I read your recent article about how low your body fat should be to look ripped, but what I was more curious about is, through all the years you've been bodybuilding, what is your usual OFF SEASON body fat and what do you personally find maintainable year round? Also, has your body fat percentage varied a lot over the years and what about between contest-season and the off-season? Thanks Tom!

ANSWER: Hi Chris, thanks for your email. This subject comes up all the time and believe me I do get some flak about my body fat standards. I guess I have high standards! I believe in setting huge goals. I think people's advice to "be realistic" is usually well intentioned, but also leaves you selling yourself short.

But, there are a couple areas where being realistic is pretty darn important: one is in the deadlines you set for your goals and the other is what you asked; what's a realistic level to maintain (after hitting your peak).

I did touch on maintainable body fat percentages in that last article about body fat levels to see your abs.

Here's what I can add to that: what's maintainable, (possible to easily maintain) and what I actually do maintain are not necessarily the same. And also keep in mind that what's true for competitors may not be true for non-competitors, who have different sets of standards.

Competition body fat over the years for me has been 3.4 to 5.0%. I have to be clear and honest: That is not maintainable. A peak, by definition is surrounded by valleys.

Off season body fat is usually about 9%. Keeping year round single digits is a goal and standard I've always aimed for. Has it crept up over 10%? Sure. But that's my signal to tighten the belt on discipline... cut back the cheat meals... bump up the cardio, etc.

What's maintainable? I could maintain 6-7% bodyfat, but doing that would take an extra level of effort and diligence - mental and physical - a lot of it mental. Just purely from a psychological point of view I'd probably need a good reason why to do that (maybe if I move to South Florida or So Cal, and i'm on the beach every day, LOL!)

"Reason Why" really drives a person, not just to achieve a goal, but to maintain it, and that's as true for me as anyone. Maintenance takes effort. Have a reason to stay in shape after the 49 day challenge is over and be thinking already about "what's next."

My weight stats? I'm 5' 8" tall and my contest weight has been about 175 lbs which is just inside the middleweight cutoff of 176 1/4. Early in competitive career I started as a lightweight; was 154 in first 2 shows, then put on more muscle.

My contest day weight is very "depleted" and "dry" even after 3 days of carbing up. You could say it's a "false' weight - and totally unsustainable so when you see contest (day of show/ onstage) weight, keep in mind that by the next day or two I could be easily 5 lbs heavier with water and glycogen filling up.

Off season weight usually 190-195 though I've been over 200 lbs numerous times. Truth be told, I have usually not been happy with my level of leanness over 200 lbs. I'd like to be 200 lbs + and still see a hint of abs, but "plight of the endomorph," you know.. its a challenge.

I do not do any crazy "bulking" anymore in the off season, did that more than once where i intentionally gained up to over 200 lbs, but do I consider my in season to off season swing (15 or even up to 20 lbs) pretty normal.

A lot of bodybuilders say they stay "within 10 lbs of contest weight" and some prep gurus say everyone should do the same. But i know guys who gain 10 lbs the day after the show just in fluid and glycogen repletion.

My weight and body fat hasn't varied a lot except in college was the one time I definitely slipped, body fat went way up into the teens and was starting to sport a pretty good beer and pizza belly. (stromboli and cheese fries helped out too).

Here's that article about body fat levels and it touches on what's maintainable: What is the ideal body fat to see your abs

You can learn more about effective strategies for preventing your metabolism from slowing down while dieting (chapter 2), how to troubleshoot progress plateaus (chapter 4), how to pinpoint your exact personal calorie needs (chapter 6) how to maximize your metabolism and maintain your lean muscle tissue with protein (chapter 10) and a lot more in my fat loss manual: Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle.

Train hard and expect success!

Tom Venuto, author of
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle
(The "Fat loss bible")

Tom Venuto is the author of the #1 best seller, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle: Fat Burning Secrets of the World's Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models (e-book). Tom is also the founder and CEO of the premier fat loss support community, the Burn The Fat Inner Circle. Tom is a lifetime natural bodybuilder and fat loss expert who achieved an astonishing 3.7% body fat level without drugs or supplements. Discover how to increase your metabolism and lose inches of stubborn body fat, find out which foods burn fat and which foods turn to fat, plus get a free fat loss report and mini course by visiting Tom's Fat Loss website at: www.BurnTheFat.com