What's your body fat %

I guess I'm the same as you! I started biking 1 year ago to lose weight -- was obese at 200 - 206 lbs, 32% body Fat. I recently weighed in at 168.6 lbs, 20% Fat on race day - August 21, 2004.

I entered my first race - see dgnationalchampionship.com -- Men's Citizen 30+ category. I stayed in the middle of the pack in the 1st lap, crashed in the 2nd turn of the 2nd lap -- fell behind (lost the draft) in my 2nd & 3rd laps. I was pulled out of the race. This was after 1392 miles of training !

You can call me an average biker, since I don't train for races. I trained to lose weight this year. I plan to continue training until I reach 150lbs, 10% Fat -- if I'm fast at that level, I might train to race.

The fastest speed I had ever achieved was 32.9 mph on a flat street with intermittant 5 mph winds or no wind.

Thanks JTE83,

During my first race, I lost the draft after about 4 laps, but found 2 other riders that I was able to compete with. I stayed with them until the end and won the sprint. It felt really good, even though we finished a lap down.

I'd like to now refocus my training from general fitness, to race preparation. I'm hoping I'll continue to lose weight and body fat whilst race training. My goal is 190lbs with 10-12% body fat (currently 203lbs with 19% bodyfat). Is this reasonable?

I just found out that there is a crit tonight, but I did a 32mile, 1hr 42min ride this morning and don't think it would be good idea.

ksteede said:

I started riding (mountain bike on roads) about 6 months ago, at first just to get fit, lose weight and lose body fat. I really enjoyed the riding and wanted to get more serious and start racing, so I've just bought a new road bike (cannondale R2000) and have orderd Joe Friel's Cyclist Training Bible.

I'm 6'3" and now weigh 203lbs (was 228lbs six months ago) with just under 20% body fat. I entered my first race yesterday - a 30 minute crit. I thought I was pretty fit, but struggled to keep up with even the novice class. I know fitness consist of many factors (amount and type of training , cardio levels and activity etc.) but I'm curious about the body fat percentages of the "average" cycling enthusiast?

28yrs old
6'1
215lbs
12% body fat

21 years old
6' 4"
164 lbs.
4.8% body fat taken from both a body fat scale and from skin folds..same result...i do quite a bit of riding/racing though

ksteede said:

Thanks JTE83,
I'd like to now refocus my training from general fitness, to race preparation. I'm hoping I'll continue to lose weight and body fat whilst race training. My goal is 190lbs with 10-12% body fat (currently 203lbs with 19% bodyfat). Is this reasonable?

just to let you know, if you drop your body fat % to 11% (halfway between 10 and 12%!) and maintain your lean tissue, your weight would be 185 lb, not 190 lb.

as a point of interest how are you measuring body fat % as it's quite difficult to do this accurately and get reliable results?

ric

ric_stern/RST said:

just to let you know, if you drop your body fat % to 11% (halfway between 10 and 12%!) and maintain your lean tissue, your weight would be 185 lb, not 190 lb.

as a point of interest how are you measuring body fat % as it's quite difficult to do this accurately and get reliable results?

ric

good point Ric

Calipers are often only as accurate as the person taking the measurements and I'm not sure how many members of this board have access to a hydrostatic tank.

ed073 said:

good point Ric

Calipers are often only as accurate as the person taking the measurements and I'm not sure how many members of this board have access to a hydrostatic tank.

and they need to be really good calipers, such as e.g., the Harpeden ones which are pretty pricey (~ US$450 last time i checked). it's essential that caliper measurements are taken by qualified people, not your usual local gym trainer.

or DEXA analysis...

ric

ric_stern/RST said:

and they need to be really good calipers, such as e.g., the Harpeden ones which are pretty pricey (~ US$450 last time i checked). it's essential that caliper measurements are taken by qualified people, not your usual local gym trainer.

or DEXA analysis...

ric

Bumpitty bump to that.

Getting your BF measured by a PT at your local gym is time that could be spent actually working out.

ric_stern/RST said:

just to let you know, if you drop your body fat % to 11% (halfway between 10 and 12%!) and maintain your lean tissue, your weight would be 185 lb, not 190 lb.

as a point of interest how are you measuring body fat % as it's quite difficult to do this accurately and get reliable results?

ric

Thanks Ric,

I've never been to the point that my abs show and I've heard that you need to about 12% BF for that to happen. So I'm looking forward to it. 185lbs was my college weight - I'd love to be like that again.

My fat % is taken at my local gym using a tanita scale (done in the am, no food or water for previous 4 hours, no workouts, diuretics or alcohol the previous 24 hours). I'd like to get measured every 10 weeks.

I work out 3 times per week (upper body Monday and Thursday, legs and abs on Wednesdays). I ride 3 days per week, used to ride my mountain bike to and from work on those days (8.7 miles each way). Since I bought my road bike (last thursday) my plan is to ride 1.5-2 hours, 4 mornings per week. I also eat every 2-3 hours, for a total of 6 meals per day.

My initial goal was to lose weight and generally look better, but fell in love with cycling and would like to race also. So at this point, I cannot honestly say what my main goal is.

I've ordered the LA Performance Program and the Cyclist Training Bible, so I'm sure my training will be altered in the next few weeks. I would like to maintain some gym work, as I'd really like to keep the upper body gains I've worked hard to achieve over the last 6 months.

35 yrs old
6'3"
202lbs
19% bodyfat (approximate as my next measurement is Sept. 2nd)

ksteede said:

Thanks Ric,

I've never been to the point that my abs show and I've heard that you need to about 12% BF for that to happen. So I'm looking forward to it. 185lbs was my college weight - I'd love to be like that again.

My fat % is taken at my local gym using a tanita scale (done in the am, no food or water for previous 4 hours, no workouts, diuretics or alcohol the previous 24 hours). I'd like to get measured every 10 weeks.

I work out 3 times per week (upper body Monday and Thursday, legs and abs on Wednesdays). I ride 3 days per week, used to ride my mountain bike to and from work on those days (8.7 miles each way). Since I bought my road bike (last thursday) my plan is to ride 1.5-2 hours, 4 mornings per week. I also eat every 2-3 hours, for a total of 6 meals per day.

My initial goal was to lose weight and generally look better, but fell in love with cycling and would like to race also. So at this point, I cannot honestly say what my main goal is.

I've ordered the LA Performance Program and the Cyclist Training Bible, so I'm sure my training will be altered in the next few weeks. I would like to maintain some gym work, as I'd really like to keep the upper body gains I've worked hard to achieve over the last 6 months.

35 yrs old
6'3"
202lbs
19% bodyfat (approximate as my next measurement is Sept. 2nd)

I've been weight training for a long time and just started endurance sports this year.
I'm 5'10"
190lbs
8% body fat

gotendurance said:

I've been weight training for a long time and just started endurance sports this year.
I'm 5'10"
190lbs
8% body fat

Chris,

have you been at 8% for long, or did your BF decrease when you started endurance sports, if so, by how much?

Underwater hydrostatic weighing to get a density reading for your body is the most accurate way to assess bodyfat as far as I know. Expensive though. I would guess I'm at about 7% bodyfat. I'm all veiny through the calves and thighs now.

Currently my BF is between 9%-10%
5'7"
135 lbs.

The lowest it's ever been was about 5%-6% during and right after I graduated from the Citadel (military college). I had it tested hydrostatically in grad school. I actually ran into blood sugar problems with it this low. With a BF that low, my system didn't always kick in to the pathways to convert body fat to energy. As a result, my blood sugar would crash to the point of passing out a couple of times. Simple sugar loads and/or heavy exercise would often trigger these events. Diet was definitely an issue as I was on a fairly high fat (junk food) diet at the time. Part of the solution for me was to change to a low fat/high complex carbohydrate diet. My body fat went up and peaked about 12-13% before I started cycling. I've lost 7 lbs since may (and I don't have that many pounds to lose). I need to start adding more calories..... :-)

ksteede said:

I started riding (mountain bike on roads) about 6 months ago, at first just to get fit, lose weight and lose body fat. I really enjoyed the riding and wanted to get more serious and start racing, so I've just bought a new road bike (cannondale R2000) and have orderd Joe Friel's Cyclist Training Bible.

I'm 6'3" and now weigh 203lbs (was 228lbs six months ago) with just under 20% body fat. I entered my first race yesterday - a 30 minute crit. I thought I was pretty fit, but struggled to keep up with even the novice class. I know fitness consist of many factors (amount and type of training , cardio levels and activity etc.) but I'm curious about the body fat percentages of the "average" cycling enthusiast?

35 yrs old
5'-10"
18% BF from Tanita scale
180 lbs. Tanita scale

On that note, what do you think of the Tanita BF method? Acurate, fairly accurate or not even close?

eortiz said:

On that note, what do you think of the Tanita BF method? Acurate, fairly accurate or not even close?

I was on the Tanita Scale this morning and took 2 readings, within 2 minutes of each other.

both readings gave me 200.4 lbs, but the first gave me 18.2% BF, the second gave me 18.5%. From that, I'd say that their accuracy can be no better than 0.5%.

Keith

bikeguy2 said:

Underwater hydrostatic weighing to get a density reading for your body is the most accurate way to assess bodyfat as far as I know. Expensive though. I would guess I'm at about 7% bodyfat. I'm all veiny through the calves and thighs now.

When your body fat is low - say 7 - 10 % does your body readily want to put on weight based on what you eat ? Do you always have to watch your diet ?
Do you have to give up cookies, candies, cakes, ice cream -- even in small amounts?

I'm at 20% fat and I have to not eat too many cookies, candies, or cakes per day. At most 240 calories of that stuff per day.

how do u check your body fat?

ksteede said:

Chris,

have you been at 8% for long, or did your BF decrease when you started endurance sports, if so, by how much?

I've been at 8% since about March of this year when I started training for triathons! Before that I was around 12%! I've always tried to stay pretty lean even when I was lifting heavy.🙂

oznation said:

how do u check your body fat?

If you belong to a gym get a certified personal trainer to do it for you. Most gyms will do what's called a 4 site pinch test. I use a 7 site for better acuracy. If no gym then lots of colleges do them.