Sub 10% Body Fat
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No problem
- good job on your transformation too! How long did this actually take you?[/quote]
The short answer is 4 years. Looking back the first 2 were all excersise focussed. The last two were balanced, healthy eating and exercise. It was the last two where the biggest gains happened.
Year 1 lost 5 lbs
Year 2 lost 5 more
Year 3 lost 15 lbs
(fat loss started the day after I went caloric deficit)
Year 4 lost 5 more
started at 205 lbs with high cholesterol.
4 years and 2 months later I'm at 173 lbs, no more cholesterol and a bf of 11%.
25 years ago when I got married I was 155 lbs @ 6% bf. There is no way I will ever be that again. If I can hit 168 lbs at just under 10% I would declare the journey complete and pick a new objective. Example add an inch to my shoulders.
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smith667metal wrote: »cupcakesandproteinshakes wrote: »smith667metal wrote: »I am also trying to hit 10% or lower for summer as well. I am most likely going about it all wrong. I try to get between 1500-1900 calories a day (160-200g protien 75-135g carbs 60-70g fat) which I can do for like 3 4 days strait but on that 4th or 5th day I binge like crazy been doing this cycle for the last month and it’s not working. I guess I gotta figure out some sustainable way to achieve it before summer rolls around
This is very low calories for a male. How about you try and shoot for a half pound loss a week. It may take longer but not as long as your current approach.
How do you figure that without knowing how much he weighs and what specific activity he is engaged in?
Well I suppose to be fair they might be right I’m 27 180 lbs try to keep active as much as possible plus train 5-6 times a week my bmr is a little over 1700. I just want the damn fat gone now!
Nope definitely wrong. At that weight and assuming you are about 10% body fat (judging by your profile pic). You could do a protein sparing modified fast for 10ish days on 1300 calories a day. You'd have to increase your protein up to nearer the 300g mark and lift heavy at two thirds current volume while maintaining intensity during this time.
But yeah whatever. Not enough information was provided to throw out a blanket statement saying that just because you are a male your calories are too low.
That's misinformation at it's finest.
You shouldn't throw such information like that at someone who isn't experienced. This is an advanced technique that should only be used by someone who is experienced and knows exactly what they're doing, or under professional supervision. PSMF is done improperly can impact health negatively. It's irresponsible on your part to treat people in the forum like you would a personal client. You aren't there to monitor them and make sure they're not harming themselves.8 -
No problem - good job on your transformation too! How long did this actually take you?
The short answer is 4 years. Looking back the first 2 were all excersise focussed. The last two were balanced, healthy eating and exercise. It was the last two where the biggest gains happened.
Year 1 lost 5 lbs
Year 2 lost 5 more
Year 3 lost 15 lbs
(fat loss started the day after I went caloric deficit)
Year 4 lost 5 more
started at 205 lbs with high cholesterol.
4 years and 2 months later I'm at 173 lbs, no more cholesterol and a bf of 11%.
25 years ago when I got married I was 155 lbs @ 6% bf. There is no way I will ever be that again. If I can hit 168 lbs at just under 10% I would declare the journey complete and pick a new objective. Example add an inch to my shoulders.
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Well done man!0 -
Stood on an Tanita body fat scale today. 11%. I will take that as confirmation my caliper measurement is not bad. Last Caliper 11.46%0
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You're both right. I'm 48 years old and apparently below 10% at my age is not considered healthy.0
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scorpio516 wrote: »
For a lot of men staying under a genuine 10%bf for prolonged periods can reduce
Test levels, libido, thyroid etc
If your genetically very lean then that’s different,2 -
10.5% this morning.
My target was to break though 11% barrier this week. Accomplished!8 -
I'm getting there. 10.5% today.
Just being consistent and patient. Eating 1600 - 1800 calories and calisthenics daily (Pushups and Squats). Strength training 3 times per week and cardio 4 times. Cardio is not crazy. 15 to 40 minutes depending on the type. This weekend is swimming and rowing.
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UPDATE OK so I'm at the same weight 173 but have gained a bit of size on the quads and biceps. Not noticeable by the naked eye. Sitting at 10.4 % but perhaps a slight improvement in definition.
I'm still enjoying one cheat meal a week and hovering at 1500 - 1800 calories daily. With limited access to cardio (its still winter where I live) I may have to tighten down the cheat day to hit my goal.
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This is really good. Thanks for the feedback. I have a few barriers that are making it challenging. At 48 yrs old I don't want to lift too heavy and I am not willing to eat my b/w in protien. I am currently eating 1/3 - 1/2 my bw in protien and staying caloric deficient. I did reduce my cardio to 2x per week. Cardio was hampering my gains.
I don't plan to maintain sub 10%. It is just my target when I started this transition journey.
"Lifting heavy" is a generic term and describes nothing specific to your goal.
I would suggest using a template that you respond to sensitively that utilizes appropriate intensity that brings you very close to failure(1 or 2 reps ). One that you recover from enough to progress and has auto regulation. Rest breaks aboutv1-2min at most.
So heavy isn't actually a goal, recruiting as many muscle motors is.
As far as protien. You need more protien now for several reasons.
1. In a caloric deficit, you need more protien now to retain muscle than if you were in a surplus trying to produce muscle.
2. At your age, we start to have a problem with atrophy. We become less efficient using protein to achieve MPS which helps prevent atrophy.
We combat this with more protien and better quality protien at that.
Unless you are enhanced and even then you probably are doing your goal a disservice by eating so low protien.
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UPDATE OK so I'm at the same weight 173 but have gained a bit of size on the quads and biceps. Not noticeable by the naked eye. Sitting at 10.4 % but perhaps a slight improvement in definition.
I'm still enjoying one cheat meal a week and hovering at 1500 - 1800 calories daily. With limited access to cardio (its still winter where I live) I may have to tighten down the cheat day to hit my goal.
Oh how beautifully those jeans 'hang' on your hips putting those abs in the spotlight. Amazing progress! You are an inspiration!
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Update, today is the second Friday that I've been sub 10%. This morning measured 9.14% @ 170 lbs. Target weight was 168 lbs. I'm going for it!
Measurement wise I've lost 1/2" off my waist. Shoulders are up 1/2", chest is same, biceps and quads are maintained.
Focusing on quads and shoulders while looking for waist to continue to shrink bit more.
Focussed lifting on alternating days with foundation calisthenics daily and cardio on the days without lifting. Recovery over the weekend. Eating is the same calorie deficient with a bit of extra protein from Greek yogurt.
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Update, today is the second Friday that I've been sub 10%. This morning measured 9.14% @ 170 lbs. Target weight was 168 lbs. I'm going for it!
Measurement wise I've lost 1/2" off my waist. Shoulders are up 1/2", chest is same, biceps and quads are maintained.
Focusing on quads and shoulders while looking for waist to continue to shrink bit more.
Focussed lifting on alternating days with foundation calisthenics daily and cardio on the days without lifting. Recovery over the weekend. Eating is the same calorie deficient with a bit of extra protein from Greek yogurt.
Looking good mate but nowhere near sub 10%, quads should be pretty much separated, I’d estimate 12-14%7 -
Update, today is the second Friday that I've been sub 10%. This morning measured 9.14% @ 170 lbs. Target weight was 168 lbs. I'm going for it!
Measurement wise I've lost 1/2" off my waist. Shoulders are up 1/2", chest is same, biceps and quads are maintained.
Focusing on quads and shoulders while looking for waist to continue to shrink bit more.
Focussed lifting on alternating days with foundation calisthenics daily and cardio on the days without lifting. Recovery over the weekend. Eating is the same calorie deficient with a bit of extra protein from Greek yogurt.
Looking good mate but nowhere near sub 10%, quads should be pretty much separated, I’d estimate 12-14%
Yep, could be. That's ok. 3 site caliper measurements are not perfect. I'm ok with that. What I do know it that when I started uaing the same sites the same way it read 26% and now. it reads 9.14. I used a fancy fitness scale once and correlated my reading but also know that even the most expensive scales are not 100%. So if I'm actual 12%. That's ok I'm at my relative goal at 48 years old. So in a week or so I will be. on maintenance on bf and working of building a few ratios.3 -
Congrats on achieving your goal!
To the question you asked a while back on what bf% measurement method folks use, I’ve done the Bod Pod a few times, but the results don’t always seem accurate. One time was especially bad. It said I was at under 15% but anyone looking at me would guess I was a little over 20%. The folks administering it said they didn’t think it was accurate either, but they still charged me $1201 -
3wks at less than 10% using my caliper method. I'm satisfied and pleased with the result.
Moving on to a new goal now.
Good luck with your journeys.
FR me if you want to know more about my journey.
Or ask to join the Midlife Crisis Fitness Group to work with other guys shooting to shred the Dad bod.
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Update today
Calipers are saying 8%. Actual must be below 10 now. Plenty of definition. Even legs now.
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