DEXA Body Fat Testing, Physique Standards & The #1 Mistake of Top Fitness Models
I decided to get my body fat tested with the most accurate device known to man. The DEXA scan. This device uses Dual X-rays to measure your bone mass, fat mass and lean body mass. What’s amazing about the DEXA scan is that not only does it show you your body fat…
It also tells you exactly how your fat is distributed throughout your entire body. This is cool because you can determine where you store most of your fat.
You’ll also learn how your muscle is distributed throughout your body and if you have even development on your left and right sides. Finally, you’ll get a clear picture of how dense your bones are, among other interesting pieces of data.
It’s a very fascinating test, altogether it probably took around 30 minutes and the total cost was 125 dollars Canadian. This is definitely something that I would consider doing a few times per year for fun and to see an exact blueprint of how my body is progressing.
What Is My Preferred Way Of Tracking Body Composition?
My go to method for tracking body composition includes taking pictures, weighing myself and measuring my waist, chest, arms… This has been very useful because I can see if I’m dropping fat (waist goes down) and if I’m building muscle (chest and arms go up).
That said, this approach, while still very effective and useful, isn’t quite as exact as the DEXA scan. For example, you could be dropping some fat with little to no change in your waist measurement.
This can happen if you’re predominately losing fat in other areas of your body (legs, arms, chest, butt, back). As well, you could be dropping fat, while maintaining muscle, but your chest and arm measurements might be going down. Does this mean you’re losing muscle? Not necessarily.
You could actually be maintaining all your muscle, but losing fat in your torso and arms, thus making the measurements smaller.
Now that’s not to say measurements don’t matter! Of course they do. If you have solid measurements, you’re going to look phenomenal.
How Good Is The Dexa Scan For Measuring Body Fat %?
That said, if you are going for maximum accuracy and if you want a full blueprint into your body, then DEXA is the way to go.
I’m excited to get tested again in 3-6 months and see how my body fat and muscle development changes. If I gain muscle, it will be cool to see exactly where that muscle went (arms, legs or trunk and in what amount). If I lose fat I’ll get to see exactly where the fat dropped.
Oh yeah and if I decide to be lazy as hell and workout just 1-2 times per week, I can see if I maintained all of my muscle or if I lost muscle. This is some really state of the art data!
Now make no mistake, knowing all this information isn’t necessary to build a better body. And frankly, if there’s room for improvement, the camera won’t lie to you.
But, the DEXA just takes things to a much, much, deeper level! So I thought I would share my test results with you :)
How Did I Look The Day Before the Test?
The day before the test I snapped these pictures and posted them to my Kinobody Facebook page. I got people to guess my body fat. Altogether there was a huge range. Some people said 6-7% body fat, others said 8%, some people said 10-12% body fat and someone even said 17% haha and he was dead serious (I playfully tease this guy in the ensuing video).
To be fair, the DEXA scan is the least forgiving of all body fat tests! It’s not uncommon for a guy with totally ripped abs to score 10-12% body fat. This is actually why I was very nervous about doing a DEXA scan.
Ultimately, if you have the look you want, it doesn’t matter if you’re 6% body fat or 12%. That said, I liked the idea of being single digit, it sounded cool. So I really wanted to fall in the 7-9% body fat range.
Now without further ado….. Here is the entire video documentary of me getting my body fat tested. It’s about 12 minutes long, and if you enjoy it, make sure to share it with your friends, like the video, and subscribe to my channel :)
The DEXA Scan Body Fat Documentary
What Were The Results Of My Test?
My Body Fat
8.1% of my tissue is composed of body fat (not including bone). Now that isn’t my actual body fat percentage since that number doesn’t include my bone mass.
My actual body fat, taking into account bone mass, is an extremely lean 7.7% body fat at a bodyweight of 178.3 lbs.
This is because I’m carrying 13.8 lbs of body fat at a weight of 178.3 lbs. Your fat mass divided by total body mass = body fat percentage.
13.8 lbs divided by 178.3 lbs = 7.7% body fat.
My Lean Body mass
My lean body mass is also a very high 164.5 lbs for my stature (5’10 or 177cm). In fact, this is at the top end of my maximum muscular potential. Simply put, as a natural lifter, I don’t have much room for more muscle growth (without turning to steroids, yah, no thank you)
At low levels of body fat, there’s harsh limits to how much muscle you can carry naturally. If you see someone who is 200+ lbs and shredded, invariably, they’re using some type of gear (unless they’re 6’2+).
My results are actually quite remarkable because for the last few months I’ve been following my Aggressive Fat Loss program. I’ve been going quite low in protein (120-140g per day on average) and lifting just 2-3x per week. Oh yeah and eating lots of chipotle, chocolate and potatoes baby!
People often think that building an incredible physique naturally is such hard work! Well I’m pleased to say that I’ve really cracked the code.
My latest courses for building muscle is
My latest course for dropping fat (and the program I’m following now) is
My course for the womenz is
My Measurements
At 5’10 tall, 178.3 lbs and 7.7% body fat, I’m rocking the following measurements:
Waist – 31.25-31.5″
Chest – 43.5-44″
Arms – 16″ Flexed (no pump)
This is quite simply fantastic! I could work towards getting my waist down to 31″ to get super shredded…. Or I could focus on filling out my chest and arms some more.
But what would be the point? I already have the look I want. Getting leaner or bigger at this point, isn’t going to make me look any sexier for da ladies… Nor would I look better in clothes.
And frankly, I dig the way my body looks now, I have great muscle development and I’ve got amazing v line abs. I think I’d look ridiculous if I was carrying a lot more muscle.
This Is The Mistake That Top Fitness Models Make
I think a huge mistake a lot of the best natural fitness models have made is that they get to a point where they look really good! But it’s never enough for them and they want to keep growing (past their natural limits).
‘Naturally’ they grow frustrated, impatient and expectantly, turn to drug use. And they trade their great looking, natural physique for a drugged up body that, frankly, has about as much sex appeal as a shirtless Seth Rogan ;)
I refuse to make that mistake. I refuse to chase the idea that more is better. I understand completely that fulfillment, success and happiness don’t lie in the land of more muscle and less body fat.
True fulfillment, true happiness and true success leave room for gratitude. So before you incessantly chase more of something, whatever it is, looks, money, fame…. take a moment to consciously accept everything you have right now – thus allowing gratitude to flow into your life.
“Acknowledging the good that is already in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” Eckhart Tolle
Now Is your sense of self invested in your on going pursuits and future accomplishments? If it is, you will be chasing the idea of happiness, success and fulfillment.
But you’ll never actually experience it. It will be locked in the future. When you understand this and allow for this shift in outlook to take place, your entire life will transform.
Yeah I Just Got Really Deep #sorrynotsorry
My plan is to enjoy my physique that I have built. I’m not going to obsess about building more muscle or getting more shredded. Simply, I’m going to have fun eating great meals and kicking butt in the gym a couple days per week.
Besides, I have the look I want and my measurements are pretty much bang on based on my post called, The Perfect Male Body and Five Exercises To Build It.
Achieving the Kinobody measurements would put you somewhere around the Greek God / Superhero Physique with about 8% body fat.
Trying to go beyond this and surpass these measurements would actually make you look overdone and compromise sex appeal, interestingly enough.
What Is The Ideal Body Fat Percentage?
Many of you are probably thinking what is the ideal body fat percentage for a great looking physique. I’d say anywhere between 6-10% body fat for maximum aesthetics. Let’s break them down:
Cut – 9-10% body fat
9-10% body fat is a good looking level of leanness. And generally speaking, people will consider you to be in great shape. That’s also precisely when your body and face will take on a much leaner and more angular look.
Over 10% body fat and a lot of your muscle will be blurred from fat. The quickest way to look amazing is to get your body fat to 10% or less. I see a ton of guys hanging out in the 12-15% body fat territory with a good amount of muscle. That said, they still only look decent because they are carrying too much fat.
Chiseled – 8% Body Fat
8% body fat is really the bench mark for the hollywood physique. That’s where you’ll have very visible muscle definition, slim waist and chiseled face. Not to mention, at this body fat percentage, your abs pop and look down right amazing. But leaning down isn’t always enough to reveal an amazing six pack, you have to incorporate some type of v line abs workout into your routine, to really develop a great and powerful core.
If you follow the Kinobody protocol of fasting, training three days per week and hitting a good balance of proteins, fats and carbs from satiating foods, you’ll be able to stay extremely satisfied and maintain a high sex drive and solid social life at 8% body fat.
Shredded – 6-7% body fat
Getting to 6-7% body fat is where you’ll look amazing for photoshoots and on video. It’s very low and probably not somewhere that you want to be all year round. As well, testosterone, training performance and muscle building potential may be comprised at the 6-7% mark.
Below 6% body fat is not healthy and it looks completely overdone. Girls, generally, hate that freakish look of excessive veins and muscle striations that come from being under 6% body fat.
How Much Do You Need To Lose To Drop 1% Body Fat?
This is a question I get a fair bit. Someone is 20% body fat and they want to get down to 10% body fat. So then the natural question becomes, how much fat do they have to lose. Well let’s say they are 180 lbs.
That’s about 1.8 lbs of fat loss for one percentage point. Since 1.8 lbs represents 1% of your bodyweight. So to drop from 20% to 10% body fat, this person would have to lose approximately 18 lbs of fat.
If you’re 150 lbs, to drop 1% body fat, you’d have to drop 1.5 lbs of fat. And if you’re 300 lbs, you ‘d have to drop 3 lbs of fat to lose 1 percent body fat.
Smaller people usually complain it’s harder to lose weight since they have to eat less. While that may be true, smaller people don’t have to lose as much fat to reduce their body fat percentage to the same degree. (Nor do they have the appetite of larger people, typically) .
So it balances out in a way! Now this formula isn’t 100% exact, but it’s fairly close. But typically, most guys, dropping 1 percent body fat represents around 1.5-2 lbs of fat loss.
What’s The Best Move For You To Get The Physique You Want?
Hope you guys enjoyed this article and video documentary! If you want to show someone what a true 8% body fat is then share it along :).
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Yio Greg you said 164.5 of lean mass for 5’10 is close to the the natty max so i would assume 165-166 is the max then for a guy with High T and good hormones but what would that be for a guy my height 5 8 and half and do you have any articles that support your theory?
Hey Greg,
After seeing your video I also decided to take a DXA scan to ensure I would know my exact stats. I have both your GG and Warrior program but I have a dilemma.
I’m 6 feet tall at a bodyweight of 165,66 pounds, according to the scan I’m at 21.4% bodyfat. 123,63 lean mass and 35,59 pounds of fat. The bones make up the rest at a weight of 6,49 pounds.
In order to be at 10% bodyfat I would have to weight 145 pounds, that is a bit low for a person of my height. I know you always recommend to drop fat first but in my case I think it would be overdone at 145 pounds. On the other side, if I start leanbulking I would look puffier.
Any ideas, Greg?
I’d sugest just cutting down to 15% body fat to start with. So that would bean getting down to roughly 155-157 lbs. Then I’d suggest lean bulking back up to 165-170 lbs while staying around 15% body fat. Then you could cut down to 10% body fat.
That said, you may actually be able to gain muscle on a cut because you a lot of muscle potential to build.
Thanks Greg, I’m not fully commiting in order to achieve the results desired. Will send before and after pics and DXA scans.
Not = now
Hi, Greg. I’m 6’1 and i have 172 lbs. My waist is 32.6 inch. I want to do a cut for the summer. I’m to skinny? Need to build more muscle first? Here is a picture with me : http://i1369.photobucket.com/albums/ag216/obogdan23/IMG_20150327_192946_zpsbpoyvmou.jpg
You’re not skinny. You could do a short 6 week cut to get super lean.
Hey Greg, great article!
I want to know what do you think about post-workout nutrition on the moment. I think there’s just old articles about it, in a time you had different views of the ones you have now.
Thanks.
It’s really not necessary as long as total as you’re getting sufficient nutrient intake daily.
Hey Greg awesome results man.
I have a question. I’m following the greek god program and was wondering since I’m traveling in July i was wondering which is better to build muscle
Use the specializations in a phase routine or use the Mega training program ?
I’m not at the exact strength level I want to be yet but Ive gained a pretty good amount since the start of the program.
I’ve used the S and D routines and I’m now using the chest and back to being them up and have had some pretty awesome results.
Thanks.
Nice! Yeah continue through specialization for now man. Then you could do MEGA in a couple months time.
Hay Greg,
What do You think about Pavel Tsatsouline and his methods?
Haven’t seen his stuff in quite a while. But he’s got some great methods. If your goal is to build a great looking physique though, it’s not the most optimal way.
Can you please give me estimate of my body fat percentage? I wanna start cutting after following your dual pyramid training and I would like to know from where I’m starting. This routine was most fun and efficient training ever.
http://oi61.tinypic.com/2q0jeir.jpg
Picture was taken in the morning before eating and after drinking black coffee ( I’m using your approach) and watter…. my guess is around 15 % but you have much more experience. I’m 5 ft 11 and 190 pounds (weighing after waking before drinking or eating anything).
Thank you Greg :)
I’d say under 15%. Maybe 12.5-13%. Lose about 5-6 lbs of fat and you should be about 10%.
Thanks for putting in the time With this article Greg. It’s shifted my thinking as body fat percentage being “the most important” measure. would you recommend DEXA as the standard? I test with bod pod at the moment and have found it to be pretty accurate.
Yo Greg!
I’m curious as to how water weight relates to actual body fat loss?
For example, say someone steps on a scale it might say that they lost 10lbs of weight, but the total weight loss is probably the from body fat and water weight?
Am I over complicating this?
Hi i was getting curious about your kinobody cardio and abs mobility programme and wanted to do it by itself instead of adding to another programme is that possible if so how. If i can’t do that why is that?
It’s best to do it with at-least 2 days of lifting weights.
Speaking of that kinobody cardio and abs mobility program, where can I download it or find it? I have purchased a couple of programs and can’t find it anywhere. Thanks again for all your hard work and motivation!
It’s here – http://kinobodyelite.com/cardio
Hey Greg, I love your dual pyramid training style but my problem is, when I’m using standard pyramid sets for sarcoplasmic growth (12,10,10,8,8,6 reps) my muscles get that bloated look. Should I avoid it then or maybe cutting more body fat would help me to look more defined? Cheers
Yeah perhaps just use it on your shoulders or lagging muscle groups.
greg can you share your total calories when on a cut with afl and the macro spread u r using ?
cheers
Around 2000 calories. Only about 120-130g protein, 190g of carbs and 80-90g of fat.
I just wanted to take the time to thank you for posting this; it was very helpful to me. I happen to be the exact same height as you and there aren’t any dexa scanners in my area.
I’m using your current stats as my goal. Up until now I’ve been using goals based on various calculators, and guessing how I would look with X amount of muscle at Y body fat. And also hoping that X is reasonable number. Now it’s like I can compare myself to my shredded twin.
We aren’t twins and I know I wouldn’t look exactly like you, but we have the same height, similar build, carry fat similarly. I would love to have your physique, and although I may never get totally there, I see it as a better goal than what I’ve had. For example, I used to want 18 inch arms. It’s hard to know how big to shoot for when a lot of people online inflate their numbers. But seeing pictures of you and your claim to 16 inch arms, it seems like a more realistic goal and one I could be happy with.
I estimate I’m at 11% or 12% body fat. I’m assuming my bone weight is similar to yours. If I crunched my numbers correctly I’d have to lose between 4.5 to 6 lbs of fat, and gain 16 to 17.5 lbs of muscle.
It’s exciting for me to think think that I can lose 6 lbs of fat and be similar in leanness to you, a nice short term goal. 17 lbs of muscle is a long term goal, and it’s great to have your pics in mind for what I might look like.
Awesome dude! Keep me posted :)
Hey Greg!
I have a few questions regarding your Greek God Program:
1. I really like Squats and Deadlifts (I like to get stronger on them and I’m also looking to add size to my Legs), how would you include them both in the workouts? And which set and rep scheme would you recommend?
2. Is it OK to add another movement after the 2 main RPT movements (I was thinking dumbbell presses on Workout A and dumbbell rows on workout B), done SPT style, or do you think that will hinder progress?
3. Since Rest-Pause is your favourite technique for adding volume, is it OK to use it on shoulder isolation exercises and arm exercises instead of Straight Sets?
Thanks a lot Greg!
1. Do leg specialization for workout B. 2 sets of squats then just 1 set of deadlifts
2. Don’t add more exercises it will make it harder to progress.
3. yep that’s fine. My new workout for GG reflects that.
Hey Greg I just started on your AFL course and downloaded the Physique Calculator. I’m 5’11 and currently 176 with a 36′ waist measured at the navel, Chest- 39, Shoulders- 47, Arms-14. So based on the Calculator I’ll need to drop about 20 lbs (wow, that would put me at a very light 156 lbs!) in order to be be close to the ideal based on the calculations from the Physique Calculator when I plugged in my numbers. I’ve currently been doing three days of brisk walking on my off days from weight training but I noticed that another one of your clients had great results doing AFL along with the Cardio Abs and Mobility program. Should I be doing that instead of the walking to maximize my results or will the walking be enough? I currently burn about 400 calories walking.
Walking will get the job done for now. If you want to step it up you can do the abs/cardio course. Yeah a lot of times you have to get to a lower weight first, then focus on building muscle.
Brilliant work Greg. I wouldn’t go furhter with fat loss because you have perfect combination of definition and mass. My question is what calorie calculator you use to figure out your maintenance calories? I read somewhere that you multiply bodyweight with 14-15 but if I’m 193 pound and 15 percent body fat maybe that is too many calories for maintenance (between 2700-2900)??? Thanks mate
2700 calories should be about right if you’re getting an hour of exercise. If it’s less than that, go down to 13 cals per pound. Start there and see how your weight changes.
Hey Greg I’ve just changed my site’s favicon (the small image that appears in your browser next to the page’s name) and I realized you don’t have one either.
If you want to change it with the kinobody logo, check this out: http://www.thinkeatlift.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/NEW-Kino-favicon.png
The plugin I use is called “All in one Favicon” and you can add that image there
Hope this helps :)
That’s awesome man :)
Gonna add this soon.
GREG! I’m getting a bit salty that Kinochef isn’t out yet, I know that you have some damn good stuff in there! Tell Tom Ness I’m coming for him if it isn’t ready soon :P
In all seriousness keep up the good work, fucking love this website
hahaha dammmmit, I know! I’m back from mexico in a week. Then it’s going to be hammering it on Kinochef. But I appreciate the kick in the arse.
Bahaha!
The potential stalking is noted, and I love the enthusiasm.. We’re working on it man! Done with creating the recipes, now it’s just about the post-production (getting everything compiled, edited, and a little bit more written out).
All in all, shouldn’t be much longer… I’d guestimate a few weeks, def first half of April.
I wanted to release a physical version of KinoChef as well as a digital version, because you know… Cookbook and all… but that’s a whole other process, so it’s digital only for now.
But regardless… Get hyped! :)
Awesome, thanks for the responses fellas.
Wow that’s awesome Greg, good job. I thought it was really cool how the DEXA has all that data about your body measurements.
Very inspiring post, especially your explanation on how much fat to lose. With my height and weight that means I have to.lose 1.25 lbs. of body fat to drop 1%!!! Its quite motivational!
Thanks!
Yeah that’s the advantage of being lighter. You don’t have to lose as much fat to bring down your body fat percentage. No one ever talks about that.
This. It seems self explanatory, but its hidden in front of your eyes. Could be used as a nice little selling trick… Good call guys.
Freaking awesome! I love how the scan you added to the post technically says you’re in the “overweight” zone. Obviously not true, but hilarious nonetheless.
Also, that video when she’s looking at your results. It’s killer! Some friends were watching it with me and about died when she was like, “that light blue is your bones and the dark blue is your muscle mass…the yellow is your fat.” And as you look at the picture there’s like no yellow. Crazy stuff!
hahaha thanks man! That was funny lol
Awesome really great video i’m stunning with the result you got and knowing that you are close to your full potentiel thats crazy !!!
I’m exactly the same height but 67 kilo my goal is 70 kilo but seeing you in such a great shape at 80 kilo (of cause is muscle ) could i know when did you stat to train and how many years it took you to build this incredible lean and strong body
Well I’ve been training for almost a decade. But not all of that has been about improving my physique
Looking good man! Those are impressive results. Don’t mean to burst the 7.7% bubble but if you take away the bone then you must represent the numbers against tissue (13.8/171 = 8.07%).
I think you mis interpreted me. The original measurement didn’t include bone mass. So 8.1% body fat is without bone. 7.7% is true body fat (based on total weight: muscle + fat + bone)
Oh I see! I was near the end of my fast so my coffee had worn off. Now I’m all fueled up on apple and see your logic. Lol. Cheers!