Got calipered today. . .

[episodic]

Im still around 180lbs (down from 350). In October I was 13% body fat. I just found out I'm at 9% now. I'm 37.

How low can I go? I'm trying to get rid of the loose skin around my stomach. If you don't know my posts I've been weight lifting since October (modified stronglifts) I do the deads and the squats as prescribed. I have to go easy with my shoulder so I do 1 armed dumbell rows and use a military press machine rather than free weights. I also do pull ups/pushups/dips/burpees and lots of bicycling.

I was like to be even more slender. I've hit 32 waist size. I was always going for a 30. I'd rather be small/lean than big (I prefer bicycling). For instance bicycling magazine just put out an ideal biking weight calculator that says around 167 would be my perfect weight. However if I'm 180lbs with 9% body fat - to get to 167 - I'd be very low body fat. I've never had to think about all this before. What is some advice for me?

 

[highland145]

180 and 9% is fairly thin, imo. You might be stuck with the loose skin.

Good job.

 

[RavenSEAL]

180 and 9% is fairly thin, imo. You might be stuck with the loose skin.

Good job.

This.

Sometimes having surgery to remove that loose skin is the only solution. An acquaintance of mine who lost 122lbs had to do it.

 

[Saint Nick]

You could build muscle around the area to tighten it up, but that would involve eating at a surplus and lifting heavy. Sounds like you want to keep your weight down for cycling.

 

[Pia]

So you want to drop weight, or just fat? For competitive advantage in cycling, or for the pleasure of looking like a skeleton?

If the "ideal cyclist" was supposed to be your age, and not on steroids, he probably doesn't have any muscles beyond what are needed to propel a bike forward - that would explain the weight.

It's hard to sustain low BF% without feeling like shit and/or losing athletic performance. Models and athletes in weight-limited sports only taper to super-low BF% for a while and come back up. Genetics plays a role. Age plays a role as well. Steroids can help.

Stronglifts has high enough volume to build muscle, so switching to a low-volume, pure strength lifting program would help you avoid some muscle weight that you would gain/maintain with SL.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Honestly, I would suggest compromising by attempting to tighten the skin as much as possible and then gain a bit of weight to compensate for whatever loose skin is left. The weight doesn't necessarily have to be fat, but increasing your BIM a little bit can't hurt much considering you are well into the fit-zone.

 

[Awkward]

9% is very good for your age, I wouldn't pay much attention to "ideal" anything, I doubt it will play a significant role being a few pounds heavier.

I also cycle a lot, but I'd rather be a little heavier than where I'm at now at 6'3 and 155lbs

 

[iluvdeal]

I wouldn't put too much stock in "ideal weights" based on height. There's just too much variability in our individual make up to apply a blanket rule to everyone like that. 9% at 37 years old is pretty damn good already. It's unlikely you can go much lower in BF to make 167, so you'd have to lose muscle too. But dropping another 13 pounds of muscle and fat just because some magazine told you to weigh a certain number doesn't seem logical to me. Maybe instead of goals like body weight and waist size, you should shift your attention to performance goals like improving the time you ride a particular bike path, a speed you can maintain, working up to x amount of burpees, weight training based goals, etc.

If you have a lot of loose skin around your stomach at 9% BF, I don't think the problem is your remaining fat so going lower in BF won't solve that problem. For people who've lost a lot of weight like you have, surgical operations can be done to remove the excess skin.

 

[episodic]

Thanks for all the thoughts.

I mentioned the article in the bicycling magazine, only because Im looking for help as to where to take this whole thing. I've never been here before.

I was thinking size 30 pants would be a good target - even from the beginning when I wore size 56's.

So sitting here around 180 - I'm not sure how for to take this.

My strength gains are still coming, albeit slowly. I can properly deadlift 230lbs now. I can squat 'all the way' with 225 5x5. I can do 10 pull ups, hold side planks for over 2 minutes, and bike at 18+ mph for 30-40 miles at a pop.

The problem with the skin I know is just aesthetic. It is a point of bitterness with me that I've came all this way and still don't look good with my shirt off. I had read somewhere once (I've read alot about this) that sometimes when very low body fats are achieved the body will take subcutaneous fat from under the skin and then - sometimes - the skin will shrink. I was just hoping. I'll never be able to afford the surgery, nor does my insurance pay for it.

I'm nowhere near as bad as some ppl's skin problem - mine is just around my navel some and I can even wear good fitting t-shirts without too many problems. I just wish it would go away.

I appreciate the thoughts on gaining weight to 'fill' out. While I have no doubt that might help some, I doubt I could ever let myself gain weight again (you would have to go through what I went through to understand).

 

[Awkward]

Unfortunately surgery is the only way to completely get rid of that loose skin. Don't let that bring you down though, your accomplishments are nothing short of amazing and you should feel proud.

 

[elitejp]

just drawing from memory but take a look at fish oils. These types of oils will help thin you up and I think it targets the fat under your skin if i remember correctly.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Unfortunately surgery is the only way to completely get rid of that loose skin. Don't let that bring you down though, your accomplishments are nothing short of amazing and you should feel proud.

This for sure. :thumbsup:

 

[iluvdeal]

Who says you'll never be able to afford the surgery? If I told you back when you weighed 350, it was possible you could get down to 180, what would you have thought? Once you set your mind on something, you can work to achieve it so don't just give up. It may take some time, but you can put together a plan to achieve it. As someone whose lost more than half your body weight and accomplished some great fitness goals, you sound capable of anything. I'm sure you've learned a lot on your journey to get where you are at now. Maybe you can earn some extra bucks on the side training or counseling other people who are in the same position you were in before but don't know where to start?

How much is the surgery anyways? While it may not be possible to pay for the whole surgery in a lump sum, could you take a loan out for it and meet the monthly payments instead? Have you looked into how much the same procedure cost overseas? The other option here is to just learn to love and accept who you are right now. No one is perfect nor is having the ideal body a requirement to being happy. I've never seen the bellies of most people I know, have you? So this really is an issue about you feel about yourself.