What is Your Ideal Body Fat Percentage?
What is Your Ideal Body Fat Percentage?
One of the most frequently asked questions I get from my personal training clients is, “what is the ideal body fat percentage?” Body fat percentage is the percentage of fat contained on the body. For example, it you weigh 150 pounds with 10% body fat, 15 pounds of your weight consists of fat while the other 135 pounds is lean body mass. Body fat percentages also differ between men and women. Women usually carry a higher body fat percentage than men due to biological reasons. Women have more fat storing enzymes and they produce more estrogen, which promotes more fat storage.
Recommendations for body fat vary based on gender and activity level. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) is one of the most commonly used references and gives the following guidelines for body fat percentages. For a female athlete, the ideal body fat is 14-20%. For male athletes, the ideal is 6-13%. An acceptable body fat percentage for females is 25-31%. Acceptable for males 18-25%. Anyone carrying above 32% fat for females, and 25% fat for males is considered obese.
If you are interested in knowing what your body fat percentage is, have any questions about health, fitness, weight training, or if you’ve been thinking about hiring a personal trainer, contact us.
