Great job Johnny. $25 seems cheap for one of those tests btw but I'm going on inflated Aussie prices so maybe that's standard in the US. What are you hoping for results wise?

Seems cheap to me to tbh. It is not an underwater test but it is very comprehensive. I actually was looking it up to check costs because of the 27/mly bet and $25 seems like a steal, it is drop in and only a few minutes from my house.

I don’t really care about the actual result too much. From what I have read, even the sophisticated and expensive scans are suspect. The main thing is getting a baseline and then using the same method to track progress, regardless of what the number says. I would guess I am in the 10-12 range right now based on other tests I have taken and the eyeball. I plan to keep clean bulking for another month or two then try to cut a bit just for fun. What I’m most interested in is seeing how reintroduced squats and deadlifts affect my muscle mass. I don’t really have any goals currently. Just stay healthy and have fun with it.

That's a pretty good approach to have

I'm considering getting on the sardine train. I've never had one out of a can in my life that I know of. I supposed it's possible I could have eaten something that someone else prepared in which they were an ingredient, and I just didn't notice.

Got any recs for brands I should buy. I'm look for something where I can just get a can or two at the grocery store to try them out. At this point, buying 50 cans at costco at some amazing discount wouldn't be helpful.

I looked into the Dexa Scan and set it up for next weekend. Looks like I can get a Groupon for $72

$72 for Dexa is solid

$25 for some random gym bodyfat test is a ripoff

I have tried a few brands and styles. Wild planet is a popular brand and the first I tried. They were bone-in and skin-on in olive oil. They were fine, I didn’t mind the skin and bones too much. The next time I went to Costco they had season brand on sale so I tried those. They were boneless and skinless and I liked them better all around. The wildness planet had a mild bitter aftertaste imo that I didn’t really notice until I had the season brand without that. I also did prefer no bones once I tried that.

My friend had water packed season brand, which also were good. I really was looking for extra fat to start my day so I stick with the oil packed.

I have a buddy who eats them much less often than I do so he gets them at the grocery store and he claims the brand he gets has bigger, nicer looking fillets than the season brand, but he pays about 50% more per can than I do.

The Costco packs are six cans, even though I do buy a few cases at a time when they are on sale about every other month. You can also get a similar price on amazon which will for sure give you options to try.

If your abs are barely visible you are closer to 20 than 10. Pic from earlier this year, abs were starting to get cottagecheesey.

Hey, nice to meet you!

It’s a diet center and nutrition center, not a gym.

Maybe I am closer to 20. I have a visible six and washed eight at this point depending on water retention, but I have never tested above 15 on any random gym device. If I spend a bunch of time getting the light and angle right I might make you a believer, but...let’s just stick with I’m 20.

OK, season brand it is. I'll give it a try. Skinless and boneless sounds perfect for a noob like me.

On the subject of dexa scan and eyeball ab tests, check out this YouTube video showing results from multiple tests. Some of the leaner guys have washed out abs and some of the more ripped are reading higher. If the dexa scan is actually consistent and precise then the eyeball test certainly is flawed.



Either way, as I said earlier for my purpose I just want a baseline test that will be consistent with itself. Certainly also true for any contest.

One more thing: Any thoughts on brisling sardines vs regular sardines?

That is a great price. If you are going to use it to track progress the main thing is to pick a method that will stay consistent. Even calipers are good if they are administered by the same person in a consistent way.

Hmm. I have not tried them. I am an enthusiasts but not a connoisseur, it seems. If you do report back!

Are you going to do both? I'd put more trust in the caliper method but seeing the numbers side by side would be interesting.

I don’t have easy access to anyone I trust to do the caliper test but I have a free hydrostatic test available to me through my gym rewards. Also, that Groupon price for the dexa sounds intriguing. I was thinking about it last night and what I may do is wait until I am ready to cut and then do both the $25 electric and the hydrostatic, do my cut and then take them both again and maybe even do a dexa scan at the end to compare all three if I can find a deal like mly.

It’s not super likely I follow through due to effort, but I might convince myself to try it.

To loco’s point, upon further reflection I probably am around 15% plus currently. I am leaner and bigger now than the pic from January for sure and recouped my diet since then, but I’m still trying to keep a calorie surplus and certainly not as lean as I was last summer.

Not just three manufacturers but also countless software versions. That's why you see all the discrepancy.

The head is always 20%+ bodyfat, because of the brain. So a dexa that breaksdown the head fat is the correct one. Yet in at least half of these in the video, there is no breakdown of the head. It just assumes its 100% lbm!

As the foremost authority on bodyfat analysis in this forum , I offer free readings. Post nudes, waist measurement around navel, and current lifts.

From the little I have seen, you at 16-17%.

Here is a correct DEXA



You can pause at 7:26 and see the breakdown of bodyfat per part (including head). The administrator also claims this is the leanest individual at this office (six weeks open).

He is pretty lean and he still came in at 13%. The realities of human bodyfat state that it has been grossly underestimated throughout history. If your doctor says losing weight might help with BP and you at 18%, seems like a no-brainer.

Fat. Cut.

My doctor went off BMI chart only. She did not ask about my activity level or diet at all. They also had my height an inch short. She also asked me more about how I liked lasik because she is thinking of getting it than anything else. I trust you know more about body composition and exercise already than her.

I have no reason to doubt what you are saying about a dexa scan, but there is a certain amount of pure trust you have to give into to accept the numbers as valid and it seems pretty near impossible to confirm. If general conventional wisdom is wrong, and most people placed in the 11-12 range are actually in the 15-16 range, that doesn’t bother me much. Even if it turns out I am at 20% I’d accept it. The fact is, however, if I’m fat at this point, even in while trying to gain weight, almost everyone is very fat.

I’m doing shoulders and triceps today. I’ll post the lifts, which will be my usual routine. I’ll update with a current post pumped nood also.

Looks like I can get dexa scans at ucdavis for $75 initially and $50 subsequently. They will also do skin fold tests for $25 and a host of other evaluations for pretty good value.
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/sportsm...body_comp.html

Now that I know I am like 22% bf maybe I will get some goals going.

So I watched that vid. If that dude is really 12.3 then You are probably right, I’m like 24-28.

I’m curious why you think that scanning business is the correct standard though? Dude in the company polo basically gives a weak sales pitch about why their place is accurate, says there is not room for human error but he does several functions by hand, says calibration is not an issue but they calibrate it every day...

The ucdavis sports medicine center has an example of a dxa read-out here.

http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/sportsm...mple%20DXA.pdf

Looks like they found a guy in his early 40s who measured 9.7. I don’t know if the staff wears branded polo shirts there, though.

The UC Davis software looks legit, that guy is probably ripped but he is also 73kg. So it's believeble. His head seems pretty lean also at sub20%. I have a fat 22% head.

Dexa is considered the gold standard because it's the only three compartment model (bone mineral, fat, water). But like I said, different manufacturers and software.

Worst workout in a while today. My friend mashed his hand in a stack under 40lbs of plates trying to free it. He is okay, so I am fine saying he was being a dumb ass and also don’t feel guilty complaining about the workout.

My wife and my friend were both with me today. I usually go at the busy after work time, around 4-5, but we got to go around 3:30 today and the parking lot was empty so I felt pretty excited to get it in. I don’t really like the early crew at my gym though. The etiquette is just a little off. More dumbbell hoarding and camping out it seems. Anyway I was hoping to get a rack to do overhead presses and go heavier today, but all four racks were taken. I went with the fixed barbells instead but they only go up to 110 lbs.

Standing ohp

60x20
60x12
110x12
Too little rest here because I saw my friend rushing through his seated dumbbell sets and we were doing close grip bench next so I went with 60 seconds between all working sets
110x5
90X10
90x8
90x8x3

Sure enough he and my wife had already done a set of close grip so I had 30 seconds between racking the bar and starting my close grip dumbbell set which sucked

Incline dumbbell close grip bench
70x5
Now I’m waiting for two people to do their sets so I had probably 2 minutes rest between sets
60x11
Flatten the bench
60x14
60x8x4

Dumbbell skull crusher
27.5x9
22.5x11
22.5x9
22.5x7x3

Here is where I head to the motion cable station and find my friend bashed. After helping him get ice and realizing the cable station is ****ed my wife and I sit at a reverse fly machine which I don’t like.

135x7
135x7
125x10
125x10

Gravity dip machine.

14x9
15x8
15x8


Cable lateral raises in front

8x7
6x9
Cable behind
6x9
6x9

Tricep reverse grip pushdown Ss rope overhead tricep extension. Various weights 4 sets.

Prison pushups on medicine ball with front raise. There was only a 20lb ball which is heavy and and 8 lb ball which is light. Did pyramid from one to 7 with the 20 and 8-10 with the l8lb.

The whole workout was just off, and I think I gained an extra 2% body fat since loco burst my electro test bubble yesterday. Also, I didn’t get a lot of DOMS from leg day on Tuesday which is disappointing because I thought I went pretty hard. My hip feels great still tho so I will keep easing into squatting and up the weight and maybe the volume too.

Current nood.

Excuses-

1. No pump
2. Bulking
3. Camera is weak
4. Most importantly, it is clear I am going to have to move. There is not a single bathroom in this house that gives good selfie lighting and yeah, it is perfect for my family other than that, but I’m sure I can find one almost as good for my family that will make it easier for me when I get negged into posting noods by strangers online. My wife will understand this, I’m sure.
5. Ate lunch.



All bs aside, this last 4 months are the least lean l have been in years. I’m going to stick with this calorie surplus for a while longer, though.

My wife wants to do back/biceps tomorrow so I am going to go solo and reintroduce deadlifts today. Starting light, just practicing the mission again, but hope to progress correctly this time and get some real weight off the ground again in time.

People are very misleading with their noodz on this forum

Lol I'm no expert on body fat but I'm pretty sure Mrs Truant is reasonably happy with you.

Well she is, but that doesn’t count because she fell in love with me for my mind when I was legit out of shape, broke, jobless, in debt....it’s all a freeroll for her now. What loco and other bros think is the driver here.

I’m 95% kidding but really it is all kind of silly on many levels. The only people besides me who really care what my three rep max is, if my posterior delt is balanced or what my split looks like is other enthusiasts. I’m pretty happy with where I am and my wife will be happy as long as I don’t put myself in a bad health situation like the other men in my family.

Thanks for the compliment, also. =)

I did some deadlifts! First time in idk how long. Went about 60% effort maybe?

95x10
95x14
145x10
185x8
185x10

Felt very good. I really need to find someone to form check me though. I want to be sure I am getting right as I progress this time. I’m not even sure I was bad last time but it looked different than I expected.

[x] came