need to up each of your training sessions to 5-6 times a week. It is a very ambitious goal and wont come from part time gym, unfortunately. Also, try looking into Macro counting and carb cycling. It's all advanced but easy once you start learning what foods account for what. Lastly, take measurements because with a goal like that it is very very easy to get discouraged by scale and percentage when you're following the diet and exercise-just know that the percentage change is very slow when you're already fit unless you go extreme. 23% is still in fitness range, so congrats, just keep it up. Slow progress is still progress :) Happy new year

    Last year I was doing 5 day a week workouts, mostly lifting and it was working, but I relocated to another city and have experienced adjustment issues. Back on track now and working my way back up. I need to do a better job with macros.
  • mel_her
    mel_her Posts: 7 Member
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    Asher_Ethan wrote: »
    Are you following a specific progressive weightlifting program or are you kind of winging it as you go?
    I was following one last year and then life happened lol back on track now & slowly working my way back to a routine that is 3 day full body lift 2 cardio classes like spin or bootcamp.
  • mel_her
    mel_her Posts: 7 Member
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    skinnyinnotime wrote: »
    You will need to lift more days a week, at least 4. As for cardio, once weekly is good. How's your diet?

    I am working my way up to more lifting days. My diet can be cleaner. Its not horrible, but I know things like alcohol make a difference.

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