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Body fat optimization before Kona
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Hi,

I belive that we need a certain body fat percentage to work well and not every triathlon is beneficial to have as low body percentage as possible. Norseman Xtreme Triathlon is on of those I think a bit more body fat can be benefical due to the cold water and wind despite the climbing. Ironman Hawaii on the other hand I think maybe less is more regaring the body fat.

I am a skinny guy with 67 kg on 180 cm and have measured my body fat to be 12 % on a DXA scanner (and 7 % on an Inbody 720). I think I can loose weight pretty easy since I love long ride and do not feel the need to eat that much to replace all the calories I have burned.

The question is should I? Any recommandation to what is the best way to do it and be sure I do not go to low? Any good literature on the subject?

Appriciate any advice and experiances on the subject.

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Re: Body fat optimization before Kona [Allanhov] [ In reply to ]
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Well if pros are an example, there's a pretty wide range of BF% based on photo evidence. I think the top 2 females last year for example are not extremely lean. More muscular than ultra lean like an elite runner.

I think weight is a tricky thing. Get too lean and you have trouble maintaining energy levels. Eat too little and you don't recover and you can't train as hard. I found it easier to diet at around 13-16 hours per week than at 17-22 hours per week.


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Re: Body fat optimization before Kona [motoguy128] [ In reply to ]
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Be careful analyzing by photos, as they "put weight on" people. From my experience at Kona, body fat tends be be extremely low for the vast majority. At 6'0 and 151 I looked heavier than many. Rinny, Andy Potts and even Mark Allen in the old days are very thin....

How to get there....well, not a lot of time left to do it and keep energy as you state. Do the best you can to watch calories between now and then.
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Re: Body fat optimization before Kona [Allanhov] [ In reply to ]
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Allanhov wrote:
Hi,

I belive that we need a certain body fat percentage to work well and not every triathlon is beneficial to have as low body percentage as possible. Norseman Xtreme Triathlon is on of those I think a bit more body fat can be benefical due to the cold water and wind despite the climbing. Ironman Hawaii on the other hand I think maybe less is more regaring the body fat.

I am a skinny guy with 67 kg on 180 cm and have measured my body fat to be 12 % on a DXA scanner (and 7 % on an Inbody 720). I think I can loose weight pretty easy since I love long ride and do not feel the need to eat that much to replace all the calories I have burned.

The question is should I? Any recommandation to what is the best way to do it and be sure I do not go to low? Any good literature on the subject?

Appriciate any advice and experiances on the subject.

Hei Allan

You should check with Olympiatoppen. Just call them :-)
It is all about finding the balance. Too low and you do not have the energy, too high and you look like me.

Or maybe you should stop eating at the cafe in Son ;-)

My bet is a sub 9 at Kona. Heia Norge
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Re: Body fat optimization before Kona [Halvard] [ In reply to ]
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Halvard wrote:

Hei Allan

You should check with Olympiatoppen. Just call them :-)
It is all about finding the balance. Too low and you do not have the energy, too high and you look like me.

Or maybe you should stop eating at the cafe in Son ;-)

My bet is a sub 9 at Kona. Heia Norge

Hi Halvard,

It was actually at Olympiatoppen the measured my BF%, and the woman who was controlling the DXA Scanner said that normal for an Olympiatoppen male athlete was between 9 and 15 %. 12 % was therefor normal and she did not have any recommandations regarding going up or down.

I have asked around in my network but there seams to be little expertise on the subject in Norway, which surprises me quit a bit. And the people I ask are obviously worrying that I got a eating disorder.

It must be someone with some information and experience on the subject and how to try to find the perfect balance? At least it looks like that on the Tour de France were the riders who compete for the yellow jersey og climing stages obviously have very low BF%. Of course some of them takes it to far and gets punished for that regarding performance and health.

I also asked Rasmus Henning about it and he did not have any special strategy regarding the BF% and did just eat healthy as normal. Does that count for most of the pros racing in Kona??

And by the way, Halvard, I am aiming for a sub 9 on Kona ;)

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Re: Body fat optimization before Kona [Allanhov] [ In reply to ]
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Allanhov wrote:
Halvard wrote:


Hei Allan

You should check with Olympiatoppen. Just call them :-)
It is all about finding the balance. Too low and you do not have the energy, too high and you look like me.

Or maybe you should stop eating at the cafe in Son ;-)

My bet is a sub 9 at Kona. Heia Norge


Hi Halvard,

It was actually at Olympiatoppen the measured my BF%, and the woman who was controlling the DXA Scanner said that normal for an Olympiatoppen male athlete was between 9 and 15 %. 12 % was therefor normal and she did not have any recommandations regarding going up or down.

I have asked around in my network but there seams to be little expertise on the subject in Norway, which surprises me quit a bit. And the people I ask are obviously worrying that I got a eating disorder.

It must be someone with some information and experience on the subject and how to try to find the perfect balance? At least it looks like that on the Tour de France were the riders who compete for the yellow jersey og climing stages obviously have very low BF%. Of course some of them takes it to far and gets punished for that regarding performance and health.

I also asked Rasmus Henning about it and he did not have any special strategy regarding the BF% and did just eat healthy as normal. Does that count for most of the pros racing in Kona??

And by the way, Halvard, I am aiming for a sub 9 on Kona ;)

Normal male level 9-15%?
- These figures must include football players, downhill skiers etc.
- Elite endurance athletes are normally below 10%, some down to 5% or lower.
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Re: Body fat optimization before Kona [Allanhov] [ In reply to ]
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I'm not an expert and don't understand norwegian but judging by the fact that all your recent blog entries are filled with pictures of 3000+ calories deserts I'd start there :)


Allanhov wrote:
Hi,

I belive that we need a certain body fat percentage to work well and not every triathlon is beneficial to have as low body percentage as possible. Norseman Xtreme Triathlon is on of those I think a bit more body fat can be benefical due to the cold water and wind despite the climbing. Ironman Hawaii on the other hand I think maybe less is more regaring the body fat.

I am a skinny guy with 67 kg on 180 cm and have measured my body fat to be 12 % on a DXA scanner (and 7 % on an Inbody 720). I think I can loose weight pretty easy since I love long ride and do not feel the need to eat that much to replace all the calories I have burned.

The question is should I? Any recommandation to what is the best way to do it and be sure I do not go to low? Any good literature on the subject?

Appriciate any advice and experiances on the subject.
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Re: Body fat optimization before Kona [ajo] [ In reply to ]
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ajo wrote:

Normal male level 9-15%?
- These figures must include football players, downhill skiers etc.
- Elite endurance athletes are normally below 10%, some down to 5% or lower.

I am not 100 % certain about what kind of athletes she included in the normal range, but I got the impression that it was endurance athletes (but swimmers are endurace athletes even if the are quit "fat"). I also think that a lot of fat measuring devices are a bit optimistic, especially since I measured my BF% to be 7 on a InBody720 when it actually was 12 %.

For the female Olypmiatoppen athletes the BF% low limit is 9 %, and if the have lower than that they are not allowed to compete.

http://www.triallan.com
Ambassador of:
Quintana Roo - https://quintanarootri.com
Bioracer
Precision Fuel & Hydration
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Re: Body fat optimization before Kona [Allanhov] [ In reply to ]
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I'm 5'10" and have races Kona at 164, 162, and 158lbs. and don't think it made a bit of difference.

-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
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Re: Body fat optimization before Kona [Allanhov] [ In reply to ]
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Allan

I have tried to find anything written in Norway about men and body fat %. I think most of the focus has been on making sure that the endurance women do not get too thin. Especially after what happen in the 80s in cross country skiing and Steira the last years.

Two names I can think of with knowledge is Marius Bakken (or as Americans would say it Dr. Marius Bakken ;-) and Johan Kaggestad. Marius ran against the skinny guys and should know a lot. Kaggestad knows both running and cycling on a high level.

Jeg tror ogsaa at det er mulig aa bli for tynn. Se paa Realert broedrene. Siden du skal vaere ute i 9 timer og ikke 13-14 minutter som en 5000 meter saa maa kroppen taale mye juling over lang tid.

Lykke til og fortsett med kakestykket i Son :-)
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Re: Body fat optimization before Kona [ajo] [ In reply to ]
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ajo wrote:
Allanhov wrote:
Halvard wrote:


Hei Allan

You should check with Olympiatoppen. Just call them :-)
It is all about finding the balance. Too low and you do not have the energy, too high and you look like me.

Or maybe you should stop eating at the cafe in Son ;-)

My bet is a sub 9 at Kona. Heia Norge


Hi Halvard,

It was actually at Olympiatoppen the measured my BF%, and the woman who was controlling the DXA Scanner said that normal for an Olympiatoppen male athlete was between 9 and 15 %. 12 % was therefor normal and she did not have any recommandations regarding going up or down.

I have asked around in my network but there seams to be little expertise on the subject in Norway, which surprises me quit a bit. And the people I ask are obviously worrying that I got a eating disorder.

It must be someone with some information and experience on the subject and how to try to find the perfect balance? At least it looks like that on the Tour de France were the riders who compete for the yellow jersey og climing stages obviously have very low BF%. Of course some of them takes it to far and gets punished for that regarding performance and health.

I also asked Rasmus Henning about it and he did not have any special strategy regarding the BF% and did just eat healthy as normal. Does that count for most of the pros racing in Kona??

And by the way, Halvard, I am aiming for a sub 9 on Kona ;)




- Elite endurance athletes are normally below 10%, some down to 5% or lower.
I question that. Getting below 5% is impossibly hard. There are some professional body builders that have difficulty doing that. If you are below 5% you are going to make Arnold Schwarzenegger look like a fat ass, and that's really only achievable spending all day of everyday pumping mad iron at the gym. Thinking about the last seven races I have done, I did not see one person that looked like he is below 5%, and very few that looked under 10%.


Last edited by: SPL Tech: Sep 5, 14 15:24
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Re: Body fat optimization before Kona [SPL Tech] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, I agree with the above. Here is the Zoot Ultra Team sausage fest from Kona 2012 before the Underwear Run. The guys on either end are from Zoot sports and not racing. I would say 10-12% at best for the boys...



And here are our chicas, only one of whom was not racing. Maybe 15-20%.



-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
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ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project
Last edited by: Bryancd: Sep 5, 14 15:41
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