Issues from excessive leanness

[Craig Van De Walker]

What are the dangers or possible downsides for a male in excessive leanness?

I am not talking about crash dieting or fast weight loss but just getting and staying very very lean

[Mike ODonnell]

define lean? Low BF or lack of muscle type?

[Garrett Smith]

Besides the stress of constantly obsessing over food, exercise, and the other habits that have to be monitored to the minutiae in order to maintain it?

Losing friends and avoiding a social life, both necessary to health, would be one of the first things that happens for this type of behavior. The obsession becomes the only thing that person can talk about, as it is always on their mind, and people just plain get sick of the narcissistic talk.

Once bodyfat levels get beneath a certain point, which will vary among people, their performance drop will be the first noticeable negative change. This could be indicative of many internal health shifts, most likely in hormones and available fuel sources.

[Darryl Shaw]

I'm kind of wiry and naturally lean and I've averaged around 5% BF for the past 20+ years (I'm 40) and the only problem I have is feeling cold all the time.

[Dave Van Skike]

being thoroughly unsexy?

looking like prey?

dieing quickly in the post industrial apocalypse?

[Neal Winkler]

Darryl,

I used to think that I naturally had 5% bodyfat, but one day I got scanned by a DEXA (the gold standard in body comp) and had that myth shattered.

Do you have ripped abs without flexing? If not, then you don't have 5% body fat. In fact, you probably don't even have sub-10. If you do have ripped abs without flexing, then damn!

[Derek Weaver]

I may be wrong here, but I am pretty sure that DEXA scans, while the pinnacle for overall body comp testing tend to be quite a bit higher than calipers. DEXAs look at all the fat, from your head to your organs to subcutaneous. Calipers may be quite a bit lower as they only focus on subcutaneous fat stores.

Just pitching in as someone could be something like 8% with calipers but get a DEXA reading that's several percentage points higher.

[Darryl Shaw]

Originally Posted by Neal Winkler

Darryl,

I used to think that I naturally had 5% bodyfat, but one day I got scanned by a DEXA (the gold standard in body comp) and had that myth shattered.

Do you have ripped abs without flexing? If not, then you don't have 5% body fat. In fact, you probably don't even have sub-10. If you do have ripped abs without flexing, then damn!

Do I have ripped abs without flexing? Yes.......



.....Sorry.

[Dave Paton]

I like Dr. G's thoughts on the social aspect. That is why i will not give up salsa because of night shades!!!!!