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So I have been losing body fat at about 0.4% a week. I am just curious if there is like a range for decent percentage lost a week or something.
No, most professionals go by pounds. The standard is 1-3 per week, but the higher the body fat percentage, the more you can get away with without sacrificing lean body mass.
Professionals go by pounds according to who? The biggest loser?
Body composition is more accurately gauged by BF% than pounds. .4% is respectable progress but as the poster above stated, your progress really slows as you approach lower BF %s. Where are you now?
Also, I say pounds is a poor indicator because we fluctuate a fair amount thru the day, hydration and/or water retention, etc.
No, most professionals go by pounds. The standard is 1-3 per week, but the higher the body fat percentage, the more you can get away with without sacrificing lean body mass.
Body composition is more accurately gauged by BF% than pounds. .4% is respectable progress but as the poster above stated, your progress really slows as you approach lower BF %s. Where are you now?
I think you misunderstood the OP. he's asking for a range of how much fat loss is suitable in a given amount of time. My response was that most experts agree that 1-3 pounds of body fat is appropriate without sacrificing lean body mass.
Of course you would track body fat percentage, but 1-3 pounds of body fat is a different percentage for each person. Do you understand now?
This is why we weigh weekly at the same time each week then look at the month total in comparison to the starting point. Body composition for the average individual is only important at beginning, middle and end really (unless they are generally curious).
And yes, lbs or kgs is a better route for standard as %'s vary according to each individual. For me to lose 0.5% per week would be difficult to maintain muscle mass without properly designing the cut; for someone overweight this can be done weekly without problems or much sacrifice.
How are you measuring your bf%?
I am mostly interested in body fat percentage because I am in between two weightclasses, so I want to be lean and see where I am at to determine the class I should compete in.
Right now I am sitting at 5'5, 160lbs, 23.22% body fat according to an electrical impedence via higi. The weird thing is that my scale weight has remained pretty consistent the past three weeks but my body fat percentage has dropped during this time, though I don't know the error of the machine. With my body weight that comes out to 0.64lbs of fat loss a week. 1lb of fat loss would be a 0.625% loss. It kind of seems like I am underachieving now that I look at it, but on the plus side my lifts have so far been unaffected.
I have been measuring at the same day, same time, same eating and hydration conditions each week. I think I am definitely fat enough to fall into the second group.
Higi station which uses electrical impedence, as it is the only means available to me. I am uncertain how accurate the absolute number is, but I am more interested in change anyway. Though I don't know the error of the machine.
Right, but the percentage will change weekly. So, here's what you do;
- find your body fat percentage.
- based on your weight, find out how many pounds of body fat you have. Right now, it's about 37 pounds.
- So then, your goal for next week is to get it down between 36-34 pounds about (22.5%-21.25%).
- Repeat for the following week until you've reached your goal.
Accuracy doesn't matter as much as consistency does. If it's off and adds 1.4% it's no biggie as long as it's always off and adds 1.4%
Ok. This seems simple enough, to track the lbs of fat rather than the percentage. I am just pissed I let my fat get this high, it's going to take a long time to get to a reasonable level again.
Very true. Thanks for your help man.
Professionals go by pounds according to who? The biggest loser?
Body composition is more accurately gauged by BF% than pounds. .4% is respectable progress but as the poster above stated, your progress really slows as you approach lower BF %s. Where are you now?
Also, I say pounds is a poor indicator because we fluctuate a fair amount thru the day, hydration and/or water retention, etc.
That's all very cute, but since there are no reliable methods of measuring exact bodyfat percentage, I think you will be better off sticking to the scale and mirror.