Body Fat

With yet another Race cancelled (Cody Race #1, Mar. 15th), and daily temperatures currently about 20 degrees below the usual average, I am, again, obsessing about body composition.
So, for those who read this blog to keep motivated and educated with respect to cycling here is some new info I am using as guidelines:

Men (% Fat)
Essential Fat 2-4 percent
Athletes 6-13 percent
Fitness 14-17 percent
Acceptable 18-25 percent

So, amateur cyclists should strive to be in the 6 to 13% range. If you are over 40 you can add two percentage points. I have a bodyfat scale, so I keep track of this data.

In general, healthy fat for men is 8 to 19% (up to 39 years) and 11 to 21% (40 to 59 years). So racer or not, being in these numbers reduces the risk of a variety of diseases.

Also, if you want to check your BMI, (Body Mass Index), visit this site and punch in your numbers. Unless you are very muscular you will want to be between 18.5 and 24.9 (don't makes excuses if your BMI is over 25, you are just too fat to perform at your best).
http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bminojs.htm

I am about 12.6% body fat right now and BMI is around 23.3 so doing pretty good, just a little fat to trim, then into maintenance mode.