In this episode, I want to address some common myths and misconceptions about body fat levels.

Obviously being “shredded” is the thing these days–if you want to be cool on social media, you’d better have abs–but how lean can you get before you start compromising your health? And how lean can you stay over the long term before it becomes a problem?

Well, you’re going to get that question fully answered in this podcast, and I think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised because I have good news: it’s harder to hurt your health than you might think.

You can do it, but you have to work very hard at it and probably throw some drugs into the mix as well. Fortunately, for most of us, our body composition goals are not only very achievable, but they’re very sustainable, too.

I’m also going to touch on various other things, including what body fat percentage is and how it changes when you gain and lose fat and muscle, whether it affects menstruation (something that many women worry about when they set out to get lean), and what you should do after cutting to reverse the negative side effects of caloric restriction without gaining back any of the fat that you just lost, which is huge for long-term weight and body fat maintenance.

TIME STAMPS:

5:51 – What is body fat percentage?

7:39 – How do you determine your body fat percentage?

9:04 – What is the physiology behind losing body fat?

11:37 – What is healthy body fat percentage for men?

13:32 – What is a healthy body fat percentage for women?

What did you think of this episode? Have anything else to share? Let me know in the comments below!

Scientific References +