hey. need helping getting under the 5% body fat.

Death should get you there within a few days...it might be a little hard on your lean body mass though...

If we assign you a male gender, make you 7 foot tall and give you a weight of 80 pounds, your bmi still comes in above your currently claimed bmi. Death appears to be your only option...and not a healthy one.
 
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If you're at 7% body fat yet can't see muscle and aren't toned... losing fat is not your problem.

You need to build muscle.
 
I agree with Steve. 5% is like competition body builder numbers. If you are at 7% now I don't think another 2 will make you happy.
 
thatswhack01 said:
hmm. makes sense. I mean I'm not weak but I'm not ripped
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First, I actually doubt you're 7%. I could very well be wrong but who knows. How did you go about arriving at that figure?

Secondly, being weak has nothing to do with it. If you're truly 7% and not ripped... you need to build up a foundation of muscle which means eating above maintenance and gaining some weight.
 
I know several guys who maintain 3-5% body fat all year round, and they are as healthy as can be. However, they are the very skinny, hyperactive, fast metabolism types (ectomorphs) so they are naturally lean anyway – they don’t have to stress themselves to get to that lean – its natural for them.

You will find that you have a certain "setpoint" towards which you will naturally gravitate unless you are making a concerted effort to lower your body fat. For example, if you’re not dieting strictly, you might naturally creep up to 10% or so. At that point you’ll tend to stabilize and you won’t fluctuate much either way unless your diet or activity level changes. That's your "set point" - that’s the level your body is "comfortable" at.

If you try to drop your body fat too far below your set point and hold it there too long, your body may not "like it." It's hard to put a specific number on how low is too low, but personally I think it's perfectly healthy for men to go down to 6-9% and women to 13-15% and hold it there indefinitely. For women to drop into single digits or men to low single digits and keep it there is not really natural for the body (unless you are an ectomorph). Your body may react by suppressing your immune system.
 
Amy33 said:
I know several guys who maintain 3-5% body fat all year round, and they are as healthy as can be. However, they are the very skinny, hyperactive, fast metabolism types (ectomorphs) so they are naturally lean anyway – they don’t have to stress themselves to get to that lean – its natural for them.
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I find it hard to believe you know a bunch of guys sitting at 3% bf.

Not calling you a liar, but would certainly question their measurement tactics.

You will find that you have a certain "setpoint" towards which you will naturally gravitate unless you are making a concerted effort to lower your body fat. For example, if you’re not dieting strictly, you might naturally creep up to 10% or so. At that point you’ll tend to stabilize and you won’t fluctuate much either way unless your diet or activity level changes. That's your "set point" - that’s the level your body is "comfortable" at.
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That would be his settling point.

Setpoint is something entirely different.

Settling point basically says that the body will settle at a given weight depending on environment. Too much food + too little activity = one settling point. Restrict food and increase activity and you get a different (lower) settling point

A true set point suggests a biological system that acts to maintain bodyweight by adjusting appetite/activity/etc at some set level and this is hairy in the literature. Some agree on it, some don't. I tend to think it exists but who really knows at this point.

If you try to drop your body fat too far below your set point and hold it there too long, your body may not "like it." It's hard to put a specific number on how low is too low, but personally I think it's perfectly healthy for men to go down to 6-9% and women to 13-15% and hold it there indefinitely.
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Hmm, do you work with people in the weight loss setting?

Just curious.

In my opinion, you can't really lump men and women into their own separate categories and stop there. A naturally lean man is going to have a much easier time staying sub-10% than a naturally fatter guy, for instance. It's very case dependent.

If you're suggesting that most any male should be able to stay below 10% indefinitely I would wholeheartedly disagree.
 
Just for comparison. Here is photo of Daniel Gracie at a pre-fight weight in. His trainer said that he is at 8% BF for this fight.

My pic is missing?
 
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I mean without a doubt the amount of muscle mass is going to play a role. Not all 5% bf men will look the same, which should be obvious. I've been down around 7% and I can tell you that I could never maintain that year round. I can also tell you that my 7% looks much different than some other skinny bastard's who doesn't have a good base level of muscle mass.

But even for skinny guys who aren't carrying a good bit of muscle.... 3% is a little far-fetched in my experience.
 
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