Weight vs. Body Fat Percentage


SUJagFan

Well-Known Member
Yesterday, I was listening to a speaker talk about the impact of weight and body fat on human performance. He gave an example of Olympic runners. He basically said that in their studies, they found that optimal performance was found in a specific range of body fat percentage. Too high and it slowed the runner down. Too low and the runner tended to not have the energy needed to finish the race strongly with the effect being more noticeable in distance runners.

He also gave an example of NFL offensive linemen. He said that often, offensive linemen felt their weight was their most important attribute. However, the speaker said it's not just weight that is important, but the type of weight. He said, if you have two 6' 5" 300 lb offensive linemen, the one with the lower percentage of body fat tended to consistently perform better over time.

That lead to the his main point which was that we've been conditioned to think that controlling our weight is so important. In his opinion, what's really important is controlling our percentage of body fat. We all have different body types. Even if two people have the same height, what's the "proper weight" may be different for us because of the differing body types. He said that, within a certain range of body fat, studies have found lower incidences of diseases like diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and so forth.

What do you all think? Does it make sense to focus on percentage of body fat rather than weight?

http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentage-chart/

Ideal-Body-Fat-Percentage-Chart2.jpg


Ideal-Body-Fat-Percentage-Chart3.jpg
 
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Thanks for the info, great find and great article.

I've never liked the whole BMI formula that is used now, and infact I've been told that being Black our bone structures are different, so the BMI standard is not a good source of body fat for us.

As for the methods described in the article, I have the main three, the calipers, (takes some getting used to and does require some skill), the scale which I still question how much of it is based on calculations, and the tape. The tape is easier to me and I use a different site, but it is still a Navy calculator.

All in all I agree with article, focus on body fat and not the weight.
 
I certainly agree. A vanilla standard attempting to be applied to all of us isn't correct, IMHO. Skeletal frame makeup, dna, metabolism (dna related perhaps?), all that is individualized IMO. :tup:
 
Yesterday, I was listening to a speaker talk about the impact of weight and body fat on human performance. He gave an example of Olympic runners. He basically said that in their studies, they found that optimal performance was found in a specific range of body fat percentage. Too high and it slowed the runner down. Too low and the runner tended to not have the energy needed to finish the race strongly with the effect being more noticeable in distance runners.

He also gave an example of NFL offensive linemen. He said that often, offensive linemen felt their weight was their most important attribute. However, the speaker said it's not just weight that is important, but the type of weight. He said, if you have two 6' 5" 300 lb offensive linemen, the one with the lower percentage of body fat tended to consistently perform better over time.

That lead to the his main point which was that we've been conditioned to think that controlling our weight is so important. In his opinion, what's really important is controlling our percentage of body fat. We all have different body types. Even if two people have the same height, what's the "proper weight" may be different for us because of the differing body types. He said that, within a certain range of body fat, studies have found lower incidences of diseases like diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and so forth.

What do you all think? Does it make sense to focus on percentage of body fat rather than weight?

http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentage-chart/

Ideal-Body-Fat-Percentage-Chart2.jpg


Ideal-Body-Fat-Percentage-Chart3.jpg

I had my BMI done early March and the trainer said that it was proportionate to my height and weight. I took that as it meant that I wasn't too overweight.
 
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