What is an ideal visceral fat percentage?

Question

I had a review at my gym yesterday, and the trainer measured my body fat percentage, weight, height etc and exclaimed that, my body fat percentage needs improving (it is right now at 8%), he had never seen or heard of such a low visceral fat percentage - which is currently at 1%. But he didn't mention what the ideal amount is, or if it is even good or bad.

If it matters, I'm 27 now, at 180 cm and 54 kg. I'm very, very thin - have always been, and am trying to put on some weight.

ps: I originally thought he said "vascular fat percentage", but, googling for it gives me no results but suggests visceral fat percentage instead, so I suppose I could have misheard it.

Answer 1

For extra info, in case you haven't read in detail during your searches, visceral fat is intra-abdominal, found around your organs and is generally considered a strong indicator of health risk when overweight.

It's proving very difficult to find any information on "ideal" visceral fat levels, with everything I come across advocating lowering your visceral fat level. This gives me the impression that a low visceral fat level is not a bad thing.

With regards to lower limits on body fat in general, a males essential body fat percentage is around 3-5%, with women's slightly higher. This is an unsustainable level and even professional body builders only go there for short periods at a time during competitions.

Either way, if you are in the process of increasing your body weight, and expect to gain fat, you will likely increase both your overall body fat as well as visceral body fat percentages.

If you are considerably worried about you weight/health, its best consult your doctor for peace of mind.

Answer 2

visceral fat or organ fat is dangerous and should be as close to zero as possible. less than two pounds (900g) is ok less than one (450g) is good and zero is ideal. Total body fat for a male in athletic condition would be between 8 and 20% anything lower is ripped for stage shows or photo shoots but unsustainable from a health standpoint.

Answer 3

Haha I ended up here while looking to find out where I stand with my visceral body fat.

After reading around a bit and more so speaking to different people in the field, I would say that you shouldn't be looking at going below a 5% BF composition for sure.

Got mine checked out last year while I was racing and I was at 5.4% (Age : 25, Height : 175, Weight : 56 kgs). Based on the generic ranges that are available, my report said that I should put on another 4 kgs of muscle and 7 kgs of fat!

The experts, that work in the health and fitness side of motorsport, said that I need the muscle and not the fat. Then again, it's probably specific to the field, along with body building, where it's alright and in fact good to have such low levels of BF.

If you're not working towards either, then 8% is probably the ideal place to be.

Not too sure about the visceral fat though, because it's measured as a percentage. Though comparing it with my numbers, I think you're extremely low on that front and would advise you to check it out.

I got a rating (not %age) of 5.0 and I was told as well that it's almost unheard of. Again, it was very good for me as a driver though I was told that I shouldn't drop below that. It's the perfect place to be as long as you can maintain it consistently.

Looking at it objectively, and considering you're a few cms taller than me, a few kilos lighter BUT with a higher Body Fat percentage, it makes sense to me that you're Visceral fat would definitely be lower than my score of 5 which is probably not a good thing in the long run. That's just my two cents, though I take it that you'll probably understand the logic behind me saying that.