Losing the last few % of body fat - tips please

[FutopiaDad]

Hi all

I'm currently in the region of 17% body fat and have never been able to get myself down anywhere between 12-15%.

I do a mixture of weights and cardio although it's biased towards weights. I generally eat healthily and never diet as my intake is such that I don't really put on or lose weight.

For once I'd love to drop the final few % but really don't know what's ahead of me in terms of discipline. Has anyone here been in a similar situation and be kind enough to share their experience e.g. change in exercise routine, key diet changes etc.

I have a sweet tooth so know that needs to go but any other tips would be appreciated.

Maybe if anyone is in the same boat then we could keep a log and offer some moral support!

This is a bit brutal - I was in two minds as to whether to post or delete. Speed up your run. I don't know how old or tall you are but I think you could cover 5K quite a bit faster. As a late 40s woman my 5k is 5mins faster & DH who is early 50s, 75kg and 5'10 runs a sub 20 mins 5k. What kind of weights are you doing? Heavy or do you feel fine after 3 x 15? Actually thinking about it can you fit in a 5K another day & build up to a 10k one day at the weekend? I think it's hard to be lean on so little cardio. There is a very good Sports Nutrition for Athletes book, has specific guidance for different goals which you might find interesting, I'll see if I can find it & link it to you. Good luck!

That's a lot of time at the gym! How about doing a beginners programme? I started off with Stronglifts 5x5.

I second the question about how heavy you lift.

Futopia, I can only see one thing 'missing' from your strength training and thats some hamstring work (unless I overlooked something?) perhaps some straight leg deadlifts or hamstring curls?

Re not doing squats or deads, I dont see it as a problem, I much prefer leg press myself and if you have your feet quite high on the plate the bend on the knee is not as acute so less knee pressure.

There are 100's of exercises to chose from so I think it makes sense to pick movements that you find comfortable-we are all slightly different in musculo-skeletal set up.

Might be an idea to switch things up a bit to work all muscle groups from as many angles as possible, or change the split.
I used to use a 4 way split when I was most lifting focused but I've used a 3 way split mostly for several years now.

Oh yeah, no calves there either...gotta work those calves!
(you can always squeeze them in between sets on the leg press)

I dont think it looks brutal at all!
it's a proper old school body builder schedule...you just need some more legwork...bro :o

How many sets/reps do you do and what weight?

Generally looks ok to me but it's been a while since I did similar (last few years I've done stronglifts 5x5 and currently exercises from you are your own gym).

X posted with others asking the same question!

Eastpoint

No worries re your comments and I'm glad you have taken the time . I'm not much of a runner but wanted to keep it concise. If it makes any difference that's a hill climb interval with a max incline of about 10%. I hate running so find it difficult to keep motivated for 30 mins on a treadmill. My flat 5k is ~27 mins so not great but a bit better.

My cardio is poor at the moment and I should buck my ideas up. Sounds like you'd be a good PT and just what I need to give me a kick in the pants

I'm a cyclist at heart but have ground to a halt due to some colleagues being seriously injured on the road. It's put me off but is my passion so am in a bit of a pickle as to what to do.

Re the weights I try and mix it up. I'm back on the bench at the minute so am building up from 3 x 8 reps of 65kg. I've just come off 34kg dumb bells so know I can go heavier on the bar but tend to go lighter for a few weeks to transition. My usual is ~85kg. For some of my other lifts:

Military press 45kg
Weighted dips +20kg
Seated row 80kg (machine)
Leg press 200kg (machine)

I tend to do spells of 3 x 8, 4 x 6 and 5 x 5 to keep things interesting.

Suzanne

I get what you're saying about the legs

I used to do a full leg workout but gave it up when I started cycling more seriously. I would give them a good caning but trying to cover hit 90 miles on the road became too much. Then I read that it wasn't necessary to supplement riding with weights so dropped it.

Oop sorry, I'm 41.

Have you got Watt Bikes at your gym? They are better than the basic exercise bicycles & they might be more fun for you than running if you don't enjoy running. 10% incline is pretty unpleasant.

If you are on Facebook have a look at Elite Body-Works page, they are quite inspirational and seeing what other people are up to is always fun. I don't have any connection to them, simply one of my friends used to train with them and I think they have good tips.

I've had a look and the book is Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Handbook. I was introduced to it in 1994 which is when I was super lean, it contains a lot of sense and allows for different athletes nutritional requirements from gymnasts up.

I take running very seriously and do a very comprehensive leg workout

To drop bodyfat you need to be in deficit calories eating clean foods. I'm Sat at 14%bodyfat reading done weekly from 12 sites with calipers. This did go up to 16% during they winter months. Going to be slowly dropping down to sub 10 for a shoot in the summer. I lift heavy 5days a week Hiit twice a week. My diet plan is written for me by my coach along with my lifting workouts. Dropping bodyfat is not easy you have to sacrifice the sweet stuff to reach that goal unfortunately. You can do this its not easy if it was everyone would be stredded

You sound incredibly committed pumpkin, and it would be great to see some photos!

How do you define "eating clean" though? Some people define it as only eating certain food, not sticking to certain macros or calories.

Eating clean in the strength / physique community generally means avoiding 'junk' food, ie processed and refined food.
I suspect that is what Little means?

My fitness pal is great for keeping track of your eating. I'm loosely following new rules of lifting at the moment and it recommends 40:30:30 ratio of carbs, fat and protein. You could try that.

If you like cycling you could try a spin class? As long as you push yourself they are pretty brutal! Or something like a meta fit or insanity class? Or Kettlebell swings are pretty amazing but most gyms don't have heavy enough bells for men (because they don't teach proper form- I have seen some awful swings under the instruction of PTs, it should be all about the hip hinge and the bell only coming to just below chest height rather than the bizarre squat thing you see at a lot of gyms).

Yeah, I know Suzanne. Ok, let me put it this way, what are the benefits of eating 'clean' food when it comes to cutting body fat percentage? I know that there's a school of thought that a calorie is not a calorie.

I guess eating fat or sugar makes it harder to achieve a deficit, but I think many people would find it difficult to maintain the diet without eating some junk some of the time.

Your basically asking for cutting, men can drop 12-14% is absolutely fine, professional body builders drop to around 3-4%.
You will need a high protein diet, protein increases satiety (fullness). You will still need carbs in order to maintain your weight. Accept that you will lose some muscle mass and strength when you cut but you will lose a lot more fat.

Make sure to do cardio a lot of it 30mins of treadmill a week won't be enough try at least 3 x week.

Stop drinking alcohol that won't help or at least minimise your intake.

Finally be willing to make changes if you do more cardio have a higher calorie intake, add some HIIT, try supersets and then doing 2mins sprints after. Don't forget the legs and back.

An example

Dropping bodyfat is not easy you have to sacrifice the sweet stuff to reach that goal unfortunately.

My worst nightmare I think this is my biggest hurdle as otherwise my intake is pretty good with very little processed food.

As Vivacia mentioned above you sound amazing so hats off to you

I've been talking to my wife about sugar this morning and it's incredible just how much sugar is in stuff like bread. I eat oats, brown rice/pasta and very rarely potatoes so is reasonably clean there but even seeded wholegrain bread can be stuffed with sugar.

I probably eat about 3-4 slices a day and am beginning to think that I should bake my own so I can properly control the ingredients.

OK everyone I get the legs thing . I've always laughed and the big guys in the gym with huge upper bodies but chicken legs but am in danger of turning out the same (well except for the huge upper body!). I think what I really need, due to time constraints, are bigger compound moves that will work my entire body, or at least more of it.

I think I've got some good exercises already but could possibly ditch some of the filler. If I add another cardio day at the weekend then I'll have 3 days of weights and cardio. That's probably as much as I could manage with work/family.

Thanks Grey

Looking at the photo I'm between 15-20%. The chap at 15% is where I would like to be.

Interestingly enough his physique is almost identical to mine (minus the fat).

what are the benefits of eating 'clean' food when it comes to cutting body fat percentage? I know that there's a school of thought that a calorie is not a calorie

Vivacia, IMO it's just much harder to control the amount you eat when you consume junk food because the 'food reward' factor is so high, you are much more likely to eat in response to food cravings as opposed to physiological need.

Broadly speaking I think a calorie is a calorie in respect of creating a calorie deficit but there is also the negative effect on overall health of eating food which apart from the macro nutrients has very low nutritional.

I think that we're in agreement there. I don't think that clean eating is a requirement at all. I think it's a "hook" that really appeals to some people and helps them to be successful.

possibly Vivacia depending on how much weight you give to the appetite regulating effects of highly palatable food.
There are also the links between gut microbiome, diet and body composition.

In general, and with all other things being equal I'd say the more junk food you eat the less likely you are to be lean

Have a look at stronglifts 5x5, it's 3 sessions a week of mostly compound moves. Might be just what you're after! If not you might get some ideas, I have a bad back so did a few substitutions.

*appetite dysregulating effects of highly palatable food!