Low body fat

Mr.T

Mr.T

Mr.T

Associate
Joined
6 Nov 2004
Posts
798
Hey,

Could someone please explain what happens if you have too low body fat. Reason being is that I went to a gym today ( :eek: ) and the guy said I had the lowest body fat he had ever seen, it was below 7%. I have never been fat, but I really just eat whatever I want , and never have had eating issues, but was just surprised when I checked web to see that my body fat is unhealth, but I have never had any issues.

Thanks
 
Your body needs a certain amount of fat to keep your organs running in good check and keep you in good general health. Saying that, everyone is different and if you have a naturally low body fat you might not have anything to worry about. Best see your GP if you are worried.
 
And some chicken; don't you be forgetting about the good ole' chicken. :p

Seriously though, if you keep going to the gym and eat like 10 chicken breasts a day you will look wicked I bet. I wish I was naturally slim.

Curse my man boobs. :(
 
Royality said:
And some chicken; don't you be forgetting about the good ole' chicken. :p

Seriously though, if you keep going to the gym and eat like 10 chicken breasts a day you will look wicked I bet. I wish I was naturally slim.

Curse my man boobs. :(
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Hehe I hope. On the topic on man boobs - I saw some guy (body builder) with them and he was able to get them removed (plastic surgery), so there is always hope.
 
Just because he said you are doesn't mean you actually are, it depends on his proficiency with the calipers. 7% is a bit too low but shouldn't be that unhealhty, below 5% you would have trouble.
 
I think the guy might have measured it wrong since the machine measuring the fat level ( stand on scale) gave me the wrong weight (half stone wrong), and I might have given him my height as an inch short -

also the body fat was below 7 percent, the exact figure was unbelievable , I dare post it.
 
Mr.T said:
also the body fat was below 7 percent, the exact figure was unbelievable , I dare post it.
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Below 7%? No way mate... Bad readings, nothing to worry about.

Scales are notoriously poor at guessing bodyfat percentage accurately. They use a technique called bioelectrical impedance which can be effected just by how much water you have drank that day.

At 7% bodyfat you should have very clearly defined cuts between your abs even when they are relaxed. Perhaps even some striations visible on some of your muscles.

If you didn't intentionally diet and train to get that low then in my opinion it is highly unlikely that you actually are. Get someone who is trained in the usage of calipers to take your readings. Failing that, post up a pic and we should be able to give you a better idea of where your bodyfat it is.
 
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I am seeing the guy next week so I will get him to check again.

Now I know the reading was probably not worth the paper it was printed on, the exact reading was 2.6 % :| :|
 
Mr.T said:
I am seeing the guy next week so I will get him to check again.

Now I know the reading was probably not worth the paper it was printed on, the exact reading was 2.6 % :| :|
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LOL You would probably be dead mate. And you would likely be hospitalised long before you reached 2.6% anyway!

The most shredded bodybuilders get down to around 4% minimum for a show (most are higher though). This level of bodyfat isn't maintainable for more than a few days. Such bodybuilders have their diets planned weeks in advance and have everything perfectly worked out so that they hit that "shredded" state exactly on the date of their show.

If he is just going to use scales again I wouldn't bother. As I said they are very inaccurate. Seriously, post up a pic and we will give you a rough ballpark figure for your bodyfat percentage.

Question: Your abs, how clearly defined are they? Can you see them clearly regardless of lighting and even when you are not tensing them?
 
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Agreed with Gordy. There's almost no chance you could reach 7% without serious training and dieting and you'd be very unhealthy indeed (probably on a drip in hospital) were you as low as 2.6BF%
 
Mr.T said:
By clearly defined you mean like this http://www.muscletech.com/RESEARCH/RNR/RNR_15/IMAGES/ATH_BrBaker_abs.jpg ? If so I would be very far off that. I guess you can see them a bit, but not very defined. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say 5 or 6...I think, but they are definatly not defined a lot
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The guy in that picture I would guess is around 8%. Although I could be very wrong since if you look closely you can see he has quite a lot of makeup around his muscles. This is quite a normal thing in the modelling industry (particularly for outdoor shoots where lighting isn't as controllable). I was a model myself for a while and they put a lot of darker skin tones around your abs and under your pecs to make them appear even more defined on camera. It is quite possible that he is a little higher than 8%, but with that makeup on it makes it a bit harder to judge.

For comparisons sake, the guy in this picture is around 8-9%

kd8l03.jpg


Regardless, if your abs aren't all that defined then you are likely still above 10% so nothing to worry about health-wise. :)
 
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I agree with gordy that pic 8-9%

I'm sitting at around 8% myself at the moment. I think olympic sprinters get down around the 6-8% mark. Bodybuilders like someone said get down to 4% or around that but because of how much muscle they carry it appears to be soo much lower. Still when they are at that low bodyfat they are their weakest. Dangerously dehydrated and barely able to stand on stage.
 
Mr.T said:
bahh finally got picture up - should be conclusive enough http://home.btconnect.com/Life/Picture 010.jpg
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You're probably around 12% mate. It's a little difficult to be sure from just your stomach but that would be my guess. Are your abs more defined in better light conditions? If not then you might be a tad higher.

But anyway, regardless of what you actually are... Rest assured you are not 7% let alone 2.6% :eek:
 
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They are probably slighly more visible, but not much. Don't have proper camera so have to use camcorder. Still that machine which measured me earlier must be a piece of junk to get it out that far.

Anyway thanks for all responses.

edit another pic -http://home.btconnect.com/Life/Picture%20015.jpg
 
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Mr.T said:
They are probably slighly more visible, but not much. Don't have proper camera so have to use camcorder. Still that machine which measured me earlier must be a piece of junk to get it out that far.

Anyway thanks for all responses.
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The scales seem to get pretty inaccurate once you start getting to the lower end of the bodyfat scale in my experience. And like I said before, their results can be effected by little things like how much water you are currentely carrying. The method they use sends an electrical signal through your body and the water in your tissue effects the results. For an average person they are okay for a rough guide, but nothing more.

Anyway, you are at a nice body fat level to begin a good bulk to add some more mass to your frame. You also have a nice flat stomach and I would imagine there is a good set of abs under there. I don't think it would take much in the way of dieting/cardio to have those abs peaking through nicely.
 
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