Cutting the Fat

So, right now my biggest obstacle is fat. At the beginning of the year I had a body fat percentage of 21%. By mid-February, I was at 17%. I still have a looong ways to go, though. To be really competitive, I need to be in the 10-12% neighborhood. Problem is, the leaner you get, the harder it is to lose fat. Your body goes into survival mode and starts holding onto that junk.

There are many ways to calculate your body fat. A fairly accurate and accessible way is by measuring skin folds on several body parts and inputting the amounts into a formula. For a general idea of your fat percentage, try this at home test. You'll need a tape measure.

The average body fat of an American male age 31-35 is said to be between 17 and 25 percent, but the ideal percentage is between 13 and 17 percent. For a woman age 31-35, the average body fat is between 26 and 33 percent, while the ideal is between 21 and 26 percent.