My brother and I are both about 6-2. He is an avid biker, is slightly built with narrower shoulders, and has never weighed more than 185, which at that weight gives him a small pot belly. We're planning on hiking the Grand Canyon this May, down and out 1 day, 17+ miles. I weighed 230.8 on January first, and I'm currently a couple pounds under 210. My goal is to get my first number on my weight to be a one before we hike, and I'm on track for that. He's never lifted weights in his life, and I've lifted on and off since off-season football in high school, and currently lift at least 3 times a week. He probably can't bench press 100 pounds. He wears a 38-40" sport coat, while I wear a 48. but we have the same chart for obesity. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense!
So who has the most body fat,you or him?
Right now, probably me. Ten more pounds down for me, it should be close to a wash. 175 is a good lean weight for him. 195 is a good lean weight for me. .
I've given this a lot of thought and come to the conclusion that our bodies adapt to be optimal for whatever we are doing with them. I've decided I don't want a 200 lb body of all lean muscle that can't run or walk as far as a 170 body of lean muscle. The 200 lb body may be better for doing bench presses,but I want a body better for going and doing,not just lifting.
Very heavy massively muscled body builders have changed the way society views healthy. What the hell good is all that muscle if it's only better in the gym? That industry has caused our views on what is actually healthy to be totally screwed up.
There is no way that anyone would describe me as a muscled up body builder. So, I would have to respectfully disagree with you to some extent. I hike, bike, play pickleball, play racquetball, golf, hunt and fish, and Hope and I are going skiing at Keystone in two weeks. Other than riding a bike (and it's my brother's thing), there has been zero advantage for him in any of the activities we have jointly participated in. We backpacked in, camped on the trail, and hiked out several times.12-20 miles in a weekend. We've gone on several day hikes on the Ozarks Highland Trail, and in the mountains of AZ around PHX. We aren't exactly spring chickens anymore, I'm 60 and he'll be 64 in a couple weeks, but we're both still active, and I think he'd tell you that I have more endurance, mainly just because I'm stronger.
Here's a pic at 205 (52 yrs old), on a houseboat on Lake Powell, taken the day after Hope and I had hiked the GC 8 years ago.
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/u34OvTk.jpg)
Here's a more recent pic at 225 or so taken in Nov. '18.
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/xQvnixt.jpg)
I have a ton of respect for you and what you've accomplished, I'm just not quite buying that a few extra pounds of muscle is going to limit me. A reasonable amount of muscle doesn't hurt anyone, and would probably be beneficial for most. And I think those charts are meaningless for many people. God bless you Mr. Clark.
