Hi ,recently came here so I'm pretty new to this place. Anyways, I have a question. What is a safe bodyfat % that will make me look cut? My current bodyfat % is 10.5%. I weigh 138. My height is 5"4. Also, if you need to know, what I do for weightlifting is something called stronglifts. I got that workout off of stronglifts.com Also I do cardio 5 times a week since I'm a soccer player.
That is about. Thank You

you must be male?

i just did a google search and found this chart for you... if you are male then for athletes I've read 6-13% is good. Your currently at the ideal bodyfat for (non-athlete) males.

Sorry, but if you're not seeing a lot of muscle definition at 10.5%, you're probably not at 10.5%. (If you're male, abs may not be sharply defined at 10.5%; still, you'd most likely be able to see the outlines of the 6-pack, and you would be pretty cut elsewhere.)

As for "safety", if you're female at 10.5% BF, the odds are pretty good that you've already lost, or will soon lose, your period. Aside from this, I don't think the effects of low body fat % are well known in the medical community, especially not in the long term. There are too simply few people who are that lean for that long -- and who are willing to be studied, and for whom funding is available to study -- that the effects can be reliably identified.

PS. I didn't click through the stronglifts link, but something tells me it's a sales site....

I've been to stronglifts.com, it's a real website. He does sell some sort of E-book too but it's a blog, forum, etc. Anyway, I'm going to agree with kaw. If you aren't seeing something now, your bf is not 10.5%. How did you measure it?

I am a guy. I used bodyfat calipers. Also if I flex my abs they do show, especially after I do my weightlifting workout!
Also stronglifts.com is a real website. he only sells like 2 e-books and they aren't even his. Mehdi just recommends them.
Anymore questions?

Stronglifts is a great site. Lots of great information and the stronglifts 5x5 ebook is free.

Anyways, at your height/weight, I think you will look more cut after you pack on a bit of quality muscle. Mehdi's program is a good program for that. I would also recommend reading another 5x5 program, starting strength by Mark Rippetoe (along with the recently released DVD) for further information and if you can find it, Bill Starr's "The Strongest Shall Survive" which was out of print for away but recently re-released.

Thanks man! So I guess I shouldn't really worry too much about my bodyfat right now. Now I will increase my protein intake a little bit and push myself even more in the gym. I just hope that extra muscle that I will get won't slow me down whenever soccer season starts in December...

No, I wouldn't focus so much on bodyfat right now, especially if athletic performance is a key goal. Train for performance and the aesthetics will come. Both Rippetoes and Starr's books that I referenced above were basically products of the work they did with young athletes.

Just try to minimize the body fat gain as you get stronger. Muscle won't make you slow, it will make you stronger and gives you more potential to produce power (mass x acceleration) and should make much of what you do faster. Now if you put on a lot of "size" and too much of that new size is added fat, that will slow you down.

So focus on the weight on the bar, but keep an eye on your bf%. I'd say, if it gets up to 14-15%, then you can go and diet back down to 10%. By that time, you should have added some muscle. and 10% bf at 150lbs is going to look a lot better on you than 10% at 138 lbs.