In general bodyfat % debate blows my mind. People will die on hills over certain numbers irrespective of the fact that it makes ZERO difference when considering how you look. And on that topic, people must have laser calibrated eyeballs, because no one believes the machine vs the eyes.
“9%? Nah, you look more like 12%” How the hell do you know what 12% “looks” like, especially if it doesn’t look like what the data suggests?
^yup! For anyone who cares about being lean it’s all visual anyway. Are the grooves between your abs an inch deep? Does it look like someone scraped a fork into your obliques? Are there veins running like cob webs over your entire thighs? Then who the hell cares? You’re ripped! -lol
It just kills me though when you consider:
1- 4% is as low as medical science says you can be without actual death occurring.
2- some of the top guys competing in the sport will admit that they were “only” 6%
But of course…
3- people will claim online that despite photos and contest results to the blatant contrary, that they were down to 3%
For a sport/pursuit that is primarily visual, it’s amazing how much crap gets spewed that is easily and obviously BS.
S
To your post here, and what Pwnisher just said…
I understand why people don’t believe the machines. It’s because the machines put out nonsensical numbers. I’ve heard in several places that the water submersion test is supposed to give the most accurate readings of any tests. I recently tested at 5.1 %, and I was not at my leanest. A friend tested right about 2 %. So I would say it’s reasonable that people are disinclined to believe the machines because the machines don’t put out numbers that coincide with medical science, as Stu is suggesting.
For my part, I have NO IDEA what my bodyfat % is, and it’s a question I get all the time. I can usually brush it off with ‘very lean’ as an answer. But it gets under my skin a little bit when people probe beyond that. Because I don’t have any desire to answer the question further.
I’ve never understood why it matters so much to people. You know whether or not you look good and/or are “lean”. A % literally means nothing in this context.
I used to laugh when people brought up those hand-held BF testers. I had one tell me I was 19% a week out from a contest. Right there they lost any credibility with me.
S
I once had one of those asshole machines tell me I was 30%! I was like 150lbs at the time.
See now, this is going too far to check bodyfat percentage
the scales that you just step on and supposedly tell you bodyfat are equally insane. you enter your height, they weigh you, and they put out a bodyfat percentage. As if all 5’11, 200 lbs males are the same bodyfat. The last time I pointed out how ridiculous this was to someone was on this site, and their reponse was basically ‘yea, I was skeptical too’. There’s no room for skepticism here. It’s pretty clearly nonsense.
Yeah this morning our bathroom scales told me I was 27% bf… Seems legit
Those are generally impedance based.
A 4 minute mile is so rare that an inspirational film was made around it.
Of course it’s based on a true story from someone’s cousin obviously.
P.S. Film is actually a decent one time watch (6/10).