New here and looking to tone up!

[lookatmego]

Hi, everyone. I'm really excited to get started building more lean muscle!

My short story: I graduated college in 2008 at my heaviest weight ever - 173 pounds. Over the course of 2 years I dropped the weight and I'm currently at 137 pounds. (My lowest was Jan 2010 at 134 pounds.)

Currently: I'm training for a half-marathon, so cardio has been the name of the game for me lately! I used to have a personal trainer for a year (in 2009-2010) and toned up like crazy with him, but since going at it on my own I have definitely lost a lot of the definition I used to have! I still go to the gym and do strength-training pretty regularly, but I sometimes feel lost without my trainer...

I just bought my first body fat calipers and found that I'm at approximately 18.5% body fat, which is lower than I thought. However, I want to get better!

My goals: Reach 130 pounds, run my first half-marathon in May, and go down to 16% body fat by the end of the year.

My concerns/questions are regarding body fat goals. Is 16% too crazy of a goal? Is it too easy of a goal? Do you think my training for a half-marathon (doing lots of cardio) will help or hinder this?

Rough stats, currently:
Age = female
Height = 5'6"
Weight = 137 lbs
Body fat = approx. 18.5%

Thanks!

[erinlee01]

16% is pretty low for a woman to maintain at. Looking at your stats and assuming the 18% is right, I'm guessing that you want a look that involves more muscle than you currently have. Putting on muscle is going to be hard with the cardio you are doing now.

[lookatmego]

Thanks for the response. I'm new to this body fat % monitoring thing... I wasn't sure what a good goal would be. I'm also not 100% sure if we took my measurements correctly (my boyfriend helped, and we used a video tutorial online for a 9-point test).

I suppose I just want more definition. I carry most of my weight on my lower half (including muscle, not just fat!) so I'd first like to get my upper body to be a bit more muscular (not too much) and define what I have on bottom.

Thank you again!


16% is pretty low for a woman to maintain at. Looking at your stats and assuming the 18% is right, I'm guessing that you want a look that involves more muscle than you currently have. Putting on muscle is going to be hard with the cardio you are doing now.

[KimPossible98]

Welcome to the board, get involved! Start posting!

[scyyy]

Lol, bless you "age = female"

Welcome to the site and good luck with your goals! :)