When does losing body fat become advantageous

[madeira17]

I'm trying to gauge whether or not one of the kids at my gym needs to lose fat or not. He's a basketball player and like everyone else, he's trying to increase his running verticals jump. He's 6'1" 185 and around 17% body fat. Squat to depth 280(1.5xbodyweight) and deadlifts 300(1.6xbodyweight) just so you have his numbers. He can get a couple inches over the rim now and I'm wondering if he lost body fat would he improve his vertical. His strength seems average but if he loses fat I'm worried he might lose strength as well. My question is at what point does losing body fat for the sake of losing strength balance out? Let me put it this way. Is being 10-12% body fat and squatting 1.5x your weight better than being 17-18% body fat and squatting 1.75-2x your weight. Assuming technique is the same and I'm talking about a running vertical not a standing vertical. Thanks

[madeira17]

I'm trying to gauge whether or not one of the kids at my gym needs to lose fat or not. He's a basketball player and like everyone else, he's trying to increase his running verticals jump. He's 6'1" 185 and around 17% body fat. Squat to depth 280(1.5xbodyweight) and deadlifts 300(1.6xbodyweight) just so you have his numbers. He can get a couple inches over the rim now and I'm wondering if he lost body fat would he improve his vertical. His strength seems average but if he loses fat I'm worried he might lose strength as well. My question is at what point does losing body fat for the sake of losing strength balance out? Let me put it this way. Is being 10-12% body fat and squatting 1.5x your weight better than being 17-18% body fat and squatting 1.75-2x your weight. Assuming technique is the same and I'm talking about a running vertical not a standing vertical. Thanks

Bump

[autrefois]

being lighter obviously helps, as long as you arent losing muscle

[Bills10]

Curious About The Same Thing...Bump

[BballerfromLT]

if you can reduce bodyfat while maintaining strength and muscle mass it will be beneficial.17% bf is a lot for basketball guard.From my personal expierence i dropped ~5 lbs, maintained most of strength(actually lost a little bit,but that was nothing too drastic)and in final my vertical improved 4 inches.The main thing here you need to maintain strength levels.

[BallinSoHard]

if he drops to 10% he will lose 10+ pounds of resistance (dont got time to find exact number)

Soooo i assume it would go up a couple inches, and he prob gonna want to lose fat so he can run faster and longer

[madeira17]

I was just wondering if their was some way to tell if being leaner and weaker was better than being fatter and stronger. How much is body fat a factor in the equation? Is carrying 5-10 lbs of fat going to hurt you even if you're very strong relatively speaking? I'm surprised their aren't any studies on this or maybe there is. If you take someone at a higher body fat(15-20%) but has enough strength to squat 2-2.5x bodyweight and compare him to someone with the same body structure but lower body fat(10-12%) who has enough strength to squat 1.5x bodyweight...who would run faster and jump higher? Seems like a great study for athletes debating on if its worth it or not to lose more body fat or just say the hell with it and keep getting stronger.

[booldygreg]

I was just wondering if their was some way to tell if being leaner and weaker was better than being fatter and stronger. How much is body fat a factor in the equation? Is carrying 5-10 lbs of fat going to hurt you even if you're very strong relatively speaking? I'm surprised their aren't any studies on this or maybe there is. If you take someone at a higher body fat(15-20%) but has enough strength to squat 2-2.5x bodyweight and compare him to someone with the same body structure but lower body fat(10-12%) who has enough strength to squat 1.5x bodyweight...who would run faster and jump higher? Seems like a great study for athletes debating on if its worth it or not to lose more body fat or just say the hell with it and keep getting stronger.

It's not whether to be fatter and stronger, his added weight will not help his vertical. It would also be arguable if he even NEEDS to squat that much for basketball. 2.5x BW squat for basketball is bit excessive, I would recommend him to lose some body fat. If he has strength the squat over 450 lbs properly at 185, he shouldnt drop that much weight when he loses some Body fat. Train for the vertical jump if he wants to get better; putting on 4 plates and doing low reps will not help his vertical. jump squats, lunges, step up, jacobs ladder, sled push and pulls.

[LuckSide]

Body fat doesn't necessarily help you, nor does losing it mean you'll decline in strength. Even if he does it's pretty easy to get back. I can squat much more now at 9% bf (420 lbs) than I could at 13% bf (360 lbs).

[Bills10]

Body fat doesn't necessarily help you, nor does losing it mean you'll decline in strength. Even if he does it's pretty easy to get back. I can squat much more now at 9% bf (420 lbs) than I could at 13% bf (360 lbs).

How Did You Lose So Much Fat And Gain Strength? Getting Into Single Digit Body Fat From What I Hear Is Almost A Guarantee To Lose Strength And Muscle. You Somehow Lost Weight And Put 60Lbs On Your Squat. Did You Bulk Up Then Cut Or Something?How much Do You Weigh?Did Your Vertical And Speed Increase?