How Much Body Fat Do You Need?

Posted by Shannon Clark Jan 30, 2007

Whenever someone embarks on a strength training regime there is a good likelihood that they may actually gain some weight on the scale.

Sometimes this can send exercisers into a panic, thinking they are moving further away from their goals.

What you need to remember however is that muscle tissue is more dense than fat tissue so even though you may be heavier on the scale, the shape of your body will actually be smaller.

So in all reality, while your scale weight may have gone up, your total body fat percentage may have gone done. This is really what you want to happen when starting on a fitness program.

While it is a goal to maintain low body fat levels, you can push it too far as you do require some body fat for optimal health. Generally males have a 3% body fat requirement (called essential fat) while females require 9-12% of their body weight to come from fat.

The average male carries 11-18% total weight as fat and the average female carries 21-28%. The recommended levels however are 10-15 and 18-25 % respectively. So rather than setting a goal weight, set a goal body fat percentage. It will be a much better way to measure your progress.