Prelude; Summer 2010
My shirt is off and I’m being grabbed, prodded and picked at by a young lady I don’t know………
Nope, I’m not auditioning for a male stripper act, I’ve decided to have my body fat measured and see where I stand. The gym instructor is very thorough; height, weight, skin-folds all over, each with a different number she’s going to calculate. Then she measures my peak flow; the amount of oxygen I can blow out! I’m wondering what this has to do with anything, and if the quest for an ideal body fat percentage is a quest worth making…….. I’m starting to think not.
The problem with the ideal body fat percentage
Your percentage of body fat is becoming one of those fitness badges of honour; like how much can you bench, or how often you do HIIT (“I don’t know”, and “Never” are my answers to those by the way). But is it going to help you on the way to building the perfect male body? When is chasing that magic number going too far?
I learned a few things on my way to the underwear body and here is some sage advice I know can save you a lot of wasted time and effort.
1) That number counts for nothing
Back in the day I decided that I should be 6% body fat. Don’t ask why because there was no reason; the number just sounded good! Of course that was a pretty silly way to go about it, but it’s probably pretty similar to what most guys do; we take a guy on the TV or in a magazine and say, “Well since I wanna look like that, I’ll just get to his body fat percentage and look just like him. ”
The truth is that a lot of these numbers are made up, a lot of guys using them are on drugs, and the real key to improving the look and shape of your body is the proportions. A low body fat alone will not make you look attractive, it might just make you look like you need a good meal.
There is an ideal number when it comes to the perfect body, but it’s not body fat, it’s your Adonis index. Keep your eyes on the real prize.
2) Different numbers look different on different people
We all know this one. It’s the reason bodybuilders cover up in fake tan and water deplete before a show. A bunch of factors, from skin tone to water retention effect the actual appearance of your body whatever your level of body fat is. It is not really about reaching the “right” number to get the look of someone else. It’s an individual and ever moving thing based on where they are at that particular moment in time.
Remember when mom said what matters is you do YOUR best? She was right. It really doesn’t matter what anyone else’s level of body fat is; it’s not a competition, and if it was it would still be about your look, not your body fat percentage!
3) Too low doesn’t look too good; beware becoming too ripped
This is actually unattractive because it can be a little creepy looking, just ask the girls. Remember attractiveness is essentially about signals of health and vigour. Body fat too low is neither and tends to leave onlookers slightly repulsed! I see this loads; there are pics of “muscle” guys all over the web who are tying to impress with low body fat and just scare the bejeesus out of me. I don’t ever want to look like that!
It’s the look and shape of your body that matters remember? Focus on your Adonis Index and looking good in or out of clothes.
4) Don’t get obsessed with things that don’t matter to you
That right there is some of the most useful advice you’ll ever hear. About anything. When I was having my body fat measured one weird thing that come out was that I could work on improving the amount of air I could expel from my lungs for a “better” peak flow reading. Err…….the last time I checked I was breathing OK. I mean, unless I want to take on Lance Armstrong do I really need to overhaul my workout routine to chase a goal like this?!
Maybe I’m just too easily contented…….or maybe I just know what I want and how to keep the blinkers on! If you treat everything as important it’s usually a sign that you don’t know what really is.
The ideal body fat percentage to me is where you look sharp and aren’t having to follow crazy measures to maintain it. Remember the mantra; get in shape and stay in shape without giving up your life. With that in mind pursuing an ideal body fat percentage needn’t be top of your to do list.
Nowadays I can’t tell you what my body fat percentage is because I don’t know, and that seems to be working just fine for me.
To the good life
Michael
(P.S- As you can tell I’m pretty relaxed about the whole body fat thing. That’s probably because I have it handled. It’s all about knowing how to eat in line with your goals and if you are after a lean muscular body, I recommend you look into Eat Stop Eat; an approach to burning fat without sweating the small stuff. Life’s too short.)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Good article is very true we can become obsessed with numbers! Take the example of the scales … more often than not I notice my bodyweight sometimes I goes up but then I look in the mirror and I look leaner than ever!
Excellent point about don’t become obsessed with things that don’t really matter.
The internet is terrible I see all the time people saying “I’m ripped” or “I have 6% bodyfat” and when you look at them they would barely know what 10% would look like!
Raymond
Raymond – ZenMyFitness´s last [type] ..How To Make Quick and Easy Snacks And Still Get Six Pack Abs
Raymond,
I’ve had the exact same experience with the scales. There are so many things you could worry about in health and fitness, but so few of them are worth the trouble. Funny what you said about all these claims you hear on the internet, but they definitely need to be taken with a pinch of salt!
Michael
Another thing regarding number 3 is that too low a body fat level is not healthy. The human body has fat for a reason. If getting fat levels so low in the abdominal region or anywhere else on your body causes your eyeballs to appear sunken most people aren’t going to see beyond how unhealthy you look, regardless of how good you think your body looks.
I think the main thing for people to consider when comparing themselves with any model is that the model’s paycheck depends on those low body fat levels, which they work towards prior to a photo shoot. Most don’t look that way 365 days a year. Life’s too short to deprive yourself for the over rated six pack!
Aaron´s last [type] ..Before You Comment…
Aaron,
really well put.
The presence of images of the perfect body are powerful influences, but as you say the models are aiming towards that look for a period of time, a look they might only hold for a few hours! Chasing this “ideal” is creating a rod for our own backs.
Is it worth turning your life upside down to get from 10 to 7% bodyfat? I’m not sure. I also think that in the real world the only people who notice such differences tend to be bodybuilders and fitness fanatics anyway. Not to say their feedback isn’t valuable but you can have a body that impresses 99% of the people you know without turning pro! Works for me.
Thanks for stopping by
Michael