Quote Originally Posted by steve_d View Post
15% is over-estimating my BF by quite a bit. So the scale is probably quite 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 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.

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.
I agree, people are out to lunch when it comes to bf%. When I did my 2nd show I had the 2nd best conditioning of anyone and I figure I was 5%..and based on stage weight my FFMI was only 21.3. Hitting a FFMI of 25 would mean a shredded 187. Which at 5' 11'' doesn't seem huge but it means I'd be fairly ripped at 200lbs. You just don't see a lot of (if any) natural guys walking around fairly ripped at 200lbs.

In the past I really wanted to compete naturally at 200lbs but I've become more realistic since. If I could compete in middleweight (176-187) with good conditioning I would be really happy.

The index is accurate if used appropriately.