[Mariner_9]

What would be an appropriate range of body fat as % of total weight for an “uphill athlete”? My guess is slightly higher than for more general endurance athletes such as ultra-runners or triathletes (recommendations for those seem to be around 6-12% from what I saw online).

Some Googling on the subject turned up this, which might be of interest: “Body Composition and Dietary Intake of Elite Cross-country Skiers Members of the Greek National Team”, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3525822/

Topic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on November 15, 2016 at 10:03 pm #3452

Don’t target a body fat percentage. Train lots, eat well and then see what your BF% is and notice how you are performing. Going too lean will have a negative effect, maybe even more than carrying too much fat. Based on my experience; top male XC skiers will fall in the range of 4-7% typically. Going much below 4-5% often results in poor recovery, more illness and a drop in performance. But find the BF composition that allows you to handle the high training load without breaking down.

Scott

[Mariner_9]

Mariner_9 on November 18, 2016 at 2:45 am #3472

Thanks Scott.

My question was more out of curiosity than a desire to target a fat range. I’m at around 12% and I’m OK with that. I’m a recreational “athlete” and I don’t compete – I just want to improve my fitness so I can do more (frequency and volume).