Yes i agree, i just gave an estimation that if you work your abs, at 8% they should be fully visible without flexing, but if you dont work abs even at 6% you're not gonna see anything just a bony ribcage..
I totally understand what you're saying though, i've seen some people who are really 10% and still have love handles, others at 14% dont and even some have visible abs at 15% if they flex, its mostly genetic..
My point was most people guess their bf% by looking in the mirror, which is not accurate..
Cool, gotcha. Yea all the guessing and claims of BF I suspect are shady, just go pay someone $50 and get dunked and clear it up for yourself and have backing if you want to claim it to others.
Ive seen folks Id suspect higher or lower not coming out as my eyeballs would think...and myself a year and a half ago I had them dunk me 7 times over, because I came out at 7.5% BF at 234lbs and 5'10. By calipers from my teenage years in college football through early 30s I was typically 10% range. So being 7.5% in March 2011 I was shocked I was not more "ripped" so kept having the lady dunk me again...I was laughing to her how come I dont have shredded abs like the guys in magazines and stuff who say they are 10%. She said after dunking people for however many years as a full time job, as you said genetics are different for everyone. She laughed and told me I didnt have anything on my back or legs where others hold fat, but I probably held most of my blubber in my midsection. I didnt look fat by any means, but I was just thinking I should look like the magazine pictures ripped abs with veins and all haha...
There is no real need to work abs in my opinion if you are doing lots of heavy lifting and playing sports. Sure it helps and I normally do it as part of a prehab for back issues, but if Im doing heavy powercleans and front and back squats 3-4 times a week, and lots of multi direction med ball throws and doing MMA, my core gets plenty of work. The craze with everyone doing balance board and swiss ball abs shit, getting all cute saying how good it worked, was countered by research of folks doing heavy powerlifts and olympic lifts showing how much work the "core" and "abs" get from yanking heavy weights off the floor at maximum velocity or needing to balance a big ass bending bar on your back while repping out squats...
So yea Im not sure if "doing abs" is gonna make them show up more. Intervals, lifting heavy, and cutting out carbs will "work miracles" for most people as far as leaning out. For me sometimes when work and scheduling gets crazy, or stress, its the diet part that makes it hard to stay 10% and under. If most people cut carbs out and could do the meat and veggies thing for 3-4 months, and did 3 or 4 days a week of heavy full body compound lifts and intervals, they would look damn good.
Ive been eating a little more carbs than normal and not doing intervals for a 6 week period about, but Im staying lean in the midsection. Im just finishing 10 weeks of 400mg Primo+400mg Masteron and 50mg day of Var....I think the claims or maybe even research saying Var cuts down on midsection fat is legit. Next time I run Var I want to keep my intervals up and carbs low and see what it does!