Have you ever wondered what the ideal body fat percentage for men is? If so, then you are definitely going to want to watch this video. In this one, I am going to discuss what I think is the ideal body fat percentage for men and whether or not that is achievable for you to get to as well as maintain that as well.
In today’s AX Jeff, Jesse and I are going to discuss a comment that was left on one of my videos regarding body fat. While the commenter seems to think that I’ve said that 6% body fat is the ideal spot to be in for men, especially in comparison to the 15% that was attributed to others, I’ve never actually stated that. I myself am extremely lean with a body fat percentage around 6 or 7%, but do I think that everyone can and should be at the same level of leanness as me? Well, no.
I understand that being as lean as Jeff Cavaliere is a goal for some, but not the goal for everyone and that’s okay. Let’s start with figuring out what your goal is and that comes with identifying whether you are looking at aesthetics, athletics / performance, strength, or in the case of Jesse; all the above.
For athletics / performance, your body fat levels should be determined by the demands of your sport. But even within the same sport, different positions will have different requirements. In the case of football, a wide receiver is going to need to be at a lower body fat percentage in order to perform at the highest level compared to an offensive lineman who is try to carry as much size as possible to prevent being run over by the defense. Depending on the sport and the position, the idea that lower body fat leads to compromised athletic performance is nonsense.
When it comes to strength, we’ve all heard the notion that you need to carry as much weight on their body as possible to move heavy weight on the bar. This often comes with a bulk and cut – adding as much size to your frame as possible to move as much weight as you can in order to grow via overload. After that, cut back down to a level of leanness that is desirable. I will tell you right now, you can still be strong without bulking. You can be lean and strong. Jesse is living proof of this with his deadlift at 550 lbs and his squat over 400 lbs while remaining fairly lean.
When it comes to aesthetics, there are 3 important things to take note of. First, is that we should be describing leanness in percentages instead of using terminology. Ripped, shredded, lean, and diced all could mean different things to different people – at least with percentages there is an objective view that all can agree on.
Second, the leaner you are, the more muscular you will appear. Lower levels of body fat will show more definition, giving the appearance of greater muscularity. Take a look at Bruce Lee, someone considered a fitness icon, and his muscularity. He was not a large individual, but he was very lean which made his muscles appear larger. If he added body fat, inversely he would be considered to be skinny.
Thirdly, while subjectivity rules here, I can safely say that 9-10% body fat percentage looks better than 15-17%. The definition and muscularity are going to be enhanced at the lower levels of body fat, creating the appearance of more muscle. If aesthetics is part of the goal, then having a lower body fat level, such as 10% is likely where you are going to want to be.
As I have said previously, body fat levels as low as mine which is in the 6-7% range, is not for everyone. In fact, I would argue that while most people can get to this level of leanness, a large percentage of people won’t be able to maintain it. Why? Our bodies have a set point at which we are able to comfortable remain at a lower body fat level. Some people simply cannot get past a certain body fat percentage and others can, but feel the side effects of it.
The idea is to find your set point; the lowest you can get to and maintain it in a healthy manner without any negative side effects. Once you find your set point, you know exactly how lean you can get and maintain year round with the proper discipline.
If you are looking for a day-by-day meal plan to go along with your workouts to help you get lean and athletic, they are included with every workout program I designed that can be found at the ATHLEAN-X website via the link below.
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Very good video. Not an easy message. I think you are right and don’t think bodyfat percentage is an easy thing to change! Being thin but without the low bodyfat percentage makes me skinnyfat I guess. Trying to gain lean bodymass has been the strategy but is hard. Not because of becoming fat but burning everything I eat. Rest has proven important and more is not always better.
Your video’s are an inspiration. Thank you
Jesse be like "so THIS might rustle some jimmies" lmao. Those intros! Keeping it fresh and fun
Does tio jeff wear makeup?
I’m 12%
Only thing I found offensive was that rugby was mentioned, but an Aussie Rules clip was shown lol. Great video though fellas!
I am 66 years old. I have been “athletic” my whole life but poor diet. My whole working life I commuted to work by bicycle in the Pacific Northwest year round, ~12,000 – 15,000 km a year and usually an hour a day in the gym during the work week. Now I am semi-retired working from home with no commute. My 3+ hours a day of working out took no discipline because it was just part of my day. What do I do now? According to my scale when I am 18% body fat I look very “cut”, I think the scale is wrong.
I personally would rather have the body type of Brian Shaw, Eddie Hall, Robert Oberst, etc…
Jeff, my training guru who prides himself on facts, you showed a clip of Australian Rules Football and not rugby!
Do you feel your body has a ‘set weight’ as well? I am naturally very lean. I started lifting aged 15, 8-10% BF, 68kg. It took a year to hit 75kg. Whenever I have gone higher than this (up to 78kg) it feels as if my body rejects it and I get physically ill and sick. The weight then drops back to 74/75kg which simply seems to be my natural weight. I eat 4000-5000 calories a day and have always been in the 8-10% BF range. I wondered if you have similar experiences with clients where their bodies almost reject being under or over their ‘preferred’ weight?
52 years old and have always had bodyfat around6-8%, 181cm/74kg(has varied from 71-75kg's) . My training is and has alway been: cross country skiing all winter(live in Norway), mountainbiking, hiking in the woods and mountains and of course weight lifting.
Never been on any diet, eat what I want and also drink some alcohol. But I mostly eat healthy food, seldom candy and such things. I think it's right as he says that if you have had a consistent bodyfat/bodysize all your life it's easier to stay there and it will not cause you any health problems. It's just natural for your body. And for some of us it's in fact hard to gain weight at all, to force feed yourself doesn't feel good.. I think the most silly thing you can do is to go up and down in weight all your life, thats how a lot of people live – eat a lot of junk and get fat and then go on a diet and then after a while increase weight again..
Only men care about 6% body fat lol
Man, watching DK Metcalfe at the Celebrity NBA all-star game on Friday. What. An. Athlete. Effortless dunking all over the place. It was hard to believe he wasn't an NBA player. His length of the field chase down of that Arizona defensive back who had made the interception a few years ago is one of the most amazing sports highlights I've ever seen in my life (which is a long time).
Happy to hear the shout out for Serge Ibaka, who's also a really entertaining guy (on top of his unbelievable body)..
Elite male marathoners average about 8% body fat and they are the leanest athletes. 6% might be nice for a short term body physique Competition.
I don't have a percentage goal, I just have a physique goal in my head that I want to get to, I'm not gonna mess with fat percentage. If I'm at a point where I'm happy with how I look and I still feel good I'm happy
Any chance you can go into a workout routine for sports? Like soccer players? Struggling to find a gym routine that supplements a sport.
Hey Jeff I'm a 16 year old male and if I had to guess my current body fat % I would say at most 20 and i was wondering if u have advice for Toning and defining my abs? Or if u already have a video out about what I should be eating currently I have a 6 pack how should I go about progressing
That wasn't rugby, that was Australian Rules Football!
Don’t forget that actors in superhero movies have “shirt off” days in their shooting schedules and they will fast before those days to get the shredded look for one or two scenes. Not even Hugh Jackman really looks like the Wolverine.
What is the set point and how do you calculate it? How can I calculate the best body fat percentage for me?
Im 130.5 and my body fat is 6.5 Im a skinny dude but boy am i lean lmao, Im currently in a program with reclaim to help gain mass, any advice?? thanks!!
Hey Jeff, work on that echoing in your video, make ur audio clear and sharper
Problem with this country is too many people apparently have a set point of 45% bf.
Hey Jeff. What does having low body fat and abs that pop out feels like? As in do you feel like your skin wraps and presses down on your abs like a small shirt tightly wrapped around your stomach? Curious as to what it feels like. Thank you for your time.
“Displace the fact that you have to be at a certain BF% to be at peak….” Dude this is one in literally hundreds of a millions of people example lol
I've never heard anyone say there is a certain body fat everyone should be .. ever.. I've been working out and reading fitness magazines since I was 13 and I'm almost 36 now. Never heard that until you said it here
I think maintaining below 10% body fat year round would make life uncomfortable. About 15% bf would make you look fit and aesthetically pleasing by most people's standards.
i'm 45 years old and roughly 6% body fat – being concious of what i eat, but no calorie counting and i don't deprive myself of anything (apart from being a bit careful about sugar intake). that's just the way my body is. i'd love to be more like 10%, but i have a balance between gaining weight/building muscle versus spending all day preparing and eating 5+ meals. so, as the video kind of said, strive to be the best that you can be but accept that we are all different and you there's a limit to how much you can fight genetics.
p.s it's a clip of Australian Rules Football in the video clip, not Rugby 🙂
Im actually happy at 17%… i tried going down to 13% and I felt miserable.
I can't thank you enough for your down-to-earth point of views and comments. Thanks so much for keeping it real for us regular folks. Cheers!
When you go to the health vitamin and supplement stores. They have the body fat percentage scales that tell bone density and how lean you are. How much do you put your trust in on them. ? When they give you a printed layout of what your body percentages are ?
I noticed a hard stop in my body about 6 years ago. My average happy weight was between 137 and 147, at 5'1. Went through a really toxic breakup, kept working out, ate less, got down to 129 unintentionally, and felt like shit. Menstrual cycle disappeared SO fast. My face looked like a skeleton. STILL had those same stubborn areas of body fat, just smaller. Felt like I was going to pass out, 24/7. Headaches that didn't go away, cold and shaky all the time, nauseous all the time from hunger and low blood sugar.
It blew my mind. I stayed at 124 in college and felt bad the next 10 years that I wasn't getting below 135 because I thought it meant I was being lazy, even though I knew how active I was. My body essentially starting to shut down and turn off at 129 pounds at 30 ys old was eye opening. I always assumed I had at least a 20 lb cushion between shut down and my average weight, and figured I'd be fine even at around 119, and that I just didn't have the discipline or willingness to make lifestyle sacrifices to achieve that. But that year I learned my body's set point was where I'd been at the whole time I'd been beating myself up for not doing better. I'd always known 136 ish felt really good. Energy, athleticism, able to sleep, etc. I just used to think I'd feel even BETTER around that 125 I was in college. Nope. My body let me know real quick I'd been under the wrong assumption for over a decade.
3:37 _ writing from Australia here – the video footage is actually AFL – Aussie Rules Football – not rugby! Sorry Jeff – stick to your North American examples or ask an Aussie for some tips 🤷♂️👊🏼💪🏼
Thanks for the great advise you always give.
I was hoping you might cover the ideal body fat for my goals in life "age gracefully"
I would be happy to get to 15%, working towards it.
11% here. I’m 40 and been lean like this since… forever!
Hi Jeff, this is Victor from the Philippines i have CP I have a question, what body percentage should I be?
I cut down to 175 and all my lifts suffered. Huge wakeup call. I realized I care about my strength way too much to be that lean. Sitting at a chunky 205 right now but all my lifts are blowing up. Probably gonna cut down to 195ish after the meet and start bulking again
When I try to go above x1 bodyweight in squat my knees sounds like bubblewrap, is that something I need to worry about(and can fix) or can I just ignore it as long as it dont hurt?
5% people can't maintain 6% bodyfat. The number could be that 5% professional athletes can maintain it. 0.005% people can do it. 0.0005% can maintain it. However, the bodyfat percent goals depend on your personal goals, and how much you're willing to sacrifice, and how disciplined you are
I'm a skinny guy, I always have been. I'm not sure about body fat level, but it is certainly less than 10% and closer to 6%. I am 175 cm (5'9'') tall and weigh 52 kg (116.8 lbs). I have always had a problem with gaining weight. Since a couple of months I have changed a lot of things in my life, I've been eating a lot better, training regularly and have actually gained some weight. Genetically, I'll always have low body fat and generally won't be a big guy, but I'm sure I can put on some muscle to look good shirtless. At least, I naturally have good definition when it comes to muscle visibility.
To all the people watching keep in mind jeff is on PED's and testosterone and so are are all the athletes he mentioned.
I wonder if you guys work with women at all? I learn a lot from this channel and I deeply appreciate the content. But I'm a bit sad because it rarely speaks to women (or because i cannot find an equivalent channel for women)…
The “rugby player” is actual an Aussie Rules player Ben Cousins,who was a meth addict, no wonder he was lean and could run all day
Why is Ben Cousins on the thumb nail?
Are there people who genuinely believe this guy is natural?
What I take away from this is that your level of leanness is largely genetic