Thought it might be interesting to see what sort of body fat % people are carrying around seeing the first races of the season are starting.
To start the ball rolling, I’m at 10% with a month until my first ‘A’ race. Looking to get down to 8% and maintain for the summer.
Throw out some numbers.
This is probably inaccurate as I did it myself with calipers. I got 8.3% which is ok for me this time of year. I will probably be down around 6% in august. Remember that age and gender make a difference in body readings, I am a 39yr old male.
Enough body fat to postpone two of my early season races until I can get a bit of this fat whittled from my fat ass.
I think I got it down pretty well to about 6% …
in my right leg, about 7% in my left leg, 10% around the gut, and add another 5% for the arms (lots of swimming this year), which puts me right around a nice 28% total. Yeah, Baby! Under 30%! J
How’s that for some numbers?
this is a perennial question/obsession among triathletes but I have heard that the only accurate way to measure body fat is by autopsy. even hydrostatic margin of error is +/- 2-3%, which renders meaningless all this tallk about dropping a percentage point or two, does it not? And don’t even talk about the tanita bioelectrical ballpark impedence scales. the only test i think is worth anything is the “get naked and jump up and down in front of the mirror” test. if it wiggles, its fat.
I am not at liberty to discuss the size of my “endurance pockets,” as they are part of my proprietary new endurance training system. I can only tell you that the roast rack of lamb and triple cream Brie I had for dinner Saturday night was sumptuous. So were the steak tips and tiramisu. (My motto: Ride hard, eat plenty!)
Seriously, I don’t know what my body fat measurment is right now. I’m about down to the wieght I was at last August, which is when I was in peak condition for the year.
I’m male, 5’5", 147 lbs…my Tanita scale gives me body fat readings anywhere from 5% up to 8%, depending on hydration level, time-of-day, etc.
Not really sure how accurate this is…it’s been forever since I’ve had a more accurate measurement.
I think I mentioned this to someone the other day, but I view body fat percentage the same as my IQ – I really don’t want to know either; the potential negative blow to the self esteem far outweighs anything productive I could actually do with that information. I know how much I should weigh. I know how much I eat and how it relates to how much I weigh. I know that if I work out a lot, I lose body fat; if I don’t, I don’t.
It was me you told! 
I sometimes find the measurement to be helpful though. Last season, I was thinking I needed to lose quite a bit of weight still and I was at 12.5%, which for me (32 F) is really quite low. So it helped me get my “body perception” a little more on track.
I agree. I’m not skinny enough to want to know my body fat percentage. Given how much I work out and how strict my diet is(Saturday night notwithstanding), there wouldn’t be much I could do about it anyway.
The funny thing about IQ is that I know lots of really smart people who have absolutely no common sense whatsoever. They’re book smart, but life dumb.
I’m probably at around 9% or so, and I’m looking to get down to 7-8%.
Bill Rogers once wrote an article in Runner’s world (probably before some of you could read) stating as you get older you develop something called essential body fat which will be there(to some extent) no matter what you do. Well I’m there but better than this winter. Oh yes I with eating well especially on weekends and when any other occasion arises.
Picked up a new race singlet this past Friday for a Saturday race. Tried it on at home and said to myself, “I can’t get away with this.”