Nice. ![]()
If the government offered 1 million for each man who could get to 10% and 1 million for each year it’s maintained, we would have hundreds of thousands guys ripped. Gyms would be packed. People would be eating so healthy. Fast food places would suffer. Restaurants would have to change their menus.
I think back to biggest loser, those people who had a shot at the 250K prize worked their butts off! It was said they didn’t offer more money because people would kill themselves trying to win.
Without a carrot, most men will not have the discipline to get close to 10% Let alone be able to maintain it. Even if the question was changed to say “Sustainable for Men who can get to 10%”, I still say most can’t maintain it. Unless you are a fitness professional, something is going to come up.
IMHO
I thought the mans carrot was the main reason for wanting to be 10% year round ![]()
Precision Nutrition has a list of what you need to do to be at 10%:
- Not eating to overfull
- protein, fiberous vegetables at each meal (most of your plate)
- healthy fats and unprocessed carbs at most meal (some of your plate)
- daily exercise of at least 45 minutes
- four hard exercise sessions per week
- 7 hours sleep/de-stressing
- No more than 2 small cheat meals per week
- No more than 2 drinks with calories per week
This is not the only way to do it and I don’t think all of it is necessary. It isn’t an impossible thing for most to achieve but the discipline to maintain this 52 weeks per year is the trick.
I think that through experience I’d say keeping any level of BF is all about your life, job, family, friends and how high on the list you want to make being 10% BF.
I know that (being English) I love a drink, a nice warm bitter or ale please with my mates and will always care more about enjoying a drink with my friends than being sub 15-12%.
It’s all about where it sits on to it priority list. For me life’s to short and being at 12-15% for me works a lot better.
Can it be done, yes, but how much do you want it can’t to other things in life.
i beleive i could stay consistantly @ 10% but i would also take a pay cut in order to find a new job, be consistently single, and consistently be someone no one else wanted to be around. . . . IMO personally id rather eat for preformance 75% of the time , and eat for enjoyment/family life the other 25% and not care about my bf %
So for most men no , you either gotta have really good genes, a crazy high metabolism or be selfish / have a VERY understanding partner/family. Or a pinch of all 3!
Well, well, well! A fellow Taurean!!!
I still think the question is unanswerable without an idea of what the OP means when he says 10%.
What people think 10% looks like varies so wildly that the answer could range from an easy yes, to no its absolutely not possible for all but 1-5% of people with the ideal genetics for it.
Pics or measurement method would be acceptable as a definition.
I don’t know if this is precisely 10% bodyfat, but this is the sort of definition that I have in mind and would love to have. Of course, I also like other things, like having a career, a marriage, and Italian food and wine.
And if you want to keep that marriage then you better get the idea of 10% BF out your fucking head ![]()
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The answer to the question, is it “realistically sustainable for most men” is patently obvious - no.
What is realistic is achieving a body fat level that you can be comfortable with, e.g. going topless on a beach. For a lot of guys, if you are a true 14% body fat, coupled with the fact you have some underlying lean mass to begin with, you will look in pretty decent shape, i.e. in the right scenario, folks would know you train, were active in some sport, etc. Once you can sustain that condition over a period of time, it does become easier to get closer to 10% in short bursts.
Yes that is definitely sustainable year round with the right diet.
I am roughly that lean and have been for the last 10 years. Less so recently, but I’m also putting less effort in than I could, but I don’t have the desire to.
I also have a wife, kid and full time job that is not fitness related. I rarely drink though which helps I guess.
I will echo the sentiments of others though and say most people aren’t willing to put the effort required in to stay this lean, so ‘realistically’ probably not. But if most men wanted to (and wanted to enough), most men could which is to say the limitation is mental not physiological. In my opinion.
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But if you want to find a mistress…
Just found this video addressing this topic. This guy agrees with what most say here - forget 10% year-round, 15% is a pretty decent achievement. I’m not familiar with “Vetruvian Physique,” but he makes sense.
Considering that stage ready for a bodybuilder is 5-7% and that takes an enormous amount of physical activity to achieve without much muscle loss, no, I don’t think 10% is sustainable year round for most.
It can be done though, but unlikely considering the amount of activity can take away from other areas of life and without it, would take a degree of food deprivation.
I’m talking a real 10%. Many fitness gurus say they’re 10% year round when they aren’t. Some even say they’re 5% year round!
@nealdog OP: are you asking because this is what you’re aiming for?
Yes you can definitely have that year round.
You nailed it!
Discussion of this topic would be greatly facilitated if, instead of asking about a BF% number, OP would throw up a pic and ask whether the physique depicted was sustainable.
