Banjo
Fuelled with Jelly Babies
- Location
- South Wales
done a search but could find anything surprisingly.What is a good figure to aim for?
Body Fat Percentage
- Thread starter Banjo
- Start date
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fido
Veteran
- Location
- Reading, Berks.
Loosely speaking between 10-20% is considered normal. This range does shift upwards as you get older though.
Ah Banjo.
It took me weeks to collate some data.
There is 'advised Bodyfat % for age' and 'advised Bodyfat % for sporting activity'.
There is also 'body type', ie Ecto, Meso and Endos; and Body Frame size.
In the end, it's a very personal thing.
For instance, my research found 6 levels of 'Athleticism'
OK, Exellent, A1, 2xA1, Trim and Lean.
Unfortunately, 'Pro Cyclist' came lower than Lean.
Each has a curve for the subject's age.
And then again, it depends whether it was a North American organisation or a European organisation. Americans are allowed to be fatter.
And of course girls are different to men.
I'm not gong to give you any figure you should be, except to say "The fold of skin at the side of your belly should be less than half an inch".
It took me weeks to collate some data.
There is 'advised Bodyfat % for age' and 'advised Bodyfat % for sporting activity'.
There is also 'body type', ie Ecto, Meso and Endos; and Body Frame size.
In the end, it's a very personal thing.
For instance, my research found 6 levels of 'Athleticism'
OK, Exellent, A1, 2xA1, Trim and Lean.
Unfortunately, 'Pro Cyclist' came lower than Lean.
Each has a curve for the subject's age.
And then again, it depends whether it was a North American organisation or a European organisation. Americans are allowed to be fatter.
And of course girls are different to men.
I'm not gong to give you any figure you should be, except to say "The fold of skin at the side of your belly should be less than half an inch".
potsy
Rambler
- Location
- My Armchair
Hi Banjo,I use this site as a general guide.Banjo said:
http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx?Tag=Calculators?WT.srch=1
aJohnson
Senior Member
- Location
- Bury, Manchester
jimboalee said:
I have one of those laying around somewhere. Never used it though.
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
If you can pinch more than an inch around your waist then you are a ..........................fat b4stard.
As a physiotherapist once remarked, road cyclists are just lungs and a skellington.
Some people have so much fat that even a pork scratching is considered lean
.
10-12% would be good going for an amateur cyclist. You don't want to go too low as where are you going to get your reserves of energy from on long cold rides?
As a physiotherapist once remarked, road cyclists are just lungs and a skellington.
Some people have so much fat that even a pork scratching is considered lean
.10-12% would be good going for an amateur cyclist. You don't want to go too low as where are you going to get your reserves of energy from on long cold rides?
Fiona N
Veteran
Joe Beer, writing in, I think, Cycling+, had a really good article about BMI, body fat%, body type (endomorph, ectomorph etc.) and sex (since women have more fat than men generally and need a higher body fat % to remain healthy). It might be worth searching for if you're interested in this as so far nothing I've seen this thread has been exactly illuminating 
OP
OP
Banjo
Fuelled with Jelly Babies
- Location
- South Wales
At the moment I am on 20% which apparently is at the high end of the OK bracket this is confirmed by pincing a good inch in one or two places so I guess I have a bit more work to do.Having shed nearly 4 stone of lard in 9 months its great to be nearly there but the last few pounds definitely take more shifting.
Thanks for all the replies.
Thanks for all the replies.