Acceptable Percent Body Fat?

The right answer is: is it healthy for you? One woman could be fine at 15% whereas another could be unhealthy. Gotta look at the whole picture including menses and are you eating enough to be healthy.

This is a good talk to have with a good sports nutritionist.

luv2run wrote:

The right answer is:

This is a good talk to have with a good sports nutritionist.

Yeah, you're probably right. Just curious to see if anyone had any input before talking to a sports nutritionist. Personally, I feel that a lot of sports nutritionists recommend an excessive caloric intake. Last year, I went to one, and she told me 1800 calories was "way too low" to support the level of activity I was doing. However, I've found that if I consistently eat over 1700kCal, I end up gaining weight like crazy. I'm hesitant to see that nutritionist again because I've spent the last 11 months trying to lose the weight I put on after seeing her...

12-16 is essential and how low into that range you can get and still be healthy depends on your genetics. Some elite women can get as low as 10% without breaking down, but most women certainly cannot.

Personally I wouldn't try to lose weight under 16% but if it happens naturally as you up mileage and you aren't breaking down then I doubt think it's a big deal. Monitor your bone density and if your period stops then you might want to start an oral contraceptive.

I would suggest a sport psychologist as well then.

The nutritionist was probably concerned about your health. I cannot imagine a distance runner being healthy on 1800 kcals/day.

You will have your normal. You have to decide what that is. If you stop getting your monthly visitor or if it becomes irregular or inconsistent you need to decrease training or eat more calories.

Average Collegiate Runner Girl wrote:

Personally, I feel that a lot of sports nutritionists recommend an excessive caloric intake. Last year, I went to one, and she told me 1800 calories was "way too low" to support the level of activity I was doing. However, I've found that if I consistently eat over 1700kCal, I end up gaining weight like crazy. I'm hesitant to see that nutritionist again because I've spent the last 11 months trying to lose the weight I put on after seeing her...

Have you considered that the fat/protein/carb ratio make-up of those calories, the dietary types of each, and possibly even your genetic blood profile can factor into how those consumed calories affect, among other things, your body composition?

Run, eat healthy and do what you're supposed to do. Whatever body fat that gives you, that's the one you should have. People get too caught up in numbers.

How fast do you run?

If the answer is "as fast as possible": 5%

Goldman wrote:

Run, eat healthy and do what you're supposed to do. Whatever body fat that gives you, that's the one you should have. People get too caught up in numbers.

Good answer. Don't get caught up in numbers. Train hard, eat healthy foods in reasonable amounts, get good sleep, take iron. Focus on the process, performance and how you feel.

Don't pay attention to numbers, monitor your health as you do the training you need to get faster. If you are doing the training right your body will set its fat percentage to the optimal number for you. What you have to watch for is signs of breaking down. If you feel like you are being physically worn down day after day back off on the training. If you feel good up it a little bit. Most Americans worry more about some pointless number and not about how they actully feel. If you eat right and do the right training all of your numbers will end up exactly where they are supposed to. Good luck!

the commish wrote:

How fast do you run?

If the answer is "as fast as possible": 5%

Are we talking PRs? Or how fast I run on a normal training run? 3k: 10:30s, 5k: 17:50s 6k: 21:50s (I've only run 1 track season and 1 cross season in college due to injuries.)

By the way, I think it may be important to note that I am highly injury prone and tend to miss periods for 3-4 months during training, despite relatively low mileage. But I don't think it's due to weight related issues, I think it's due to bone structure issues.

xenonscreams wrote:

12-16 is essential and how low into that range you can get and still be healthy depends on your genetics. Some elite women can get as low as 10% without breaking down, but most women certainly cannot.

Lance Armstrong had 4% body fat at his peak.

Paul Radcliffe's body fat dropped to 4.9% after having her first baby.

Kenenisa Bekele has 5% body fat.

Here are some reasonable ideas for you to think about.

Numbers do matter and you should track them in a scientific and objective way. Do not attach any emotional meaning to them. Monitor weight and body comp and compare it to performances and analyze the results.

You are right, weight does matter, as does %Body fat.

Generally you will perform best at 12-16% but you also have to track your lean body weight. You need to figure out what your lean body weight per inch is at. To do this test your body fat. Subtract the lbs of body fat from total weight. The remainder is lean body weight. Divide that by height in inches. Here is an example: 5 foot tall 100lbs female with 15 % body fat. 15% body fat = 15 lbs of adipose tissue (fat) leaves 85 lbs of lean body weight. Divide by 60 inches = 1.41 lbs per inch. Healthy range for LBW is about 1.3 to 1.5 lbs per inch. Men will be 1.7 to 2.1 per inch. Will dropping to 12% help? Maybe, maybe not. The question is can you get there with out starving yourself or doing psychological damage? Will going down to 10% help? Probably not and the risks are pretty high. If you are an Olympian or even pro it might help to be there for certain periods but the reward has to be greater then the risks.

Most sports nutritionist do recommend female athletes eat far more then they should. They always over estimate the number of calories burned while training. Why? Because they use the standard 110 calories per mile. That number is for a 150lbs male. Lighter athletes burn much less. (this is basic physics). They also do not take into account that runners may have lower basil metabolisms because they are are so fit. One recommendation see a registered dietician not a sport nutritionist. There is a difference.

The biggest problem I see with female runners in terms of diet is lack of protein. One prominent researcher in the field recommends 1.2 to 1.4 grams per kilogram of body weight per day for endurance athletes. If we use our 100lb gal as an example then at 45kg she would need 63 grams of protein. That is a lot of protein. In fact that will be 252 calories just in protein. It then becomes necessary to calculate in things like iron and calcium intake and other vitamins and minerals. Then you have to figure out total caloric needs and where you want to get your calories from. It gets more complicated then I can write here.

Bottom line, eat a healthy diet, track your numbers, train the best you can.

For those who would criticize, I have been coaching for 20 years worked as a personal trainer, have a RD as an adviser to my team, have coached an Olympian, multiple all Americans and have unfortunately experienced athletes (one female and one male) with an eating disorder.

My apologies, for posting twice but I thought of something when I stepped away from the computer. If I have an athlete like yourself (and I do) I ask a few more questions and take a few more facts into consideration. First, I establish the reasons for running on the team and the goals (they are often different but linked). We start with ability and potential. We determine if the athlete is a participant, conference competitor, or national competitor. If you are a participant, meaning you come every day to train and be on the team but you are not going to make it to conference level then we really don't worry about %body fat. 17 percent is really quite good. You are healthy active and have a good diet. Dropping to 12 % won't get you to the next level so no worries just train well and you will get better.

If you are a conference level athlete with a chance to score then we might, might talk about this. Especially if training is going really well and there is a strong desire to succeed.

If you are on the border of getting to nationals and training is going really well but your body fat is still 17% then there is a talk about diet because you can't train that hard and have 17-18 percent body fat unless you have a bad diet.

Also, we monitor to make sure no one gets too low.

So if you think you have a shot at Nationals maybe watch what you eat a little more and train more but otherwise enjoy your experience, eat healthy and be happy about the cool stuff you get to do.

17% bf on a male elite is unheard of.

@D2 College Coach

I'm definitely a Conference Competitor when I'm not injured. Top 20 in the Conference a couple months ago in Cross while dealing with a nagging injury. I'm looking to score at Outdoor Conference in the 10k (top 8)... The 10k has a lot to do with weight, and I know that. That should give you more insight. The reason I'm asking on here is because my coach doesn't give a whole lot of feedback about my weight. We have a girl on the team that is clearly anorexic and seriously unhealthy but he praises her for having "discipline." This is why I don't ask him... I would enjoy the ability to have kids in the future and be able to run after college without worrying about serious complications. Obviously I want to succeed and I want to reach my potential (for my team's sake and my ego's sake,) but I also truly love running and hope to continue after college.

Basically, I want to reach my highest potential without risking long-term health.

RO wrote:

17% bf on a male elite is unheard of.

Well I guess it's a good thing I'm not a male, nor am I an elite athlete. Thanks for trying.

I found most of what you said is spot on. I don't think there are many successful female athletes with 10% or lower. Not any that are going to stick around for any length of time.

I'd like to comment on one thing you said however.... 20 years of coaching at that level and you only saw 2 athletes with eating disorders??

I would think the average coach in your situation would see that many each season.