Women's Physique

Q. Around what body-fat percentage should competitors maintain in the off-season in order to make dieting easier for their next show? What should people who weight train as a hobby strive to attain? What number is the perfect balance between health and photo-shoot ready?

A. It really depends on the individual. Bodybuilders with a good amount of muscle will find it relatively easy to stay at leaner body-fat levels even while being more liberal with their diets. I stay around 16 percent in the off-season with minimal effort. I’ve learned the level of definition and how my body looks to know approximately where I am over the years. I actually only truly assess my body fat at the start of contest prep, and it’s as a guideline. I live a healthy lifestyle year-round centred on sound nutrition, training, stress management, and enjoying extras when I like. I don’t feel deprived, and my body is optimally healthy at this range. This level can be different for someone else.

I recommend that individuals strive to stay within about 10 to 15 pounds of contest weight unless they’re actively trying to add more muscle. This is typically not very hard to do if you truly live a good lifestyle year-round. It’s also important to remember that the level of body fat that you move to in the off-season should be one that enables you to experience good health. You want lots of energy, a good immune response, and good exercise recovery.

Premenopausal women also want to be sure that they’re at a level of body fat at which they experience regular menstrual cycles, which is a sign of hormonal balance. Undiagnosed hormonal imbalances can lead to loss of bone mass, depression, anxiety, food cravings, and other health consequences.

If you’re staying leaner and are in good health, odds are you’re staying at a body fat that is healthy for you and not too lean. It will also be easier to experience vibrant health at lower body-fat levels if you use health supplements such a multivitamin, greens, fish oil, antioxidants, and calcium/magnesium in addition to a nutrient-dense diet.

Gaining an excessive amount of fat weight in the off-season can make it possible to form new fat cells, which will make it even harder to get lean when the time comes. It also can make you less sensitive to insulin, which will make it harder to get leaner. It can set you up for a vicious cycle that will make the goal of being ripped a thing of the past. Good health should always be valued as part of the equation both in the off-season and in the contest season.

On average: A female competitor will be healthiest between 15 and 20 percent body fat in the off-season and a male between 10 and 15 percent. These levels tend to support good health but also make it easy to return to contest shape. The amount of muscle that competitors possess will always make it easier to attain these leaner levels. Muscle is your best friend to stay lean. (I mentioned before that these levels will vary among individuals. These numbers are a ballpark.)

For a recreational weightlifter: A good range to be in for a female could be 18 to 22 percent, and a male could be 12 to 15 percent and look very fit and be healthy. Everyone carries weight differently, and there’s internal and intramuscular fat too. Good-quality caliper assessment will still have about a 4 percent error in accuracy. Calipers are great if you have someone skilled who knows how to take and assess the readings. Other superior methods such as hydrostatic weighing or the Bod Pod are harder to come by. I used to do hydrostatic weighing in my exercise physiology labs at university, so you can often find it available there.

To be photo-shoot ready and healthy: Most photo shoots are staged around contest season. However, it depends on what the photographers want. In some cases they want really lean, and in other cases they want a softer look if it’s for more mainstream use. It’d be safe to say that if you stay within the lower end of the range I mentioned—15 percent for females and 10 percent for males—you could be ready for a photo shoot relatively quickly. Just listen to how your body feels to determine if this range is optimal for you from a health standpoint.

Body fat assessment and visual assessment will always be better markers of progress than the scale, but the judges don’t test your body fat on contest day. It’s imperative that the body look visually conditioned to take to the stage no matter what the number tells you. I work with clients both in person and via distance coaching. I do Lange caliper body fat assessments, circumferences, and weight for any in-person clients. However, it’s actually my eyes that do most the work as I know what to look for to gauge progress. My distance clients are prepped by pictures that they send and details they provide. I don’t need their body fat. Use it only as a guide if you use it to follow your progress.

To read more by Tammy Strome, click HERE!