When it comes to measuring your body fat it is important to recognize that body fat measurements are often less than accurate. However, at the very least calipers or bioelectrical impedance analysis can give you a good estimate of where you are at in terms of health and fitness. In fact, body fat is a more valuable measurement than weight. You could lose 0 pounds, but decrease your body fat, increase your muscle mass and be much more fit!
In order to decrease your body fat, focus on building more muscle that will burn fat and increase your lean mass versus fat ratio. Make sure you stick with a consistent weight lifting regimen and eat plenty of protein. If you are consistent in your training (i.e doing cardio and weight training 4-5 times per week), you are going to want to consume 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. This is also providing that you do have healthy kidney function (too much protein can overload the kidneys). The recommendation for the average person that is not involved in consistent, regular heavy weight and cardio training is .8 grams per kilogram of body weight.
Losing body fat has not been as heavily researched as weight loss and there are not official guidelines that have been published, however, around 1% of fat per month is generally acceptable and healthy.
General Fat-Percentage Categories
|
||
Classification
|
Women (% fat)
|
Men (% fat)
|
Essential Fat
|
10 - 13%
|
2 - 5%
|
Athletes
|
14 - 20%
|
6 - 13%
|
Fitness
|
21 - 24%
|
14 - 17%
|
Average
|
25 - 31%
|
18 - 24%
|
Obese
|
32% +
|
25% +
|
No comments:
Post a Comment