Gents-

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Reading through the OYS posts, we either have an amazingly high number of ripped AF but weak guys... or you guys are lying out your ass about your BF%. You know who you are so I don’t need to call you out here. But if you are at 1.5x BW or less for your squat / deadlift and claim to be under 15% BF, that's bullshit 95% of the time. The other 5% are just weak AF.

Why does this matter?

Three reasons. First, lower BF %s are tied to higher health markers including happiness, quality of life, and life expectancy. Second, lower BF% is also tied to getting more tingles. Third, if you aren’t accurately measuring where you are now, you can’t truly measure progress or change.

So what’s going on?

These guys are lying, delusional, or using gimmicky methods. That's understandable... the vast majority of the population grossly underestimates BF%. Yes, that probably includes you. Shady sales tactics, faulty equipment, and an ‘everybody is a winner’ mindset all contribute to this problem.

Here’s how to fix it.

First of all, find a reliable method of measuring your BF%. This is going to be more expensive than the shitty methods. It's also going to be more of a time investment, probably causing you to have to make an appointment somewhere and drive to / from.

Shitty methods include the ubiquitous calipers and electrical impedance scales. You can literally change the readouts by several % points on these by measuring twice in a row and flexing during one reading and not the other.

Good (or at least better) methods include the pods that measure atmosphere changes (rare / expensive), hydrostatic testing, and DEXA scans (‘best’ method that’s commonly accessible). The gold standard is a multi-headed approach where you get measured across several parameters several different ways such as hydro for volume, 3D scans for fat content, DEXA for bone to muscle, etc. but that’s impractical for anyone here.

Keep in mind that these methods aren’t perfect and you need to be consistent in how you approach the measuring (similar time of day, eating vs fasted, hydration levels, etc.) if you want the most accurate measurements over time.

Here’s a decent video on BF% in men.

https://youtu.be/DdG3QfmjpvU

The video shows a few important points:

  1. People carry fat differently which can affect aesthetics.

  2. Even DEXA scans aren’t perfect for comparing one person to another… they are better at measuring progress in one person over time.

  3. Most of the guys here posting in OYS claiming to be under 15% are just full of shit and deluding themselves.

In sum, it’s important for us to be honest with ourselves and where we are actually at. That’s the whole point of being accountable to yourself and others. If you are lying to yourself when you say that you are at 15% when you are actually more like 24%, that’s going to impede your progress.

So man up, find a good place to get measured, and track that quarterly / semi-annually / whatever in keeping with your goals.

Stop deluding yourselves.