Tracking body comp. (esp. avoiding too low body fat) without measuring body fat %

[Jordan_Feigenbaum]

@PuzzlingWeaver

To clarify:

1. What would you use to establish a lower bound on healthy weight, e.g. to know when to stop cutting? Having been surprised by a 8-9% Bod Pod measure before (when otherwise I would have kept cutting), I don’t want to rely on a visual guess alone.

BMI of ~19 -20 or symptoms associated with RED-S would be my lower bound. I would not be concerned over bod pod measurements of 8-9% at all. I wouldn’t recommend a bod pod for assessing body fat either, as they are neither accurate nor precise. DXA would be the go-to if you absolutely had to have a number.

@PuzzlingWeaver

For upper bounds, e.g. to know when to stop bulking, would you use just BMI and waist circumference? What if waist circumference were below 40" but BMI>25?

BMI > 30 or waist circumference > 36.5" in men (unless some other ethnicity-related cut off) or development of adiposity-related chronic disease.