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In that picture guide, the 'shredded' and 'sliced' photos look pretty gross---like anatomical diagrams of muscles and veins. ugh.
I totally agree! Ick! I can't imagine working as hard as you'd have to to look that way, only to look that gross. But, to each their own... Personally, I think 20% is ideal for women so I'll stick with something near that as a goal.
You said in an earlier post that you lifted weights. Am I correct that you lift and also do pull-ups and push-ups? If so, how do you mix these up? Some workouts pumping iron and others with body weight, or some of each in the same workout?
When you lift weights, are you lifting heavy (meaning you're able to do only a few reps, whatever weight that is for you)? Heavy lifting is the way to build muscle, rather than fifty reps or something like that of light weights. How many days a week do you lift?
Sounds like a decent amount of cardio for now. Nothing wrong with increasing the amount if you want to at some point, but in order to build muscle while also maintaining good aerobic conditioning, instead of increasing the length of your cardio workouts, for now the best step to take next is to stay with the amount of time you're doing now and increase the intensity. Try doing some intervals--short bursts of sprinting mixed in with your usual pace--and over time gradually increase the number of these fast intervals you mix in.
Thank you! I can up the intensity a lot! I think if I do that, with some consistency, I will start losing bodyfat
"This results in taller people having a reported BMI that is uncharacteristically high compared to their actual body fat levels. In comparison, the Ponderal index is based on this natural scaling of mass with the third power of the height. However, many taller people are not just "scaled up" short people, but tend to have narrower frames in proportion to their height."
Interesting. I'm inclined toward getting information from several sources before revising opinions, but it's possible I may have to stand corrected on this. Definitely something to keep in mind as one more possible reason that BMI, or any measure that considers only weight but not the form the weight takes, is not the best single indicator of whether someone is fit in terms of body composition.
This was an interesting quote from that Wiki article:
"BMI was explicitly cited by Keys [Ancel Keys, whose career involved the study of diet and health] as being appropriate for population studies, and inappropriate for individual diagnosis. Nevertheless, due to its simplicity, it came to be widely used for individual diagnosis, despite its inappropriateness."
Further support for the idea that BMI and measurements based only on weight do not always give an accurate picture of an individual's health.
What is the better goal to set? Ideal body weight or a low body fat reading, or both? I have a muscular build, but could stand to lose 20 pounds. However, i would love to have a body fat measurement between 15-20%. I'm 6' and 247 pounds. Any suggestions!
Thanks
low bodyfat. no fat person has a muscular build, they have fat builds.
I'm pretty sure what the OP means is that he has decent muscle underneath that fat...but I understand what you mean.
This kind of begs the question, what good is muscle if nobody can see it (hidden under fat)?
a lot of fat guys think they have muscle under the fat. its just something they conjure up to make them feel better about themselves.
sometimes i see big guys in the gym who are both muscular and fat; for them i think they are lazy and dont deserve credit for the muscle. they are still fatties in my book.
a lot of fat guys think they have muscle under the fat. its just something they conjure up to make them feel better about themselves.
sometimes i see big guys in the gym who are both muscular and fat; for them i think they are lazy and dont deserve credit for the muscle. they are still fatties in my book.
Well the thing is, guys generally define "muscular" as lifting heavy weight. But it really depends on what type of movements you do. For example, the bench press doesn't tell you much about a guy's body. Plenty of fat guys can lift a ton on the bench press because one's bodyweight/bodyfat doesn't inhibit the movement, nor does it inhibit bicep curls, lat pull-down, leg press etc. This is what gets me when people say "weightlifting burns fat", because it really doesn't if you're not incorporating free weight movements where your bodyweight comes into play.
I may sound like a broken record here, but if you want to judge a person's muscular-ness (of the whole body), then how do they perform on pull-ups, pushups, dips, squats, and vertical jump?
If your bodyfat doesn't get in the way of the movement then your body has no need to reduce the fat. Your body does not NEED to be light/ripped to bench press a lot. Your body does need to be light/ripped to do 20+ dips though. Your body reacts to the stimulus you put on it.
fat people cant do those types of exercises (dips, pull ups) because they have too much dead weight (not many women can either because of their naturally higher bodyfat %). but there are some guys who do develop muscle mass but dont control their diets, so they are fat and muscular. i just dont give them any credit for their muscle because the fat takes away any credit they would earn for the muscle. its easy to eat like a pig and do some heavy lifting.
fat people cant do those types of exercises (dips, pull ups) because they have too much dead weight (not many women can either because of their naturally higher bodyfat %). but there are some guys who do develop muscle mass but dont control their diets, so they are fat and muscular. i just dont give them any credit for their muscle because the fat takes away any credit they would earn for the muscle. its easy to eat like a pig and do some heavy lifting.
Yep, we're on the same page here.
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I can't imagine working as hard as you'd have to to look that way, only to look that gross. But, to each their own... Personally, I think 20% is ideal for women so I'll stick with something near that as a goal.
