Quote Originally Posted by O-Train View Post
It's impossible for a person to fully realize their true genetic potential. The calculator is based on elite level bodybuilders. However I think that their estimated FFMI was probably calculated based on their competition weight. For this calculator to be accurate the person would need a reliable way of calculating bf% and I think they would have to have single digit bf%.

If you find your current physique depressing then keep on trucking because an elite level natural physique should be anything but depressing. I figure my FFMI is somewhere between 23-24. Which seems close to 25 but the difference is about 10lbs of muscle...which is a lot.
Yep, this calculator would be quite reliable using the same setting. Really only 1 flaw in tha people have a hard time guaging their true body fat levels. Most bodybuilders that are in what I would say 8-9% range brag that they are at 3-4%...People really underestimate their body fat levels then, and in the offseason. However, truly knowing your bodyfat percentage, I don't see too much problem in this scale, and their conclusions. I myself was hovering around 25 if you plug in stage weight...slightly above if you add in 4 pounds of water from what I lost with sodium depleting. I would agree with this being pretty close to a 'natural limit'. 10 pounds of pure beef would only bring me to 27, and another 10 would bring me to 29 still - putting me at a shredded 187 at 5'6...

But then again, this was using my weight when I was as lean as ever, guessing at 5%. If I take off-season, at 15% my FFMI goes up, and 15% is over-estimating my BF by quite a bit. So the scale is probably quite variable again because of the difficulty of guessing true bf%. I could drink 5 litres of water, gain 10 pounds, and my BF% would obviously not change, so its always tough to know your true fat free mass especially using a skin fold - or any method for that matter.


Quote Originally Posted by maxrevs View Post
I've decided that, after many minutes of careful research and analysis, the 25 (20 for the girls) limit for natural trainers is in fact bollocks. Instead of wasting my time worrying about my genetic potential, I'll just get my arse back to the gym and see what happens.
I don't think its bollocks as long as you have a good way to guessing your true fat free mass. As I pointed out, my FFMI is higher in the offseason, because of water weight, glycogen, etc, that skews the measurment of your fat free mass, because its not just bf% you need to subtract from your body weight... I probably have 3 pounds of crap and 5 pounds of glycogen/water to get rid of before i even lose a pound of body fat.