how light is too light?

More important than body weight is body fat percentage. Men should stay at 5% or above. Generally, to run your best in distance races you should stay close to the 5% level in my opinion. Going below that can be unhealthy. They make scales now that measure your body fat, I believe through bioelectrical impedance, but I am not sure how accurate they are.

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In my top shape ever I was 132...at 5-10.

Im 148 now it is a big difference. I took

for granted how easy it was to float by

people. when out of shape at that weight

5:20 at 5K was to tough but a 5-10 and 150lb

man I'll take 137 any day. To some it up

dropping to 130 even for your height maybe better

I can't say. I know many people thought I was on

crack when I would drop under 130. It was shameful

when I was tipping the scales a 128 soak and wet

and would pig out and could not gain an oounce.

If you feel it would help at 5-8 go for it

3% is safe for body fat percentage. Any lower and it is definetly not healthy. BUt a lot of the Elite athletes that are male are in the 3-5 range. 5-8 and 137 you probably could lose some weight. 125-130 off of the height if you are a small frame. I myself am 6' and weigh 132 with 3.7% body fat and I eat healthy etc.. It is beneficial to be as light as healthily possible, I stress healthily. Also it depends on if you are a girl, I think females aren't supposed to go under 10-12%.

One thing that I've wondered, is how big is too big. I've heard some people say that Chris Solinsky is too big to ever excel at the world scene. I think that's bull. What about Tom McArdle? Do you think he is to big for marathons?

i maintain 145-150lbs and i am 6'2"

You shouldn't worry about losing weight. Your body adjusts and maintains a balance between being effecient and too skinny...assuming you eat well. That's why couch potatoes are fat and elites are such cut specimens.

You should just train hard (but smart) and eat right.

That's it.

There should really be no need to look at a scale because if you are already training and eating properly then there is nothing you can do about your weight. The next step would be to take some kind of pills which I personally wouldn't endorse.

I am also 5'8" and ran at 127 lbs and my weight didn't fluctuate. I was always trying to gain weight but I finally accepted it and didn't let weight concern me. That ended my dream of playing in the NFL so I became a half-miler/miler.

thanks for the replies thus far.

as far as body fat goes, i'm fairly stable in that regard as well. even w/o any running, i'm generally 7.5% or so. running, i'm ~6%. so i guess by that, i'm still ok to drop a couple.

i haven't been on a scale at least since late '02; i just know that i haven't really changed, even as my training has increased, and was wondering if i should start "looking" to drop a few.

i do have a small frame, though decently broad shoulders for being a short guy. good to know from some of your posts that there are guys thinner than me who have not had health issues.

thanks.

here's my story, take it for what it's worth.

I am 5'9.5''

Finished high school weighing 137-140 pounds. I was on about a 30 mile a week regimen.

That summer I worked up to 70 miles a week for a couple weeks, averaging probably 60. I was down to 132-134, even though I probably ate more. I stayed at that weight for the next 3 months or so, and I ran huge PRs.

I then figured lighter the better, right? So I started watching calories, while upping mileage. I was eventually down to 123 pounds, while pounding out 60-70 a week on singles. Sure, for a while, running fast was easier--carried less weight.

To backtrack, I have never had any injury problems up to this point, even when bumping up mileage....

Anyway, I got injured. SI joint pain, sciatica (maybe), some other crap. My lower body basically fell apart. Lost about 3 months of training, and am still recovering.

I am now up to 132-134 pounds again, and training at about 60-75 miles a week on average. I eat pretty healthily, but I don't worry about it too much, and I eat when I'm hungry. I haven't been injured or really had any problems like I had since getting my weight back up. And in my only two races after gaining those 10 pounds back, I PRed. I'll take PRs over cross training and spending all my time in a gym instead of being out on the roads.

Anyway, to sum up, losing weight is going to make you fast to a point. I lost weight at first from running more, not from watching what I eat (though I did eat healthily, but I ate MORE than before since i was running more). I had months of successful progress, PRs, and running was great. I then watched calories and lost weight. Had some great training before falling on my face. Gained teh weight back, have had good training and ran more PRs. So... light is good to a point, after that point, it gets dangerous, you won't be faster, you'll be tired from not eating enough, and you'll probably get injured.

My advice: Eat healthily and eat a fair amount (don't over do it, but don't skimp! if you're hungry, eat, but don't eat crisco:). But run, and run a lot. Your body will find a good weight. Forget about the scale.

I am 5'9, 128lbs at my best but right now i'm 137lbs after a bad summer and its killing me. I think that body fat does matter but weight inh the form of muscle is worse if anything. muscle weighs more than fat and runners don't need to be built in their upper body. I limit how much weights I do and when healthy watch what I eat. It also makes a difference how many mils you run. If i'm on 100 mile weks I can pretty much eat anything.

Lighter is definitely better, buy the key is to maintain your strength and iron storage when you do lose weight. If you are trying to lose weight by eating less meat and protein and neglecting to eat efficiently absorbing iron-rich foods, you performance will surely suffer. Instead of counting my protein and carbs, I've been focusing on low-fat iron-rich foods and my performace and overall health has improved dramatically. And I no longer feel the need to eat every 2 hours to maintain my energy level.

Super Lightweight wrote:

but how light is too light?

thanks for honest consideration of my question.

Really light. That's the answer. Really light is so light it's too light. And you are quite welcome.

I'm about 6'0, 165 lbs. I've often wondered if I could drop some easy time if I got on a strict diet and even just trimmed down a bit. Way i look at it is, running 100 mile weeks, you cant control it, you need to eat. I've come to accept that some guys were born with ideal frames for running, being smaller and lighter being I guess more ideal for faster times. But dont whine to me about maybe needing to lose some pounds when you're under 140. Would you really want to look like a kenyan, i mean weighing about 100 pounds even? i mean, how do you get chicks when they weigh more than you and they're healthy and not over-weight? I think ultimatley, its something better not to worry about or scrutinize too closely because you run the risk of hurting yourself. Just eat healthy and just what you need to keep your energy up. eating is a part of recovery too. if you work hard enough, weight wont prevent you from running good times.

somewhat related question, but lets say you're a certain weight, we'll call it 150 and above. do you think there is a limit as to what times you can run because of weight

I am about 5'11'' and i weigh 133 pounds. I am not worried about my weight at all. My doctor said i am perfectly healthy and my weight is fine. The main thing is not if your too light, it is if you are not healthy. You could be the perfect weight and be sick as a dog inside your body. You are just fine with your weight.

As others have said, as long as your eating right and doing all the mileage, I don't think it makes much sense to worry about the weight numbers.

I used to use an online diary that kept track of calories. I should have been losing a few pounds a month, according to the numbers, but my weight always stayed between 155 and 160, no matter how little I ate or how much I ran. It frustrated me for awhile, then I just said to heck with it, if this is the number my body feels comfortable at, then so be it.

first off, i never said i wanted to lose 35 pounds...maybe 5. what sort of reading skills do you have?

secondly, i don't need to "get chicks;" have a girlfriend of 2 years, but thanks for the fatherly advice.

anyhow, this thread has lost much of its utility...i see now that i won't be "wrong" in losing some weight, since i already a) eat healthy, b) eat a lot, c) train hard, and d)am not already at my lowest possible running weight.

a final thanks to all for the serious responses.

SL