Why looking at body fat is important

📖 2 minute Read

The Body Fat is part of the so called body composition.
So to start today’s article off, it’d be good to know what that even is. At its core, it describes the relation or proportion between your bodies components, i.e. body fat, muscles, bones, etc..
But as you might’ve guessed, interesting for us today will be especially body fat and what impact too much or not enough might have and in what consequences that ultimately results.
Also, those aren’t just limited to a decrease in performance!

To begin with, too much body fat results in various problems, such as an increased risk of chronic diseases, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, etc..
So obviously not really something one would like to have, especially as somebody involved in sports. Often forgotten, is that it increases inflammation in the body too, which impacts the chance of catching diseases and making your joints and tendons wear down more easily.

But what does too little body fat do to you? Fat is your power reserve and by not having enough power stored, the output will decrease. Regarding your athletic performance, this may lead to an increased risk of injury after having to break down muscle tissue for energy instead of relying on necessary fat or make recovery more challenging as essential nutrients are missing.
Similar to too much body fat, too little has negative impacts regarding your immune system as well as decreasing energy levels, concentration and chance of fatigue.

These were only to name a few, but what then is a healthy amount of body fat?
Consider the following chart:

It’s to be noted, that these are percentages taken from a large population and that individual percentages might vary!

All in all, keeping body fat in mind and knowing what serves you best in the sport you practice is what you should be looking for!

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