Body Fat Percentage Guide for Men
by Jeremy Likness

Continued...

Weight: 192 lbs
Bodyfat: 10%
Waist: 32"
An example of the same body fat, but with much more muscle mass. This was after I leaned down to 6% and then did a bulking phase that lasted several months. In my experience, bulking after becoming lean is the way to add the most quality muscle. Any time that I have bulked when already at a higher (over 10%) body fat, I have gained more fat than muscle.

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Weight: 188 lbs
Bodyfat: 8%
Waist: 32"
When you compare this to the first picture at 188 pounds, you can see how a few body fat percentage points can make a major difference. In this picture, my abs are clearly defined and there is much more vascularity than in the previous picture when I weighed 188 pounds at 10% body fat.

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Weight: 178 lbs
Bodyfat: 7%
Waist: 31"
This was a leaning cycle that I did using a vegan-style diet. I actually averaged only around about half of my body weight (around 95 grams) of protein, with 300 grams of carbohydrate while dropping over 30 pounds in a 12-week timeframe. At 7%, my abs are clearly defined, but they still lack the hard separation that a bodybuilder on stage with 6% or more would have. You can see that my love handles are now simply well-developed obliques, rather than fat deposits, and you can see the contour of my hip. The lower abs are still partially obscurred by a layer of fat below the navel. I believe that the inclusion of carbs helped me reach this level at my strongest - my bench press was 280 pounds and dead-lift was 415 pounds when this picture was taken.

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Weight: 178 lbs
Bodyfat: 6.5%
Waist: 30"
This is the lowest body fat I have acquired. Believe it or not, I would still need to lose another 5 - 10 pounds to be in condition to step on stage for a bodybuilding competition! The abdominal separation is clearly visible (although I did put too much "shine" on my body, so the highlights overpower some of the detail). You can see some striations in the muscle and vascularity as well. Note the visible difference in just 1/2 percent of body fat (give or take, these are never entirely accurate) as compared with the previous picture at 178 pounds.