Safe Body Fat %

Hi, you all know me…anyways, I’m a wrestler, and I don’t believe I don not know this…but what is the safe body fat % to have? At the start of the season I was 187 pounds, and now I am 175, but get down to 171 when I need to. At the time when I was 187 I had a body fat % of 8.5, now I don’t even want to know what it is. Well, would you say I could keep it up for another month or should I tell my coach enough is enough and just go with my natural weight?

I believe for Males it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 16-20%

If i were you, I would tell your coach to shove it, unless you plan to make a living out of it. Lack of proper body fat can cause malnutrition and since fat lubricates the joints, may cause arthritis when you get old. Me personally, I’m counting on there being a cure for arthritis when I get old, but youmay not want to be that wishful. Talk to a doctor. Never accept medical advice from some looney on a message board… unless it’s Sue from el Paso…


“C’mon, it’s not even tomorrow yet…” - Rupert

If you need a graphic solution, http:\ alk.to\Piglet

ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY ANYWAY !!!
You can’t have an ‘s’ at the end, it’s only one way!!! DO IT RIGHT!!!

Err, sorry. It’s just that all those years of being thoroughly chastised by my mother for saying such a simple seeming word incorrectly have bred me an instinct to do the same to fellow delinquents. But, just try to do it right, okay?

So whats the plural of “anyway” then?

And who even cares? You knew what he ment.

I was a wrestler too. It was one of the things that I can honestly say I was very, very good at. In my prime I got my weight down and was measured at less than 3% body fat (pinch test). It was probably a little bit higher than that actually, but let’s just say that when I wrestled at 155, most people assumed I was at least 167 or 185. I won more matches at the scales when the “fish” walked up to see who they had to wrestle. It was great - at the time, but I am convinced now (as is my doctor) that operating my body in this hyper lean mode led to a problem of suppressed metabolism. I now have to watch what I eat very carefully and get vigorous exercise nearly every day just to maintain my weight in the 200 lb range. I’m still very strong and have great cholesterol levels, but the pace hasn’t diminished in over 25 years… I’ve tried metabolism adjusting diets, etc. to no avail.

Moral of the story: Don’t over do it; it can have long lasting effects. I would love it if I could relax every once in a while, like normal people.

<------------ just decided never to fuck with Joey.

Bigrory, 16-20 is high for what you can get by on. I think that number may represent what the average actually is, not what is safe.

Daneh, when I rowed, we had lightweights on our team who kept their body fat at about 3-4%. The heavyweights kept it around 6-8%. We all did this pretty much yearround, and were generally a pretty healthy group of people (I’m not talking about fitness either – I mean illness and injuries were rare, and not attributable to low body fat, according to the school doctors).

Since hyper weightloss is a problem in rowing like it is in wrestling, our coaches had doctors come in at least once a year to talk to us about it. One of the questions that was often asked was, “What is the lowest body fat % you can have and still be healthy in the long run?”

The answers varied, but the gist was this: Go as low as you want temporarily (some said don’t drop below 2%), but don’t keep it low for too long. The lower you go, the shorter it should be there. The lowest you should keep permanently also varied, but the general estimates were around 10-12%, IIRC.

In short, go ahead and lose the weight for the season, just make sure you gain at least some of it back in the offseason.

sorry Six, Ithink you’re right. And What you said sounded very reasonable. Generalisation, however, brings its own problems. I would see a doctor about it, and get your case analysed on it’s own merits.


“C’mon, it’s not even tomorrow yet…” - Rupert

If you need a graphic solution, http:\ alk.to\Piglet

I used to wrestle to and had 5% body fat and I have also had problems with metabolism since.

I would say go no lower than 10%.

Please forgive what sounds like a stupid question, but I’m not quite clear as to what the problem with your metabolism is after getting such a low body weight. Do you mean you tend to GAIN a lot of weight if you don’t watch your diet and exercise a lot, or do you have a problem maintaining or gaining weight now?

With a supressed metabolism, without regular exercise, you tend to gain weight more easily - your body doesn’t metabolize the calories and fat at the normal rate. There are other side effects, as well. I’ve talked to many of my wrestler friends over the years and we all have similar problems. Most of my friends have not kept up their regimen and are growing… ummm… well, fat. I fear that if I ever sustain a serious injury and can’t exercise adequately or as I grow older, I may suffer the same fate.

I heard somewhere that for men % body fat is about 10-12 as previously mentioned and body fat for women is about 25%.


I realize I’m generalizing here, but as in most cases, I don’t care.
-Dave Barry

Men do have a lower % body fat than women in general.

I believe the 10-12% is fairly accurate.

I read a book once by Covert (sp) Bailey (he is sometimes on PBS) called “Fit or Fat” where he discusses the role that fat plays in the body. He is a nutritionist or something similar and he told of a story of a Pro Football player (I do not recall who), who was having a problem acheiving the success that was suspected of him. The coach said he was too heavy for his position, but the more weight he lost the worse he preformed. Covert tested him and he was around the 2% body fat mark. Covert suggested that he raise it to a reasonable level (yes gain weight). When he did so he could perform at a much higher level than he had at the lower weight.

So too little body fat can be detrimental to your sports performance.

Jeffery