Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below just had bf tested doubt results. ELG was used. results were 12.3%bf 15.5lbs, lean mass 87.7% 110.5lbs. i am 27 about 5.7 127lbs. anyone know accuracy of this source compared to others. this was first time i ever had it tested. the test was performed after my workout and about 5.5 hrs awake ( 2 meals) guy told me after should be done in morning. my goals are gain muscle but i dont want to gain any more fat that i have now. i dont take supplements and am natural. my diet is clean but i dont eat meat(maybe once a week i eat eggs or fish out) and hardly any dairy except whey. any advice would be appreciated. wondering what everybodys maintenance % is. those of you who have pictures posted what is your %. thanks
bf%
- Thread starter seeclear
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JJFigure
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Do you think the results are high or low?
Unfortunately, when you're eating enough to gain muscle, a little fat gain (or a lot, in some people's cases) is going to happen. The trick is to find a way to eat enough to gain muscle without gaining a bunch of fat. If you're patient, you can take your kcals slightly above maintenance, and if you're eating clean, non processed food sources, you should be ok. It's just going to take a while to gain muscle on only slightly elevated kcal levels.
Unfortunately, when you're eating enough to gain muscle, a little fat gain (or a lot, in some people's cases) is going to happen. The trick is to find a way to eat enough to gain muscle without gaining a bunch of fat. If you're patient, you can take your kcals slightly above maintenance, and if you're eating clean, non processed food sources, you should be ok. It's just going to take a while to gain muscle on only slightly elevated kcal levels.
i think more bf. i dont have much to compare results w/ since 1st time. i recently stoped eating simple carbs was consuming alot before and after w/o. cant handle insulin spike. also cut out drinking. i am sure most of fat came from excess drinking last 6 months (along w/ next morning IHOP visits) i was still working out hard and actually gained more muscle than before. i guess i was not taking in enough cals before. hope to see fat loss as a result of cleaning up diet/behavior) problem is now i dont know what my maintenance consumption is. i am taking in same amount of cals,protein. carbs without the extras. i have never protein/carb/fat cycled before. tried last 2 weeks after reading about here. my workouts the day after low carb sucked. just started dc training same time so was already fustrated. feel missing something w/ dc but thats another subject. question about cardio. i have always used diet/weight lifting to control bf. thinking that cardio was counter productive to muscle gain. if u are having to do cardio are u not just consuming to much of something? sorry for writing book just want gain as much info as poss. any advice/comments are appreciated. whats everyones maintenance bf%.
JJFigure
New member
Well, this is what I'm doing. I just finished a competition diet, so I kind of eased into bulking to let my metabolism straighten out. I'm doing a cyclical bulking plan, where I eat more kcals on lifting days and less on non-lifting days. My ratios are 45% pro, 35% carb, 20% fat; on lifting days I've been eating 15xbw and non-lifting days 10xbw. This week I shift my kcals up to 17xbw on lifting days but will stay around 10-11xbw on non-lifting days. If you want more info, check out Mr. X's bulking articles linked on the diet board. I'm using the bulking approach from his second article.
I lift 4 days/week and do sprint work 2 days/week. So, I eat higher kcals 4 days and lower kcals 3 days. All my carbs are clean - oats in the am, fibrous veggies in the pm, and cott cheese in my last meal. I will have the occasional cheat, but they're focused on events I'm attending this summer, so there won't be that many of them. I'm really trying to focus on adding as much muscle as possible over the next 8 months, so I'm focusing on food as muscle fuel, not as a reward.
I'm still down around 9-10% bf; I probably won't get much over 12-13% since I need to drop down to at least 7% for the 2004 World's. So, I'm not a good one to go by for maintenance bf levels; it's healthier to maintain more like 14-15%, IMO.
I lift 4 days/week and do sprint work 2 days/week. So, I eat higher kcals 4 days and lower kcals 3 days. All my carbs are clean - oats in the am, fibrous veggies in the pm, and cott cheese in my last meal. I will have the occasional cheat, but they're focused on events I'm attending this summer, so there won't be that many of them. I'm really trying to focus on adding as much muscle as possible over the next 8 months, so I'm focusing on food as muscle fuel, not as a reward.
I'm still down around 9-10% bf; I probably won't get much over 12-13% since I need to drop down to at least 7% for the 2004 World's. So, I'm not a good one to go by for maintenance bf levels; it's healthier to maintain more like 14-15%, IMO.
i will check it out. i dont know if i can handle the extreme cycling because lower carbs seem to affect my study ability. i appreciate your replies as i have been going it alone for over a year. was starting to think there was secrete hand shake with this site. 
lol not bitter. just been going it on my own for over year. mainly relying on "shinny mags" for info. my girlfriends are all runners. tris/marathons so no help there keeping muscle. lol
lol not bitter. just been going it on my own for over year. mainly relying on "shinny mags" for info. my girlfriends are all runners. tris/marathons so no help there keeping muscle. lol
JJFigure
New member
You don't necessarily have to go low carb; I just happen to do very well on lower carb diets. I'm ranging from 60 grams on low days to 150 grams on high days; however, I think the real key is keeping the protein intake high. Again, I don't know that you need to go as high as 45% - a 40/30/30 or 33/33/33 approach would probably work as well. It's more important you're eating clean, non-processed carbs.
JJFigure
New member
Good girl! What's your protein intake like? Again, try to rely as much as possible on food sources for your protein, unless you're a vegan; much harder when you're a vegan. I don't eat bars at all right now (unless traveling and desperate) and I only consume whey isolate around my workouts - I don't drink my protein for any other meal. This can make a huge difference - it's harder to digest protein from food sources, so you'll get a thermogenic boost just from eating meat/poultry/fish/eggs, etc. Can't complain about that!
20-30 protein per meal every 2-3 hrs. every other meal is shake. the only solid protein is tofu. i eat alot of tofu. for a few weeks i have been grinding flax seed in soy protein. i wanted to try to get my fat from a better source than tofu. the tofu i am eating has about 10grams of fat per 25grams protein. tofu has so much water in it i wonder if there is any more of a thermogenic quality than soy protein w/ flax meal. the later turns into a paste like substance after being in fridge a few hours. i do the same thing w/ whey. actually use more whey than soy. figure get enough soy from tofu. i know whey is absorbed faster so i wonder if 3 hrs is to much time untill next meal. that has been the general time between my meals except 1st and 2nd. and 2nd meal after w/o those are usually 2-2.5. i usually dont consume any other animal products. when i eat eggs or fish it is out (usually cheat meal) i just started that again was vegan for few years.
All I can add to JJs excellent advice is that I have been vegan for over 20 years (although I have relaxed a little in the last year). IMHO you need to eat MORE food, MORE real foods, and accept that optimal muscle growth requires some increase in bodyfat if you aren't taking AAS.
In my case when I'm between BB comps (in other words trying to gain muscle) I go as high as 16-18% bodyfat. This is from eating unlimited food from very simple food sources such as lentils, beans, soy protein isolate, and minor protein sources. I also cycle my protein intake so that some days I take in as little as 40g, and other days I take in as much as 120g. My calories at this stage are around 2500 per day. When I want to lose fat while keeping muscle, I change things so that I am eating around 3grams of protein per kilo bodyweight. I drop carb and fat calories dramatically, and end up consuming around 1600-1800 calories per day total. In reality it's a lot more complicated than this, but the main thing is that I am either gaining muscle OR losing fat. Never both at the same time. When I diet to lose fat, I increase my intake of soy protein isolate to make the protein up to 3g/kg/day.
In my case when I'm between BB comps (in other words trying to gain muscle) I go as high as 16-18% bodyfat. This is from eating unlimited food from very simple food sources such as lentils, beans, soy protein isolate, and minor protein sources. I also cycle my protein intake so that some days I take in as little as 40g, and other days I take in as much as 120g. My calories at this stage are around 2500 per day. When I want to lose fat while keeping muscle, I change things so that I am eating around 3grams of protein per kilo bodyweight. I drop carb and fat calories dramatically, and end up consuming around 1600-1800 calories per day total. In reality it's a lot more complicated than this, but the main thing is that I am either gaining muscle OR losing fat. Never both at the same time. When I diet to lose fat, I increase my intake of soy protein isolate to make the protein up to 3g/kg/day.
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