BF% and toning

C

caracal84

0
Hi all,

Being training fairly intensely (5-6 times a week 1.5-2 hours) for approx. 8 weeks now with a mixture of cardio and weight lifting. I'm 5'2 115 pounds, with a BF of 21%. I have notice that my legs and abs feel toned and stronger, however they are really visible! just wondering, what BF would a women need to be for the muscles to be more visible, cheers:canadaf:
 
I think I read that for men they need to be at around 8% bodyfat before a 'six pack' will start to show through, but I think the requirements for a woman may be slightly different....I'm not sure why but I think I read it somewhere so don't quote me on that. Women should not go too low on BF% though imo, wouldn't want all women to lose their curves ;)
 
I've read abs start to show at;
10% for men
14% for women

In addition, this is the bare minimum healthy bf, which I read on the same place;
4% for men
10% for women

And of course, they may vary from individual to individual.
 
Starcraftmazter said:
I've read abs start to show at;
10% for men
14% for women

In addition, this is the bare minimum healthy bf, which I read on the same place;
4% for men
10% for women

And of course, they may vary from individual to individual.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, those numbers aren't accurate (although they're close): Essential body fat, which refers to internal fat that surrounds our organs (visceral) is ~3% for men and ~12% for women. That means that if you eliminate all "skin" fat (subcutaneous)-which isn't really possible, but just for argument's sake-then an equal distribution of subcutaneous fat seperating a male from a female is about 9%. Because ~10% of fat will be the most bf% that a male can carry to see abdominal definition (varying between males to some degree based on fat distribution), females will be roughly 19% to begin seeing abdominal definition. Again, this all depends on bf distribution (apple vs pear fat distribution, etc, etc)
 
I'm trying to see abdominal definition. I'm currently around 19 or 20 percent body fat. I can see a little definition, but not as much as I'd like. My goal is to get to somewhere around 14 percent while maintaining the weight I am at right now which is around 118-120. I don't know if 14 percent is too low for women though. I guess it depends on the individual. I'll see how I feel when I get that low.
 
Hi,

I've actually put on 4 pounds in the last 2-3 weeks, with no change on diet. Is it possible that this is muscle? I hope so! is there any way I can find out? cheers
 
You can get your body fat % tested by someone who knows how to use calipers. You can also get a rough estimate if you find a body fat calculator on the internet. It takes your measurements and comes up with an estimate of your fat %.
 
caracal84 said:
Hi,

I've actually put on 4 pounds in the last 2-3 weeks, with no change on diet. Is it possible that this is muscle? I hope so! is there any way I can find out? cheers
Click to expand...

Do your clothes feel any different? Have you weighed in again with similar results?
 
unfortunately in the last few days I have come to the opinion that the weight gain is due to the "f" word. I am in the process of reversing this! I started a new job recently and my eating habits have changed and that's what I think has caused this. I will check my BF% at the end of the week and hopefully things will be back to normal.
 
bf calculator

spicypumpkin said:
You can get your body fat % tested by someone who knows how to use calipers. You can also get a rough estimate if you find a body fat calculator on the internet. It takes your measurements and comes up with an estimate of your fat %.
Click to expand...

Can you give me an internet address for a body fat calculator? I have a caliper but am not sure I'm using it correctly. thanks
 
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