Body fat test page

[jerisprimal]

Mark,

I am 40 years old and I had my first bodyfat test 3 months ago. It was 14.6%. I started the Primal lifestyle right after the test. I thought I was seeing amazing results: I lost 8 pounds (from 186 to 178) I can see my abs, I feel great and my muscles look more defined than ever. People in my gym keep asking me how I got so big and ripped. So with much excitement I went back for another bodyfat test today. I am in fact down 8 pounds, but my body fat is only down to 13.2%. The technician told me I have only lost 3 pounds of fat and 5 pounds of lean muscle. I was obviously very disappointed and a bit confused! I ran the results by my trainer and he doesn't believe it's possible that I could be down 5 pounds of muscle. Not only do I look bigger (clothes still snug) my lifting continues to grow, with increases in weight, reps and stamina. He said it's not possible for me to be increasing lift loads with such a substantial (5 lb) loss in muscle. What are your thoughts on this and how do I stop the muscle loss! Thanks, Jeremy

[js290]

He said it's not possible for me to be increasing lift loads with such a substantial (5 lb) loss in muscle. What are your thoughts on this and how do I stop the muscle loss! Thanks, Jeremy

• Verify your metabolic flexibility.
• Do you do other cardio type physical activities like running or biking?

[jerisprimal]

• Verify your metabolic flexibility.
• Do you do other cardio type physical activities like running or biking?

I hike 1-2 times a week and do HIIT running/sprints 2-3 times per week. Not doing long distance running or muscle wasting cardio...

[yodiewan]

I think it's likely that a lot of the weight lost was water weight. Either water stored with glycogen in your muscles or otherwise. A low-carb diet will lower your glycogen stores and almost everyone experiences a loss of water weight when switching to a low-carb diet.

Water weight will show up as lean mass on many (all?) body-fat tests, but that definitely doesn't mean you lost muscle. Just keep lifting heavy and you will maintain or build muscle.

[IcarianVX]

How did they test it? If they used the bio-impedance thingy (where you grab the handles) that does nothing but fuck with your mind.

The only real test is to kill you and rip off all of your body fat and weigh it. Everything else is a SWAG. Don't fret so much. Do you really care that some weenie at a gym told you that you lost 5lbs of muscle when your lifts are going up, you can see your abs and everyone is noticing that you look great? Prioritize my man, prioritize.

[quelsen]

How did they test it? If they used the bio-impedance thingy (where you grab the handles) that does nothing but fuck with your mind.

The only real test is to kill you and rip off all of your body fat and weigh it. Everything else is a SWAG. Don't fret so much. Do you really care that some weenie at a gym told you that you lost 5lbs of muscle when your lifts are going up, you can see your abs and everyone is noticing that you look great? Prioritize my man, prioritize.

+100

Water immersiom, Dexa Scan, or Bodpod, else it means nadda even then unless you have the cash to check it religiously why bother

[jerisprimal]

Thanks all for the responses. I am not concerned with the # itself - I am concerned comparing my last results against my new ones. The test was done by the same person using the same method (hydrostatic water immersion) so I can't figure out why it shows such a minimal decrease in bodyfat and why she found that I lost lean muscle.

[yodiewan]

Did you just get "fat mass" and "fat-free mass" numbers? If so, again I would say that it's just water weight, as water weight is technically fat-free mass.