Source: Facebook

The 8% bodyfat myth-For whatever reason, this seems to be the magic number of sorts when guys try to make a goal

Ive read A LOT of questionnaires this year with MountainDog, the the following is not uncommon

"Id like to put on some size, and eventually walk around 8% bodyfat"

Now, not that this impossible (well the gain muscle get leaner part is highly conflicting obviously), but you are NOT going to be permanently walking around at 8% bodyfat week in week out just because you followed a diet for 12 weeks

Outside of those with awesome genetics, the average individual is probably looking at least, AT LEAST, a 4-5 year period of alternating bulking and cutting and endlessly consistent training/diet (and when I say cut, I mean getting FUCKING lean) before they will ever comfortably "walk around" at 8%. And thats a big IF of an in itself

That aside, there is also this factor where everyone that competes in physique have gotten leaner with each passing decade, which is cool. I like to see veins in peoples inner chest fiber

that said, NO ONE walks around in contest shape year around

And same thing for the cover model look that everyone covets. Those guys are not camera ready every random monday morning. They are hired a few weeks out to PREPARE for being shot. Again, walking around with ab vascularity and an 8 pack isnt a normal state for most people

I think that contributes in large part to the misconception

Now, this is not to say its impossible, I could use examples of actors (say Henry Cavill from Superman) who got abs and shit and bulked up

But guess what, they also trained 6 days a week, often twice a day, bulked up first for at least 3 months, and hired trainers who alternated between shoving their face into plates of chicken breast or waking them up at 5am to train for 2 hours, or forcing them to consume lettuce

So basically, they trained like hardcore bodybuilders and dieted like hardcore bodybuilders,

All so they could look like physique guys (camera made them look bigger though) and thats to temporarily look that way during a film shoot.

You get the point. I dont expect this myth to magically die overnight, but I felt like talking about it off the cuff

Ive personally known FOUR people who naturally had low as fuck bodyfat and abs and veins and just looked that way like they were about step on stage. FOUR. And they all were/are killer fucking athletes who played D1 and/or went to play/compete professionally and trained like animals

Being lean/nasty/shredded whatever you want to call it takes some extreme levels of work.

Training 4x weeky and TRYING to follow a diet isnt going to cut it. Its an ALL IN proposition.

Either you are going to live that way, or not.

No in between