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BODY FAT PERCENTAGE
 Is your hard work at the gym going unnoticed? Your body fat percentage could be your number one problem! Let me show you why an "average" (or worse) percentage could ruin your muscle building efforts and HOW you can turn your fat percentage to your advantage... Mr and Mrs Average - why "average" isn't good enoughAverage is good, right? I'm guessing if you were to discover your cholesterol level was in the average range, along with your heart or your liver or lung function, you would be happy - yes? For sure, you would :-) Yet in the world of muscle building, "average", sadly, isn't enough. If your goal is to build muscle that LOOKS GOOD along with an impressive, eye-catching physique, you need an altogether different yardstick to measure yourself by. Your Ideal Body Fat Percentage - muscle building figuresYour body fat percentage will significantly impact on your muscle building goals, just as your selection of exercise routine will effect your ability to gain mass. Ignore THIS, and prepare to face disappointment :-( Why would you want to work hard in the gymnasium only to fall at the final hurdle? Yet this is what MOST trainees do. They fail to see the bigger picture beyond a weight gain on the bathroom scales or improved poundage on a bench press. And while these factors are important, a favorable body fat figure will ultimately determine if your work in the gym has been a failure or a success. Before we go any further, lets first consider the healthy body composition figures: Healthy Body Fat Percentage Figures
A typical healthy female: 22% (Please note: these figures do not take into account certain contributing factors such as age.) So while these figures present no real surprises, what IS surprising is just how far away from healthy the "average" American is! Check out the next set of figures...  Average Body Fat Percentage Figures
A typical "average" American female: 32% When you consider most trainees will have a body fat percentage somewhere BETWEEN healthy and "average", you can see why the hard work in the gym can't be seen... A wall of body fat is HIDING the muscle building!! :-( So what kind of figures SHOULD you be aiming for? Athlete Body Fat Percentage Figures
A trained athlete female: 10-18% You can now see there is a BIG difference between healthy, "average" and athlete levels. You can ALSO see how such a big difference can impact on the way you look! For example, a trained male athlete weighing 190 pounds could carry between 6-23 pounds of body fat. Compare this to an "average" American male weighing 190 pounds, and their fat figure jumps to an astounding 42 pounds of fat! Looking to lose belly fat, and get the abs you always wanted? See HOW TO LOSE BELLY FAT for more tips! Body Fat Targets - let's get realSo what is an ideal body fat target? An ideal body fat target is to get your fat percentage to healthy if you are "average" then to trained if you are already healthy. This change in your body fat figure will SIGNIFICANTLY impact on your appearance - you will now get to SEE those hard won muscles! Make your fat loss a steady one and you will comfortably hold onto your muscles. Furthermore, your hard work in the gym will start getting you noticed ;-) In SummaryWhile the typical trainee should NEVER seek out a body fat figure at the risk of good health, there are clear benefits to attaining a fat percentage that is ideal... Good health should ALWAYS come first! Indeed, there is a big difference between vanity and wanting to look and FEEL good. THIS should be your goal. Continue to work hard at the gym, eat well, rest up, and let the results take care of themselves... Do THIS and you will never be "average" :-) To get started, see your MUSCLE BUILDING ROUTINE |
