Posts by Jose Brown5

George Miller2 said:You can find all sorts of stuff online where you compare your photos to people with specific body fat percentages to get a rough estimate of your own BF. It’s definitely not foolproof, but it’s an option.

A pretty good example is this site.

I was scrolling through YouTube today and found this interesting video about a guy who went for a DEXA scan—which, as far as I know, is the gold standard for accuracy—and man, the results totally caught me off guard.

The scan clocked him at 10% body fat (basically 11%), but looking at his photos, like in that link above, I’d have guessed he was sitting somewhere around 6-8%. The guy testing it was raving about how accurate it was, and apparently, that was the lowest reading they've ever seen, which really threw me for a loop.

What’s also wild is that he lost almost as much lean mass as he did fat during his cut, even though he wasn't doing some crazy aggressive weight loss (I think he dropped about 22 pounds in 14 weeks) and he was definitely still training hard while cutting.

I'm curious what you guys think—is it actually possible for a natural athlete to hit single-digit body fat while still keeping decent muscle mass, or is that kind of look strictly reserved for the pros using "gear"?

Also, does anyone know if you can get this kind of deep analysis—body mass, fat levels, bone density, etc.—done anywhere in Washington, D.C.?

Honestly, it’s not even surprising. Having six-pack abs that shredded on a guy is about as "natural" as having a waxed chest. When you drop that low, your hormones shift so much that your body just won't let you hang onto muscle.
If you're chasing that insanely low body fat, say goodbye to a chunk of your muscle. Plus, it's pretty obvious this guy is on PED. If a natural lifter tried to go that low, they'd lose way more than he did.
Body fat actually serves a purpose; we need it for our bodies to function right. For most guys, the sweet spot for health is well above what it takes to show clear abs. That's why those last few pounds are such a nightmare to lose.
Everything else is just fairy tales, unrealistic trends pushed by the fitness industry, or just wishful thinking from naive people who think they can look like a magazine cover without any help.

For some solid info on this, check out the blog http://nattyornot.com/.

I can't quite catch what you're trying to say there! You left me hanging. kaže:
Look, the truth is that everything in this material world is constantly shifting and fading away. If you cling too hard to physical stuff, you’re basically signing up for a lifetime of heartache—unless you can learn to step back, act like an observer, and just watch things unfold without getting caught up in the outcome.
Whether it’s because we’re control freaks or just obsessed with hitting specific goals, we always end up disappointed when things don't go exactly according to plan. It's like trying to force a blueprint onto a landscape that just won't cooperate. But honestly? If you can learn to watch life unfold from a distance—kind of like a neutral observer just watching a ball game without caring who wins—you finally break free from those mental cages. That's how you stop the suffering and actually become a free person.

That was honestly such a great read! Truly well written.

rustymaker5 said:Of course it’s hard when you lose someone you love, especially when it's a child, but the real question is whether that person understands what is actually causing their grief and potential suffering.
The sadness that hits us isn't actually tied to the person who passed away—they’ve simply returned to their original home, so we shouldn't be grieving them per se—rather, the sorrow is centered on us because we are left behind to deal with the reality that we'll never see them again, which is really just a form of selfishness born from our attachment to the physical world or this flawed idea that life ends when the body dies.
A spiritually awakened person understands that while the body is mortal, the soul is eternal, so they can certainly mourn a momentary loss—which is a perfectly natural human reaction—but there is no need to fall into true suffering.

Same here—this one also hits that same note, especially with that dogmatic claim about eternity at the end. I’m just not buying it.

Another one, straight from the experts in neuroscience:

dog scout said:
I've been struggling with slouching for a long time. I've got some extra weight to drop, and since I work a desk job, the slouching is starting to really worry me.

I want to fix my posture—you know, actually keep my back straight—but I just keep curling up. Even when I try to sit up straight, I get these little aches because my body isn't used to it.

Any advice on how to fix this slouching and straighten out my back?

If you want to strengthen and stretch your entire posterior chain, bridges are a killer exercise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lhZpOKk3oo
Check it out. There are tons of ways to scale those movements up toward the final position, and even more beyond that...
Of course, just doing bridges (just like any other single move for any body part) isn't a great long-term plan. You need a simple, well-balanced training routine, kind of like what's in Convict Conditioning. It’s honestly not nearly as scary as those "nuclear scientists" make it sound.
Also, if you want to dive deeper into how to actually structure a solid program, grab Overcoming Gravity.