Do you believe this photo is reasonably accurate?
pierinifitness
Posts: 2,231 Member
Those of you who have had body fat measured other than by a home scale, do you judge this photo as reasonably depicting body fat percentages?
1
Replies
-
No. 3-4 percent is way more shredded and frankly a step from death. That guy is probably closer to 8 or 9 and scale up from there
ETA: interestingly the first 3 probably have the same BF % but the amount of muscle they have makes them seem different.10 -
14-15% looks pretty accurate, to me. I’m a shade under 14% (by calipers) and would say I’m very slightly leaner than the picture.1
-
Let me just stop you guys for a moment and point out that we have rules, which include things like:
2. Treat others with dignity, compassion and respect
I WILL:
I will SHOW RESPECT.
I will show kindness.
I will respect that MyFitnessPal has a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech.
I WON’T:
• I won’t be a bully.
• I won’t belittle others.
• I won’t make any derogatory references to sex, gender, age, weight, body type, disability, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.
• I won’t stalk other members. This includes stalking a poster through the forums, posting about past events gone sour, divulging personal information, or spreading gossip or rumors.
• I won’t make stereotypes against other members.
• I won’t post discussions or comments that incite racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm to any individual or group.
• I won’t endorse violence against any person or group, even if couched in humor.
• I won’t publicly post information that poses or creates a privacy or security risk to any person (i.e., by publicly posting any person's contact information on the forums).
and
3. No Trolling
I WILL:
• I will stay on-topic in an existing discussion.
• I will report trolls instead of engaging them.
• I will contribute politely and constructively to a discussion, or move on without posting.
• I will ignore users.
I WON’T:
• I won’t troll.
• I won’t flamebait.
• I won’t call someone out.
• I won’t police other members.
• I won’t feed the trolls.
• I won’t take a discussion off-topic, it’s considered hi-jacking.
It's Wednesday, and I don't have the energy to be witty. If your post was 'cleaned' from this discussion and you don't understand why, shoot me a PM and I'll be happy to discuss.
Em.1 -
@JustSomeEm Wasn’t me was it?0
-
If you carry your fat similarly to how those models do AND you have a similar amount of muscle mass as they do, then yes... it's pretty accurate.
But if you carry your fat differently OR have meaningfully more or less muscle mass, then they can be rather misleading. Since most people aren't those models, pictures like these can be hard to use as anything more than interesting trivia.2 -
No. 3-4 percent is way more shredded and frankly a step from death. That guy is probably closer to 8 or 9 and scale up from there
ETA: interestingly the first 3 probably have the same BF % but the amount of muscle they have makes them seem different.
Yeah, I don't think people should be consciously striving for 3-4% BF--that just screams body dysmorphia/eating disorder...
To your other point, I think this graphic would be way more impactful if they used the same person at the various percentages, but that's probably too much work and would take too much time (photos over the course of several years). But the huge differences in body types/musculature make this misleading.2 -
The middle range ones probably are OK.
You could look at the images on Builtlean too and you will probably find some the look about right and some that seem a bit suspect. I think the text descriptions on Builtlean are perhaps more useful than the pictures.
BTW - when you are middle aged and your skin isn't as good as it used to be the same BF% can look quite different in terms of definition. Dammit my abs are in there somewhere!5 -
Well first of all, the camera just keeps getting closer and closer to the models. That changes perception a lot.
Plus who stays at those lower two levels for any amount of time other than the day of competition? And who really cares that much about the exact number except for those in competition? Is that your ultimate goal? Competition?5 -
This article uses the same two people to give a timeline of different bodyfat percentages, so it's probably better for discussing this subject:
https://www.ruled.me/visually-estimate-body-fat-percentage/2 -
3-4% more like 6% nit-picking; but overall ok estimation. Agreed, 1st 3 pics likely all very close to each other for BF% (hard to tell without seeing legs, back, etc.)
3-4% More like this guy named Andreas Munzer (literally died from being shredded to death from the cocktail of androgens & diuretics needed to maintain such a ridiculously low BF % finally catching up with him):
BF% pics can be deceiving as BF location is very genetic (6-7% photo - note lack of leg striation (could be that he is not posing properly though) vs. very low BF% in torso). Usually BF% is underestimated focusing too much on "shredded" bodyparts vs. whole body BF% distribution (esp. for people with non-existent abdominal fat yet may have more lower back fat, thigh fat, glute fat, etc.).
Tanning & lack of bodyhair as gives a more bias perception of BF vs. photos without tans, without shaving (not to mention lighting & angles, photshopping can contribute to these grand illusions as well...)3 -
Deleted0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391K Introduce Yourself
- 43.4K Getting Started
- 259.6K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.5K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.2K Fitness and Exercise
- 383 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.6K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.4K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.1K MyFitnessPal Information
- 22 News and Announcements
- 878 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.2K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions