If you are seriously into body building or just an amateur enthusiast, then body fat is one of the most important things to measure. How much you can lift and the weight you can bench press is a great way to see how your strength is improving. But this does not tell you how lean you are getting.
As you gain muscle you will also be gaining weight. But how can you say for sure how much muscle is being gained and how much fat is lost?
The answer to this is to use a body fat caliper. By measuring specific areas of your body and entering those values into simple calculators you can find out specifically what your average body fat is.
Why Is This So Important?
If you religiously stick to regular measurements then you can see how well your training and diet plan is working. Here is how you do it. On a specific day of the week, ideally first thing in the morning you take all the body measures. Write these down in a chart or keep track of them in a spreadsheet or app.
This will show you exactly how your body fat is dropping on certain body parts. With this information, you can make adjustments to your training plan and diet to see how much improvements you can achieve.
To get your caliper today, check out our guide for men and women.
Why Body Builders Have To Keep Track Of Their Body Fat Percentage To See Results
Body fat percentage is a number that effectively denotes how much of your entire body composition is made up of fat. The truth is, the healthy range of body fat percentage is going to be different for both men and women but it is going to be especially different for those that body build.
If you are one of these athletes then you will be actively training and aiming for an extremely low body fat percentage in order to properly define your muscles. Even when bodybuilding, your body fat should not go below 3%. Anything lower than 3% can actually become dangerous. In the next section, we will be going over more information about body fat percentages and bodybuilding.
Target Body Fat Zone Percentage For Bodybuilders:
1 – Average Male
The average male actually has anywhere from an 18 to 24 body fat percentage.
2 – Average Female
The average female has anywhere from an average body fat percentage of 25 to 31.
3 – Elite Athletes
Those that are elite athletes typically have anywhere from 6 to 13 body fat percentage for men and around 14 to 20 for a woman.
4 – Bodybuilders
Then comes body builders. Male bodybuilders typically have a body fat percentage of 3 to 8 percent. Whereas, female bodybuilders typically sit somewhere between 10 to 12 percent.
Having a body fat percentage lower than any of these values can actually result in a lot of problems including both kidney and liver failure.
The body fat percentage that you have actually has nothing to do with the amount of muscle that your body has. It only has to do with how much body fat you have on your body. Therefore, two people can actually have the same exact body fat percentage and look completely different from one another.
When it comes to bodybuilders, the goal is to not only have a very low body fat percentage, but also for you to have an extremely high amount of muscle mass. The higher the muscle mass, the better.
The entire reason to cut the body fat percentage to extreme low numbers is for you to be able to show off all of your muscle in a much more defined manner. Therefore, you have to really balance out your own ability to gain muscle and your ability to show that muscle off with extremely low body fat percentages. As a result, a lot of bodybuilders implement different kinds of diets such as ones that make them bulk up during the off season and cut closer to their competition.
How Do You Calculate Body Fat?
1 – Look
One of the ways to calculate the amount of body fat that you have is by looking in the mirror. By looking in the mirror or at pictures, you should be able to compare yourself and see what kind of body fat percentage you have at the time. However, you will find this quite inaccurate.
2 – Calipers
If you are looking to get an accurate reading, you can test it out by getting calipers. You simply measure the fat that sits on your muscles and pinch the fat with the caliper. You then take the measurements and look at the chart in order to figure out what your percentage is.
3 – Body Fat Scales
Another good way to figure out what kind of percentage you are working with is by looking at body fat scales and monitors. You should be able to find these scales and use them. However, they are not nearly as accurate as other methods.
How To Lower Body Fat Percentage:
Eat a Caloric Deficit
This is the easiest and best method to reducing the amount of body fat that you have. By simply eating a calorie deficit each and every day, you should be able to effectively lose weight and fat. But this will only get you so far. The more you train and lift weights the more food you will need to take in.
Lift Heavy
Another thing that you are going to want to do is try to lift heavy things. When you implement strength training into your routine, you are going to not only get stronger, but it will allow you to retain the muscle that you are already working with and help you build more.
Overall, there are a lot of different things to know and understand about body fat percentages. Bodybuilders have to keep track of their own in order to properly define their muscles. By following the tips and information mentioned in this article, you should be able to see success at lowering your own.
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