Why am I so light? Should I keep cutting?

[ugandanbilly]

Sup brahs just wanted to see if anyone else is in a similar situation to me, I'm between 5'8-5'9 (depending what time no height fraud) yet I weigh 126 lbs morning weight starting weight 154 lbs. In the past I dirty bulked all the way up to 176 lbs night weight after various bulking and cutting cycles up until now. The weird thing is that I somehow look bigger and better than before despite those numbers which would have the internet and the misc thinking I'm a skeletor or anorexic. I know BMI isn't a good measure but I'm approaching underweight status lol. Anyone else similar? I must have ultra bird bones or something. Current pic of physique attached. Bench is 190lbs 1rm according to rep calculator and haven't squat in a while but 1rm probably close to 240 lbs according to calculators. I don't deadlift

[ugandanbilly]

Another thing is that I have a 23-24 inch waist. No joke. I literally have never seen anyone with stats like me.

[Luclin999]

You have a 24" waist and a "six-pack".

Why would you keep cutting?

[ugandanbilly]

You have a 24" waist and a "six-pack".

Why would you keep cutting?

I wanna get to 10% bf I'm not sure what my actual bf% is but im guessing 14-15% but by then I'll be considered medically considered underweight. I feel good tho. No energy or libido problems and maintaining strength.

[gbullock32]

I wanna get to 10% bf I'm not sure what my actual bf% is but im guessing 14-15% but by then I'll be considered medically considered underweight. I feel good tho. No energy or libido problems and maintaining strength.

Lighting and angels not great for determining body fat, but I'd say with that definition you are at or very close to 10%.

[sunsean]

OP if you're 126lb at 5'8...that's super light. But the pic looks decent, which is weird...you should either be absolutely shredded (single digit) or super skinny (no muscle) but you are neither.

Something seems off here.

I'm same height (between 5'8 and 5'9) and I haven't weighed less than 140lb since high school.

I think it may just be that photo making you look bigger than you are. It's weird how it's pitch black behind you and kind of fuzzy like you did some cropping/editing on it.

[hardyboysare]

Yeah you should stop cutting and start finding your new maintenance TDEE

[ugandanbilly]

Lighting and angels not great for determining body fat, but I'd say with that definition you are at or very close to 10%.

Hmmm. Whats funny is that even when I was 10-20 lbs heavier I kept thinking I was 14-15% body fat lol. That greg guy on youtube really opened my eyes up to how much its possible to overestimate bf%. How would you suggest I determine when to stop? I'm not really satisfied with how lean I am yet and not in a body dysmorphia way. Like my legs store way more fat than my upper body and face not looking gaunt at all. Im quite self aware with my mind and hear alot about eating disorder stories so Im not worried about developing an unhealthy relationship with food or anything like that Im currently on 2200 cals losing a little over a lb a week.

[ugandanbilly]

OP if you're 126lb at 5'8...that's super light. But the pic looks decent, which is weird...you should either be absolutely shredded (single digit) or super skinny (no muscle) but you are neither.

Something seems off here.

I'm same height (between 5'8 and 5'9) and I haven't weighed less than 140lb since high school.

I think it may just be that photo making you look bigger than you are. It's weird how it's pitch black behind you and kind of fuzzy like you did some cropping/editing on it.

Nah no editing but the lighting and angle is good. It was taken with a pump too Im lucky enough to have a home gym. Im pretty sure I have really thin wrists and ankles. I can just tell when Im next standing next to my mates.

[sunsean]

Nah no editing but the lighting and angle is good. It was taken with a pump too Im lucky enough to have a home gym. Im pretty sure I have really thin wrists and ankles. I can just tell when Im next standing next to my mates.

Post another photo with some background/context for reference.

But no I wouldn't keep cutting. Like I said your weight is super low already and you're not fat at all. If that photo is even half true then you will look amazing adding another 20lb of lean mass over the next several years.

[ugandanbilly]

Post another photo with some background/context for reference.

But no I wouldn't keep cutting. Like I said your weight is super low already and you're not fat at all. If that photo is even half true then you will look amazing adding another 20lb of lean mass over the next several years.

Im not sure if the image is showing but heres another from same day different lighting

[faithbrah]

Im not sure if the image is showing but heres another from same day different lighting

i think that's the leanest you should go at this point, because that's super light (even though you don't look underweight to me). bulk up, then cut again later and you'll end up @ 135-140 lbs with more muscle and maybe even more definition

this is the first time i see some "nearly underweight" guy actually have a nice physique here, most of the time it's just skinnyfat people trying to cut with zero muscle

[ugandanbilly]

i think that's the leanest you should go at this point, because that's super light (even though you don't look underweight to me). bulk up, then cut again later and you'll end up @ 135-140 lbs with more muscle and maybe even more definition

this is the first time i see some "nearly underweight" guy actually have a nice physique here, most of the time it's just skinnyfat people trying to cut with zero muscle

I take that as a compliment haha. Yeah i might lose an extra lb or 2 and call it quits from there but I think the problem is that most people are just fatter than they think. There seems to be fearmongering which probably started from people like mark rippetoe or jason blaha who underestimate bf%. They say stuff like how anyone under 200lbs must be an anorexic in dire need of force feeding even though they dont even account for different genetics in bone structure. Heres me at my peak fatness 154lbs where I thought i was "19%" and only needed to lose 10 lbs despite being weaker than I am now

[RapidFail]

I take that as a compliment haha. Yeah i might lose an extra lb or 2 and call it quits from there but I think the problem is that most people are just fatter than they think. There seems to be fearmongering which probably started from people like mark rippetoe or jason blaha who underestimate bf%. They say stuff like how anyone under 200lbs must be an anorexic in dire need of force feeding even though they dont even account for different genetics in bone structure. Heres me at my peak fatness 154lbs where I thought i was "19%" and only needed to lose 10 lbs despite being weaker than I am now

Could easily be 19% there, low 20s at the most. Current pics look to be in the 9-11% range.

[RapidFail]

I know what you mean, though - I'm very small-boned myself and have always looked heavier than I am.

I'm 6'1" and was 167lb for my profile pic.

[RapidFail]

I think Greg Doucette is generally pretty on-the-mark when talking about bodyfat, but he can be overly fixated on abs. Fat distribution and core development play a big part - plenty of strongman have visible abs while at 24-28% body fat, while you can see starved POWs at 5-10% with no abs.

I store most of my fat on my belly (and my core needs more work) so my abs aren't visible, even when flexing, until I get down to 14% or so and even then they're very faint in good lighting. At that point I have visible ribs and striated pecs and delts. When I got down to 154lb my waist was still 31 inches.