r/crossfit • u/Mediocre-Aardvark-89 • 7d ago

Is body fat important?

Hi guys. I have nearly 16-17% body fat. If I move on lower body fat, like 12-13%, what are the benefits of this besides aesthetic looking?

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u/ycelpt 6d ago

Yes but going lower has diminishing returns. 20% down to 16% will be more significant that 16% down to 12%. And going too low will reduce performance. Each type of work has a desired zone. So a male endurance athlete may sit quite happily at 10% without loss of performance but strength athletes tend to perform better a bit higher about 16%. CrossFit you need to balance these out and there's little scientific testing for hybrid style training and so it's hard to decide an ideal number, especially when you take into account every body is different, even within the sport. I'd generally err closer to the 16% as it generally pays to be stronger than it pays to be fitter in CrossFit.

You also need to balance out the fact that the deficit you need to go from 16% to 12% will also mean a loss of performance