Body Fat Percentage
- Darth Hype aka Tim Harris
- Nov 8, 2015
- 4 min read
Hello there reader! I’m glad you are here! Most of the folks who read TMAR are very busy controlling the world and fending off sexual advances from supermodels (men and women!) so I know your time is precious. So I’ll get to it. It’s a bit long winded, and rambling but that’s me so get used to it.
Last night the crew and I were doing some lifting at the gym here in Malembo, and the question was asked if we were going to do some ab work. I responded with, “Abs are made in the kitchen.” While I will not argue the fact that direct core work is vital to performance in all aspects of sports and training, it is not the,” be all, end all” of physical aesthetics, that is, having a six pack. I guess what I should have said was, “abs are revealed in the kitchen.”
Everyone has abs, (unless you suffered a freak accident with some farming equipment, in which case you are probably not reading this) but not everyone has visible abs, the kind of abs you seen on the cover of magazines and in advertisements. Now I don’t have very visible abs, so, if you want them, do as I say and not as I do. Getting that glistening six pack takes an absolute fuck ton of discipline.
Having visible abs is almost purely a function of body fat percentage. Body fat percentage is one of the important metrics to consider when working towards aesthetics. You may, like myself, lack the discipline to get and maintain a visible six pack, but lowering your body fat percentage is not as complicated as it sounds. You need to be at an acceptable level of body fat any way so read on friend!
Female Body Fat Levels
Competition Shape ("ripped"): 8-12%
Very Lean (excellent): < 15%
Lean (good): 16-20%
Satisfactory (fair): 21-25%
Improvement needed (poor): 26-30%
Major improvement needed (Very poor): 31-40%+
Male Body Fat Levels
Competition Shape ("ripped"): 3-6%
Very Lean (excellent): < 9%
Lean (good): 10-14%
Satisfactory (fair): 15-19%
Improvement needed (poor): 20-25%
Major improvement needed (Very poor): 26-30%+
Women carry more fat because of things that we men love, namely boobs and booties. Remember being at competition levels of body fat for extended periods of time is not healthy and will wreck your hormone levels which will cause all kinds of issues, especially for the fairer sex.
“But how do I lower my body fat?” Good question reader, you are awesome! 3-6 sets of stop eating so much shit, performed every day. It’s as simple as that. It will be a function of calories in, calories out. So you either need to decrease your calories in or increase your calories out. You have probably heard the expression, “you can’t out-train a bad diet,” this is 100% true. You will need to do both, clean up your diet, and get in the fucking gym!
Most of us do not know how to calculate our caloric needs so I will give you a great place to start, use the Harris (no relation) – Benedict Equation to find out how many calories you should be taking in. Then add or subtract based on your goals.
Once you have your baseline, do as it says on the webpage up there. Looking to lose weight? Subtract 250 calories a day and burn an additional 250 with exercise. I would suggest adding training to your routine so that you maintain muscle mass and prioritize fat loss. Also, if you are already training, you need to make that 250 calorie burn, in addition to what you are already doing. For example, if you already lift 3 times a week and have been for a while, you will need to burn that extra 250 calories with some additional activity such as cardio or sports. Let’s do another example so it’s a bit clearer.
My boy 2PL8$ lifts weights 3 times a week, he is also very active at work, but he wants to shed some more body fat. Here is his hypothetical schedule after working hard all day and avoiding his incessant groupies:
1815: Eat Dinner
1915: Lift weights
2200: Go to sleep (he looks like an angel if you were wondering)
Now in order for him to lose about 1 pound a week and make that pound body fat he would need to do the following:
1815: Eat Dinner (minus 250 calories) he should spread the caloric cut throughout his meals for sanity’s sake
1915: Lift weights (like a beast, as is his custom)
2015: Row, Treadmill, or HIIT to burn the additional 250 calories (this cardio shouldn’t take more than 15-20 min at the most) The Cardio should be done on off days as well, cardio every day to cut that 250 extra calories!
2200: Go to sleep (again, folks, like an angel, I’m serious)
If he sticks to it, he should drop 1 pound a week, by continuing his weight training he should maximize fat loss and maintain muscle.
Some helpful links:
Congratulations! You made it through my first post.
Full disclosure: All my information was stolen and I practice bro-science, so it is not my responsibility if you violently pass away due to taking or not taking my highly unprofessional advice.
I own a gym!
Shameless plug: http://www.pinnaclefit360.com
Love and kisses,
Darth Hype
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