With the typical restraint of British tabloids, Mail Online tells us:
Paul Ryan has just SIX per cent body fat thanks to extreme fitness regime P90X…
And at 1:13 of this video, you can hear Ryan claim he keeps his body fat between 6% and 8%.
Bill Gifford of Salon offers us a reality check:
Here’s who else maintains 6 to 8 percent body fat: Olympic 100-meter sprinters, that’s who. Also, world-class boxers, wrestlers, and marathoners, according to this study of elite American athletes. Top collegiate swimmers look pretty fit, right? Well, they average out at a plump 9.5 percent, at least according to another study. Positively porky, compared to Ryan. (For some perspective, the average man has body fat of 17 to 24 percent, and most women a bit more.)
If his claim is to be believed—a Ryan spokesman did not respond to questions—he’s more along the lines of Tour de France cyclists who also get down around 8 or 9 percent to prepare for major races. According to Iñigo San Millan, a veteran cycling physiologist who has worked with numerous Tour de France teams, the lowest body fat he’s ever measured on a cyclist was 8.3 percent. That’s at peak fitness, racing shape.
n/t
you put in front of him: body fat, taxes, entitlements – you name it!
Must be all that muscle confusion.