Wow, good point. I nearly fainted the other day, and it certainly could be low iron because I've had that problem in the past. Thanks.

So far my reptilian eating habits are working for me, but I think it would work poorly for a thinner person. Now if my workout poundages went south I would try something more conventional...

In fact I am planning on bumping up the calories to Lean bodymassx15/day as of January 1st. I figure my margin of error will get smaller and smaller as I approach my goal of 10% bodyfat.

Definitely true, but women tend to think they should be lighter than they really should be and men heavier. I have found the "Ideal bodyweight Calculator" to be uncannily accurate for me thus far: http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm My own perception of my ideal weight has dropped the more weight I have lost at exactly the predicted rate.

At 14-18% you are barely out of the unhealthfully lean range.

Does anybody that actually knows you think you are too fat?

Have you thought about throwing in some zig-zag? Maybe alternating low and high calorie intake every other day or every few days? (Not that you need to - just an idea.)

That bodyweight calculator listed my perceived ideal weight as 127...where I've been before and am trying to get back to. The "healthy" range given was anywhere from 114-150. I guess at this point you just have to know what weight looks best on your frame. 150 might be considered healthy for my height, but no way does it look right on me.

No, and I don't think I'm fat either. That wasn't the issue.

Robert, the charts that come with Tanita scales and other body fat charts are way different than the classifications used by American Council on Exercise.
ACE classifications for WOMEN are:
Body Fat Guidelines from American Council on Exercise
Classification Women (% Fat) Men (% Fat)
Essential Fat 10-12 percent 2-4 percent
Athletes 14-20 percent 6-13 percent
Fitness 21-24 percent 14-17 percent
Acceptable 25-31 percent 18-25 percent

Over 31% for women is considered obese, though in my experience it can also be classified as "undermuscled".

IMO, women with a lot of muscle generally aim for lower body fat levels because they feel thick with an "acceptable" layer of fat over hypertrophied muscles.

The average woman may be 25% (or greater!) but she's usually quite undermuscled.

Shannon- Every once in a while I take 1/2 and iron tablet. If you tend to live on chicken, egg whites, cottage cheese, fish, turkey, etc, you really may need an iron boost!

Yes. I should have written "averaging 15xLBM/day". I think mixing it up is important.


Hmm. If you are not too fat than I guess those "excess" pounds are muscle.

There is nothing wrong with being 125#, but it might make hitting strength goals a lot more difficult if you have a super low bodyfat percentage. Cheryl Zovich believes that she really hindered her bodybuilding career by leaning out for too many contests too soon.

I think body image issues are very tricky. In my case I am always shocked when I see pictures of myself at how I fat I still am. My mental image of myself is out of whack by a good 30#.

Mel,
What range of bodyfat would you recommend for men and women looking to build muscle?

Ah- back to the original workout question...
Time under tension would technically include super-slooooow, but having tried that I think it's a waste of time. I'd go the higher reps route. Super-sets can mean different thing. Either opposing muscle groups, or the same muscle group to pre-exhaust or burn outthe muscle. I like to do same muscle group sets. For example, I'll do dumbell chest presses, then as many pushups as I ca do, with no rest between the exercises. For legs, I'll superset a balance or plyomentric exercise with a pure strength exercise, such as leg press or squats, supersetted with something like vertical jumps onto a platform, or one legged bosu squats.

Mel

Mel, thanks for the exercise ideas. I was looking for a way to incorporate some new stuff.

Why would you assume that I have body image issues just because I want to lose a bit more weight? I don't really get where all this is coming from. I looked fine at 125 - healthy, toned, and thin within reason. Why all the concern?

Robert- Body fat and muscle building are two separate issues. If you strictly are interested in building muscle, don't restrict calories, and don't starve your muscles for more than 3-4 hours. If you are aiming to lose fat, I can't recommend a body fat level other than the charts above and telling you that it's a personal decision based on how you want to look and what you are willing to do to maintain the look. Personally, I liked myself best at about 14% body fat, but I couldn't live that way for very long without it becoming my full-time job.

Some people can maintain at the lower ends of the br ranges quite easily and still keep their muscle, but I don't think those people are frequenting 3FC!

Mel

Because virtually EVERYONE has them. I know I do, and I could clearly see from playing with that "Ideal BWT" calculator that my perceptions about weight, in spite of my above average lean bodymass, were right in line with most men of my weight, age and height. When I was 385# I thought 287# would be a reasonable weight, now at 290# I am thinking 242# and the calculator is saying most people picked 239#. At 242# the calculator came up with 214# which is definitely too light for me (at 227# LBM), so at that point, if I don't break from the trend i am definitely having bodyimage issues IMHO. I am sure I could be a very healthy 214#'er if I really wanted to be, but I do think that I would have to fight my body very hard to be so light, and I would be sacrificing an awful lot of muscle.

If your plan is to stay in the midteens for bodyfat at a weight 10# lighter that is fine. There are certainly 6' tall fashion models weighing less than 125#.

Mel,
I was think along the lines of a reasonable BF% to try to build muscle at, but i am sure you are right and i can't know until I try. Hopefully I can really gain muscle at a bodyfat level I am happy with, say 10%?. It would be nice to have lean 18" arms, but dissapointing if I have to look like I don't lift while I make the required gains.

Sigh.

They look anorexic, yeah? Now picture 125# on someone seven inches shorter. Not anorexic so much.

I will concede that if I could get back the size 4 I had, I wouldn't give the least about the numbers on the scale.

I think that is a better goal. For me the goal is a low enough fat to see my abs. The number on the scale doesn't matter, although I am guessing it will be in the 240's.

How tall are you anyway?

6'4".

Shannon - to get back to an earlier suggestion: I am in the yoga bandwagon, and about to climb back on it myself. I was my strongest and leanest when I was doing Vinyasa (or "Flow") 2x a week (in addition to my regular strength and cardio workouts) and have signed myself up to start again (tomorrow, in fact). Yes, it is a great mind clearing activity, but my instructor is also at PT at my gym (though not my PT) and the results are amazing. Find a local class to get a feel for the positions. Around here you can "drop in" on a class for under $20. If you are into DVDs I recommend Baron Baptiste or Shiva Ray. Try out different ones from the library or Netflicks (this is an expensive season, after all). What ever you do, stay away from Iyeager if you want to build strength. For me, it just made me sore and I was bored to tears. I need motion and activity. And look at the arms and backs of some women yogis. Wow, I can only dream ...