i don't think they can. look at a lot of brian sutton's athletes. the women get really lean, race fast. they get injured and messed up and never race to same potential again.

I think it's because the "Elite Athletes" are not like you and me. they are Elite and thats what make them Elite, most of us do not have a resting pulse right in the low 30's or a VO2 max thats way up there.

bikedude

I think some people are just born with a naturally low body fat. I, for example, have a body fat that hovers around 5-7during training and 4-5 before a race (mind you this does not mean I am an elite athlete). I was just born with this low body fat much in the same way that it is possible that your were born with a much higher threshold for pain.....just my 2 cents...



Dan

Well certainly a lot of it has to do with HOW you are trying to lose the weight. Too much caloric restriction, and yeah, you are going to feel tired. The best way to lean down (IMO) is eat healthy (plenty of protein, veggies, complex carbs and good fats), lift weights (not real heavy duty weights, but muscles are you primary fat burners, so you want them all to be plenty activated), and do a lot of training well within your aerobic capacity.

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A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is just putting on its shoes.
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Maybe that's because you lost weight too quickly and lost muscle mass with it. Elite athletes achieve low % of body fat with many months/years of training and a healthy diet throughout the year. You can't make it within a few months without affecting your performance.

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and you certainly can get too lean anyway...I dropped to 62kgs for 5'7'' and big legs, and was measured at 2.9%BF in a bod pod.
I got sick all the time, had no energy, no legs, and would get hyptothermic below 65F...

2,9% of BF is scary...

Last year I got under 5% (not quite sure how low) and I could almost see every vein in my body.. even the heart beating I was able to SEE.. this year I was on the 7-9% range and felt better in every long ride I did..

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One key is duration and consistency of workouts. If you are training 15+ hours a week, every week for 10 months a year then you can eat a ton of healthy food and drop body fat like crazy.

For a very long time(perhaps 15 years), i don't think my body fat got over 5%.

I never realized what it actually felt like to be healthy until i stopped training for 6 months and i gained 15 pounds (through unhealthy means). Until then, i just sorta assumed everyone had colds and sinus infections 8 months out of the year.

without knowing you I hesitate to respond, but I really doubt you were that low, as a recreational bodybuilder, I understand the difficulty getting below 5%, plus the bod-pod is notoriously inaccurate at lower percentages....

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/1025.htm



that said, and after seeing your pictures, Im willing to bet you can drop below 7% and hold with no problem... for headaches, you were probably below 6%

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yes I'm curious of this as well. my bodybuilding friends drop it quickly and add it right back on. obviously I'm not interested in this, but would like to have mine lower.

some women just have low fat>this amazes me, some of them. I cannot imagine being a woman and having a 6-pack of abs.

Women with a visible 6-pack = Women with really low bf = No boobs = No good.

Spoken like the 14-year old you are...

Most elite athletes have maintained their low body fat for their whole lives. Look at a high school XC race--- All of those kids are under 10% body fat and plenty are under 7%. If one of those athletes goes to college on track scholarship, then goes from college right into triathlons, they will probably maintain their low body fat %. Once you gain a bunch of weight it is hard to lose it, even for elites--- Just look at Jan Ullrich or Sergio Botero.

I am by no mens an elite athlete, but I have found I am healthy all the way down to 7% body fat, but below that I start to get sick and burned out. That was the case even when I was running in high school and college and was closer to what you might call elite.

-Marc

Are you a pontificating PhD? Or, just a normal person, who is extrodinarliy motivated acedimcally?

I agree with most of these answers in that bodyfat that is too low could be unhealthy. However I don't think elite athletes have many of these issues. I know that during the winter I'm at about 10% bf, and in the summer I get down to 7-8%. Funny thing is that I eat about 25% more in the Summer. Training hard in the heat & humidity just gets my metabolism rolling & I just turn into an eating machine. Maybe its part genetic, part just plain old sweat, but I find myself eating like a hobbit - breakfast, second breakfast, coffee break, elevensies, lunch etc... If I were to restrict calories, especially in the summer, I'd most likely be found on the side of a road in a ditch.

Let me rephrase that.

A woman with a really low bodyfat content does not look as good as a women with a healthy amount of bodyfat.

ok, my blood sugar must be low, because I'm just rollin' about the hobit thing.

in a ditch!!! hahahahahahaha!

(going to eat, right now)

Of course ... but is someone who is extraordinarily motivated academically really normal?!

Freestyle, for a teenager you make a great deal of sense.

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kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

I am actually aware that the bod pod is a bit inaccurate at lower percentages, but I have had consistent readings below 5%, using the bod pod, but also hydrostatic measures etc. Then the year I was at 62kgs, I was about 1.5kg lighter...

Anyway, regardless of what the actual values are, the point was that you can get your body too low

girls with extremly low bodyfat are not nice to look at. look at all those grotesque egs u see in bodybuilder and 'figure' contests. yuck.

indeed !

you're bless with a lower point the most people...

and everyone is different.... my low point with no issues and easy to hold is around 8%, when I drop below 7%, i get a light dull throb in the back of my head :(

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"a healthy diet throughout the year"

You eat any doughnuts today?