I know it is but why? And at what point? Is vascularity unhealthy?
Who said low body fat is unhealthy?
how low are we talking?
I mean unless your like 2% body fat…which is pretty hard to do. You need fat to metabolize certain vitamins and so forth, and for some other processes. But to actually get to the point where you have too little body fat is unlikely.
You can’t really claim that a certain level of vascularity is ‘unhealthy’. Everyone has differnt genetics therefore vascularity will differ from person to peron. Some may be very vascular at 10%bf while others will need to drop down to 6%bf.
Their are many possible health risks with maintain low bf. But you can maintain low bf 3% for a long period of time. Even going below 6% for long periods of time would not be advised.
At 3% you only have the fat surrounding your organs and spinal cord left.
At this level of bf you will get sick easily, bruise easily, nose bleeds, feel lighheaded, short term memory loss…basically feel like shit. And if your a woman your menstraul cycle is non-existant.
I seriously doubt this is a problem for anyone not living in a third world country.
Body fat stores vitamins (A, D, E, and K), helps with temperature regulation, and “cushions” certain organs - like your kidneys for example.
Because your level of sexiness reaches unstable levels. Its all fun and games until someone with this affliction fucks your girlfriend.
I’m guessing here, but I’d say that the dehydration that usually accompanies such levels of body fat is responsible.
[quote]plaws wrote:
Who said low body fat is unhealthy?[/quote]
Well… no one in particular but I’ve met a few MDs’ who advise gaining some weight for people below 10%. Not to mention personal experience. I’ve been low low low and I always felt lightheaded like someone said. I was never sure why either. My theory would be that everything that is done at a low bodyfat (I’ll say 8 and below, which isn’t EXTREMELY low.) is strainful on the body. But what causes lightheadedness? Is it a decreases in blood volume?
for me, i am probably about 12% (i dont actually know-i have a 6 pack still (relatively deep set abs), but its definitly blurry) and right now, i am horney as ever
if i get below 10% again, i wouldnt be suprised to see this slow slightly, but basically the comparison i was trying to make was all through highschool, i was a complete tool, and thought super low bodyfat all the time was cool and i could still get big and strong (HAHAHA)…basically i was 1 day dehydration away from veins in my abs, for several years straight pretty much(all body fat tests i took during that time suggested i was about 5% -often below) - i know no one gives any merrit to caliper or the electronic tests, but just trying to give an idea
anyways i was so severely malnurished i got sick all the time, had bouts with depression, relatively low sex drive considering age, etc…and i just thought i had shitty genetics when basically i was starving myself when i needed nutrients the most… i maintained this for years, but at that point, for me, it was definitly not healthy, and i am quite an ecto with a very fast metabolism…so i’m sure it wouldnt be good for Most people (always exceptions)
for me, unless its just for fun, i dont think i’ll ever strive to be below around 8%, and i’m sure i wont even strive for the 8%ish range for quite some time
I highly doubt you were ever below 5% given your description of your diet. You probably were a malnourished skinny-fat pale high school kid w/ “armani exchange/abercrombie hawt abz.”
[quote]brian.m wrote:
for me, i am probably about 12% (i dont actually know-i have a 6 pack still (relatively deep set abs), but its definitly blurry) and right now, i am horney as ever
if i get below 10% again, i wouldnt be suprised to see this slow slightly, but basically the comparison i was trying to make was all through highschool, i was a complete tool, and thought super low bodyfat all the time was cool and i could still get big and strong (HAHAHA)…basically i was 1 day dehydration away from veins in my abs, for several years straight pretty much(all body fat tests i took during that time suggested i was about 5% -often below) - i know no one gives any merrit to caliper or the electronic tests, but just trying to give an idea
anyways i was so severely malnurished i got sick all the time, had bouts with depression, relatively low sex drive considering age, etc…and i just thought i had shitty genetics when basically i was starving myself when i needed nutrients the most… i maintained this for years, but at that point, for me, it was definitly not healthy, and i am quite an ecto with a very fast metabolism…so i’m sure it wouldnt be good for Most people (always exceptions)
for me, unless its just for fun, i dont think i’ll ever strive to be below around 8%, and i’m sure i wont even strive for the 8%ish range for quite some time[/quote]
[quote]brian.m wrote:
for me, i am probably about 12% (i dont actually know-i have a 6 pack still (relatively deep set abs), but its definitly blurry) and right now, i am horney as ever
if i get below 10% again, i wouldnt be suprised to see this slow slightly, but basically the comparison i was trying to make was all through highschool, i was a complete tool, and thought super low bodyfat all the time was cool and i could still get big and strong (HAHAHA)…basically i was 1 day dehydration away from veins in my abs, for several years straight pretty much(all body fat tests i took during that time suggested i was about 5% -often below) - i know no one gives any merrit to caliper or the electronic tests, but just trying to give an idea
anyways i was so severely malnurished i got sick all the time, had bouts with depression, relatively low sex drive considering age, etc…and i just thought i had shitty genetics when basically i was starving myself when i needed nutrients the most… i maintained this for years, but at that point, for me, it was definitly not healthy, and i am quite an ecto with a very fast metabolism…so i’m sure it wouldnt be good for Most people (always exceptions)
for me, unless its just for fun, i dont think i’ll ever strive to be below around 8%, and i’m sure i wont even strive for the 8%ish range for quite some time[/quote]
Good post. I can relate to all of that. (Especially the low sex drive,which is a strange symptom to have. WHen you’re 16 and you dont want to fuck, something’s wrong) ALthough, lack of nutrients is what caused this, not just the low body fat. I wonder if someone who is nourished but is extremely active (low bodyfat) would have a low sexdrive
Low bodyfat is dangerous because you can’t have hawt abz all year round AND get big.
/grand closing
[quote]Stength4life wrote:
plaws wrote:
Who said low body fat is unhealthy?
Well… no one in particular but I’ve met a few MDs’ who advise gaining some weight for people below 10%. Not to mention personal experience. I’ve been low low low and I always felt lightheaded like someone said. I was never sure why either. My theory would be that everything that is done at a low bodyfat (I’ll say 8 and below, which isn’t EXTREMELY low.) is strainful on the body. But what causes lightheadedness? Is it a decreases in blood volume? [/quote]
8% is NOT unhealthy. The body reacts to a couple different things: 1) how far out of homeostasis you are and 2) whether you have sufficient fat for immune function and metabolism.
At extremely low levels of body fat (3% or so), #2 is what makes it dangerous to attempt to hold that level of leanness for too long. Fat serves a number of essential functions.
At anything above that, any perceived strain on your body is due to #1. As you hold a level of leanness for long periods of time consistently your body gets used to that lean state and it ceases to be stressful. Your body becomes “used” to it, or treats it as your set point. Look at Christian Thibaudeau–he kept his lean state for a couple years, and now he almost automatically stays in that state, even if he’s not on a low carb diet.
The longer you stay lean, the less your body feels strained and the more natural it becomes. After a while there’s really no strain at all because your body treats it as the “normal” state.
[quote]HBSBound wrote:
I highly doubt you were ever below 5% given your description of your diet. You probably were a malnourished skinny-fat pale high school kid w/ “armani exchange/abercrombie hawt abz.”
brian.m wrote:
for me, i am probably about 12% (i dont actually know-i have a 6 pack still (relatively deep set abs), but its definitly blurry) and right now, i am horney as ever
if i get below 10% again, i wouldnt be suprised to see this slow slightly, but basically the comparison i was trying to make was all through highschool, i was a complete tool, and thought super low bodyfat all the time was cool and i could still get big and strong (HAHAHA)…basically i was 1 day dehydration away from veins in my abs, for several years straight pretty much(all body fat tests i took during that time suggested i was about 5% -often below) - i know no one gives any merrit to caliper or the electronic tests, but just trying to give an idea
anyways i was so severely malnurished i got sick all the time, had bouts with depression, relatively low sex drive considering age, etc…and i just thought i had shitty genetics when basically i was starving myself when i needed nutrients the most… i maintained this for years, but at that point, for me, it was definitly not healthy, and i am quite an ecto with a very fast metabolism…so i’m sure it wouldnt be good for Most people (always exceptions)
for me, unless its just for fun, i dont think i’ll ever strive to be below around 8%, and i’m sure i wont even strive for the 8%ish range for quite some time
[/quote]
HBSbound, A)- i gave NO information regarding my diet, except that i was malnurished because i was not eating ENOUGH, not because all i ate were mcdonalds fries and diet cokes…now where Exactly did you gather all of this information saying i could not be very low body fat?
B)- i Specifically said that those tests were for a reference point, as most here dont take them as very accurate, so clearly you missed my point
C)- i’m a natural ecto with a rediculous metabolism, i was exercising regularily through this whole time, i worked very physically after school, and often biked for several hours a day…often with VEINS in my ABS…where the fuck did you get the impression i was skinny fat?
-was i skinny? hell yes, i completely regret how i did alot of things back then, but i was not trying to hide this, and tried to even use my failures as a point to help add insight (which i didnt see much help to the OP coming from you, by the way)
Stength4life, it would depend on the person for sure what would be optimal, but for me, i think if i were to be properly nurished, i wouldnt have been quite as lean then, but i probably would have felt a lot better too
-i imagine if i wasnt making any effort either way, i would have stayed around 8%, however, being a bit older now, i’m not sure how long i would maintain that (mainly because i will probably not be as active as i was back then
-but, i just dont naturally want to eat alot…so if i just stop Trying to gain weight (while still working physically or whatever) i lean out Very quickly…but i also would lose muscle with this so its not always a blessing
I would also think it depends on the person and their general health but if it is so low your sex drive is suffering I would think that would point to not having enough stores to support basic functions. Women’s periods stopping s a pretty good indicator of too low (for a long period of time at least) and I guess men’s sex drive would be the only similar red flag for men?
I think you adapt too, of you are treating your body well, you should be able to maintain a lower body fat and still be healthy IMO.
Okay I figured it out. When your bodyfat reaches a point where there is hardly any left, your body begins to eat at your muscles… including the vital orgams. And yes, dehydration too.
i think the take home message should be not that if you’re too low of body fat that you’ll eat your internal organs…more like…slowly and healthily lower your body fat percentage…
if you get to a point where its very difficult to maintain or you’re feeling off/low most of the time…even after an “adjustment phase” then thats probably slightly lower than you’d want to spend most of your time…but most people Probably dont have to spend too much time sweating that, realistically