HEALTHY BODY COMPOSITION IN FEMALES..
There are hundreds of reasons why we are in the gym, but it would be hard to argue that on some level one of those reasons is not aesthetic.
Weight loss is probably the most common goal for women. And not just general weight loss, what we really mean is FAT LOSS.
Social media is littered with pictures of women rocking ripped abs and extremely lean physiques. The common thread here is a desire to reduce body fat.
Body fat is not unique to the female body; it is essential to the human body. To show you what I mean I am going to group body fat into essential, sex specific, and expendable categories. Essential body fat is like a base layer, and is the same for everyone. Each and every cell in your body is wrapped in a phospholipid bilayer. Your heart, lungs, bone marrow, liver, kidneys, intestines, central nervous system, and even muscles all require a certain level of body fat in order to function optimally.
Studies show that in men that the average baseline needed to be healthy is 4%. Any weight drop below this level will come from lean body mass.
Technically, this 4% rule also applies to women. However, to be considered healthy a woman needs an additional 5% of sex specific body fat. This additional storage plays a vital role in the onset and regulation of regular menstrual cycles. When body fat in a woman drops too low she will begin showing signs of secondary amenorrhea resulting in irregular ovulatory cycles or a complete disappearance of the menstrual cycle all together. Over time this can lead to fertility issues and bone loss.
That leaves us with what we can manipulate, expendable storage. For a healthy individual this is, on average, an additional 15%. If you are keeping track that gives us a total of 19% for men and 24% women. Now we know that not everyone can be lumped into the world of mathematical averages.
Therefore, some standard ranges have been developed.
Ideal Body Fat Ranges
Men/Women
Essential Fat 2-5%10-13%
Athletes 6-13% 14-20%
Fitness 14-17% 21-24%
Average 18-24% 25-31%
Obese 25%+ 32%+
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