The cautionary tale of Andreas Munzer.

Body fat percentage. It’s a topic that naturally comes up when discussing bodybuilding. How could it not? The difference between shredded definition and having a gut is strictly based on both muscle tone and body fat percentage. So naturally there’s a tendency to want as low a body fat percentage as possible. No harm in that right? But there are diminishing returns when it comes to extremely low body fat percentage.

Andreas Munzer. It’s a name that many bodybuilding fans have heard before. A name synonymous with low body fat and ripped, striated muscular definition. The Austrian bodybuilder had a pretty legendary physique, one that many people aspire to attain to this day. The unfortunate part about that notion is that the man’s low body fat percentage may have aided in the bodybuilder’s demise.

This is an unfortunate cautionary tale that many aspiring bodybuilders and gym nuts should take into consideration. Though Munzer may have been a physical force, his vascularity and symmetry being the highlights of his form, he may have pushed his body past it’s limits. It begs the question, how low should your body fact percentage be?