# Reducing body fat



## DogsDinner (Sep 9, 2011)

2 weeks ago my body fat was @ 20.8% managed to get it down to 20% now... moving in the right direction :becky: hoping to get down to 17% by December...

Anyone know what percentage you need to be around for the abs to start showing?


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## doggy (Mar 26, 2011)

low teens i believe


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## justheretosnoop (Jun 15, 2012)

Generally sub 10% I believe but it can differ dependent on genetics.

Keep up the good work though mate!


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## doggy (Mar 26, 2011)

Can I ask how you measure it and how often?


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## Hard Trainer (Apr 29, 2009)

Dorsey said:


> Generally sub 10%


 Yeah, I have also heard this.


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## SPORTY_LAD (Mar 4, 2009)

I am on 11% bf and abs are not quite showing yet. I have been told that below 10% is not healthy. Is this true?


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## Chrissy....... (Nov 25, 2013)

Have you put on BF since the av pic sporty,because im deffo seing abs there. Altho body fat is a main factor in showing the six pack, actual ab muscle size will come into account as well,you can throw in some weighted low rep ab sets and promote some mass to the ab bands,this in turn will show nice thick developed abs.


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## DogsDinner (Sep 9, 2011)

Hey guys sorry for the late reply! I have no net at home at the mo! Thanks for the replies!

@doggy I am calculating my BF with some BF bathroom scales. I do question how reliable they are!

Thanks for the support Dorsey! Come a long way since hiding in the corner of my gym changing room!!


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## DANthirty (Jan 28, 2011)

DogsDinner said:


> Hey guys sorry for the late reply! I have no net at home at the mo! Thanks for the replies!
> 
> @doggy I am calculating my BF with some BF bathroom scales. I do question how reliable they are!
> 
> Thanks for the support Dorsey! Come a long way since hiding in the corner of my gym changing room!!


DD i hope your scales are more accurate than mine as i lost a load of weight and then it tried to tell me my BF% was higher than before i lost the weight!! then they was fluctuating all over the place so i put them in the best place for them......... the BIN


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## ironlung (Aug 13, 2011)

Hi

On the body fat issue not a clue what my bf is but my question is I've been training now for four years now I'm 52 lost just under 4stone everybody say,s I looking good etc arms chest back shoulders and legs but its my abs they won't show thru done running cycling and diets clean getting a bit unmotivated lately is it an obvious solution to concentrate on cardio and diet and don't get so hung up on weights or is it just my age going against me I don't take any supps a wee bit of advice would be great.cheers


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## bigballs1466868020 (Sep 14, 2011)

doggy said:


> Can I ask how you measure it and how often?


Not sure about how often, would say once a month, but here is a site that takes your stats and tells you your BF Body fat percentage! Calculate the % of your body made up of fat and compare it with what it should be.


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## mark_star1466868017 (Jul 14, 2011)

oh come on, how can that be accurate? without some form of calipers or water displacement etc you may as well guess


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## bigballs1466868020 (Sep 14, 2011)

mark_star said:


> oh come on, how can that be accurate? without some form of calipers or water displacement etc you may as well guess


Nothing is 100% accurate Mark not without proper equipment but this is good enough if you have nothing like me, just make sure the measurements are within 0.5cm or 0. 25 inches to be as accurate as possible.


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## doggy (Mar 26, 2011)

If you get a fancy set of Tanita scales there is an option to put them in "athlete" mode. It used to be if you trained more than 8 hours per week they classed you as an "athlete". The difference between "athlete" and normal is about 8%. Also it's adviced to use them everyday for a week at the same time of day to work out an average. Mines in "athlete" mode say 15% and to be honest I think it's pretty close. If I use normal mode I'm up at 23% and there is no way I'm 23% fat. I weigh 14stone11lbs. or 207lbs. 23% of 207 is 47 lbs or almost 3 and a half stone of fat.


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## justheretosnoop (Jun 15, 2012)

doggy said:


> Can I ask how you measure it and how often?


These are all you need mate BODY FAT TESTER CALIPERS WITH MANUAL & BODY FAT CHARTS | eBay

As for how regular, prob just once a month at the same time as weighing in.


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## Muscle1466868021 (Sep 24, 2011)

Are those calipers pretty accurate then Dorsey? Was looking at getting some before like...


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## SPORTY_LAD (Mar 4, 2009)

Chris sanchez said:


> Have you put on BF since the av pic sporty,because im deffo seing abs there. Altho body fat is a main factor in showing the six pack, actual ab muscle size will come into account as well,you can throw in some weighted low rep ab sets and promote some mass to the ab bands,this in turn will show nice thick developed abs.


I have in fact dropped the body fat % since the pic. The pic was at 13.5%bf, I am now on 11%. I am happy with the numbers but still looking to be abel to show more of the abs.


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## DogsDinner (Sep 9, 2011)

ironlung said:


> Hi
> 
> On the body fat issue not a clue what my bf is but my question is I've been training now for four years now I'm 52 lost just under 4stone everybody say,s I looking good etc arms chest back shoulders and legs but its my abs they won't show thru done running cycling and diets clean getting a bit unmotivated lately is it an obvious solution to concentrate on cardio and diet and don't get so hung up on weights or is it just my age going against me I don't take any supps a wee bit of advice would be great.cheers


Hey ironlung, congrats on the big loss! to be honest I think getting the abs showing is very difficult... Do you do a lot of work on your abs? as well as loosing the fat around the abs, you need to pump them up too! I see a personal trainer 3x a week now working different areas each session... but we always do 10 mins of ab work. Maybe you need to look at some abs exercises online?


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## justheretosnoop (Jun 15, 2012)

Muscle said:


> Are those calipers pretty accurate then Dorsey? Was looking at getting some before like...


Yeah, they're fine mate for the likes of us. There's a knack to using them but once you get the hang of them they're a handy tool to have around.


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## christiaan (Sep 8, 2011)

I would love a accurate way to weight your body fat.Because the scales alone is not that accurate.You can lose fat and gain muscle but all the scales will say is what your weight is.Still it seems gaining muscle is much harder than losing weight.I have lost 5 kilo's in three weeks another 5 kilo's i will have lost my stomach fat and what is left of my love handles.Then i will have to focus on building muscles which means now i have to gain weight.Does that make sense?

Really it seems that an entire degree can fit into this stuff and i'm sure it does.All i know right now is eat right and cardio,cardio cardio and maybe a little resistance training


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## justheretosnoop (Jun 15, 2012)

Why not start on the weights now christiaan? Yes CV and diet are key but lifting will speed up your metabolism plus it'll prepare you for your 'muscle building' stage.


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## christiaan (Sep 8, 2011)

Dorsey said:


> Why not start on the weights now christiaan? Yes CV and diet are key but lifting will speed up your metabolism plus it'll prepare you for your 'muscle building' stage.


I am doing a little resistance training but focus on cardio.Yesterday i did 1300 calories on treadmill.Sure to lose another kilo


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